April 16, 2007

SSU Joins In North Bay's Second Sustainable Enterprise Conference Set For May 4-5

The second annual Sustainable Enterprise Conference takes place May 4-5 at Sonoma Mountain Village in Rohnert Park.

This year's theme, "At Work. For Life," focuses on cutting edge sustainable enterprise issues and opportunities, practical tools, successful case studies, interactive learning experiences, and new visions for business, non-profit, and government entities in the North Bay. SEC2007 is presented by Sonoma State University, The Sustainable Enterprise Coalition, the Green MBA program.

Workshop topics include increasing profits through sound environmental practices, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, affording solar energy, conservation investing, building "green" hotels and hospitals, and how schools and colleges can save the environment.

May 4 events focus on visions and tools for a sustainable enterprise. The keynote speaker will be Dave Martinelli, Vice President of Coleman Natural Foods, whose Petaluma Poultry division produces "Rocky the Range Chicken" and "Rosie the Organic Chicken."

Martinelli introduced and led Petaluma Poultry's implementation of a sustainability management system and will discuss the benefits, successes and challenges he faced.

The theme for May 5 events is Regional Sustainability. Keynote Speaker Carol Misseldine, currently serving as Sustainability Coordinator for Oakland's Public Works Agency, will discuss transforming cities and building sustainable systems. Misseldine brings 20 years' experience assisting corporate and governmental sectors to learn and apply fundamental principles of sustainability.

Last year's conference sold out at 240 attendees, and its popularity led the co-hosts to expand to 300 participants and a two-day format to maximize participation.

Business sponsors include Sonoma Mountain Village, PG&E, Agilent Technologies, North Bay Construction, Medtronics, SolarCraft, Paul Dolan Vineyards, Petaluma Poultry, Arntz Family Foundation, Whole Foods, Clif Bar, Earthsite, and others.

For complete details on schedules, speakers and rates, see http://www.sec2007.com/.

The Sustainable Enterprise 2007 conference is open to the public and welcomes all levels of interest and expertise in sustainability issues.

For more information contact Sofia Dumitru, Media Coordinator at (707) 776-2848 or Genevieve Taylor, Conference Director at (888) 497-3222.


Jean Wasp
Media Relations Coordinator
University Affairs
(707) 664-2057
jean.wasp@sonoma.edu