Connecting Our Local Economy

"Building New Networks"

You are invited to join local business leaders from throughout Greater Boston for SBN's Annual Conference on Sustainable Business.

Thursday, June 3, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley Street, Roxbury, MA 02119

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This year's conference will focus on:

• Transforming our local food economy
  
• Greening local businesses and reducing our carbon footprint
• Growing and sustaining local businesses and building local entrepreneurship

Keynote Speakers:

• Woody Tasch, Chairman and President of Slow Money
  
• Robert Glassman, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Wainwright Bank & Trust Co.

8:00 am - Registration & Continental Breakfast

8:30 am - Welcome & Introduction

8:45 am - Opening Keynote Speaker, Woody Tasch

10:15 am - Break

10:30 am - 12:00 pm Morning Interactive Workshops:
"Local  business is the key to a strong local food system--The evolution of a food entrepreneur!"

"How Coop's Compete in the Free Enterprise System--Making Business Democracy Real."

"Building Local Economies Throughout New England."

12:00 pm - Lunch

1 pm - 2:30 pm Afternoon Interactive Workshops:
"The Greening of Local Independent Businesses"

"Localized Economic Development in Upham's Corner in Dorchester"

"Growing a Strong Local and Regional Food System"

2:30 pm - Break

3:00 pm - Closing Keynote Speaker, Robert Glassman

4:30 pm - Adjourn

It pays to be Local, Green, and Fair. Don't miss this fantastic opportunity to grow your business and build a strong local economy.

SBN Members Click Here

Non-Members Click Here

Half Day Price:

SBN Members($55) Click Here

Non-Members($65) Click Here

For sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

5:00 – 6:15 pm

Needham-Wellesley Room, Olin Hall, Babson College

As consumers, the food industry touches us all. As ethical business students, we have a responsibility to understand its mechanics. In the U.S., retail food is a trillion dollar industry. Add agriculture and that figure approaches two trillion. Beyond popular topics of taste and cuisine, an informed understanding of the industry demands that we look at the issues in our food system. It is our aim that this event will raise awareness within our community and serve as a springboard to future discussion and action.

The Issues

In an effort to deliver tangible value in 1-½ hours, we will tackle only 3 or 4 of the core topics below. Choices will be based on the panelists’ individual expertise and the presumed interests of our audience.

• Nutrition
• The global food crisis
• Responsible sourcing
• Waste management
• Sustainable “premiums” and the true costs of food
• Financing sustainable agriculture
• Access – school lunch program, urban agriculture
• Career opportunities and entrepreneurship in sustainable food

Panelists

• Willow Blish, Chapter Leader, Slow Food Boston
• Alice Leung, Founder and CEO, Top Sprouts (Babson MBA ’09)
• Lee Kane, Regional Forager and Eco Czar, Whole Foods Market
• Social-investing panel seat – TBD

Target Audience

We anticipate two audiences: Newbies and Networkers. Newbies have minimal knowledge of the industry. Their takeaway is tangible initial data, which we hope will serve to inform their future choices both as consumers and business leaders. Networkers are familiar with the landscape. Their takeaway is networking opportunities with panelists and one another.

To RSVP or for additional information please contact Rachel Greenberger at:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Leadership for Change Proudly Presents:

A Public Conversation on Sustainability: Business, the Environment & Social Justice

Friday, February 5, 2010
8:30 am-5:00 pm
Boston College, Gasson 100

You are invited to participate in a public seminar and dialog on sustainability practices with business leaders, community members, and scholars. Our conversation will include representatives from Staples, Genzyme, Harvard University, US Fish and Wildlife Service, William A. Berry & Sons, Inc., and The United Illuminating Company.

This event is sponsored by Leadership for Change, a program of the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics at Boston College.

The $25 Seminar fee includes lunch.

Receive a $10 discount if you are Leadership for Change Alumni, Boston College Alumni, or SBN Member. RSVP by January 29 to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For more information please contact Rebecca Rowley at 617-552-2709.

Eat Local Food & Meet Local People: Tuesday, January 12th 6:30-9:00

This event is currently sold out! Please check back soon for information on future ALLocal Dinners.

SBN is hosting its third ALLocal Dinner in Lexington at Nourish, a new restaurant owned by former SBN board member, Karen Masterson. All ingredients in the four course meal will be sourced, processed, delivered, prepared and eaten! as close to Lexington as possible, stretching out through MA into New England. In January, an all local meal is a real challenge and Organic Renaissance of Lexington has agreed to source and provide the local ingredients as a sponsor. Between courses, guests will shift places for more meeting opportunities and Karen will speak about her commitment as a community focused restaurant to work with area farms and businesses. Attended by food growers, producers, distributors, retailers, writers, etc., these evenings sell out very quickly.

What: Four Course Meal with owner's description of the food sources. Rotating seats every course for great meeting opportunities. Prepared with 100% New England grown and processed food. Sponsored by SBN & Organic Renaissance

Where: nourish, 1727 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA In Lexington Center right by the Minuteman Bike Trail

When: Tuesday, January 12th from 6:30 - 9:00 pm

Cocktails, Networking, Seating: 6:30pm

Dinner begins: 7 pm and seating rotates every course

Menu: 4 courses with choice of a vegan or poultry entree

Price: $40 Transportation: MBTA bus routes #62 and #76, serving Alewife Station, stop nearby Parking available in the lot directly behind the restaurant

Funds Benefit: Sustainable Business Network's Local Food Committee

SBN will host our Eighth Annual SBN Holiday Party at WBUR on Monday evening November 30.  Once again we're happy to announce that WBUR's Robin Young, the host of the popular radio program that reaches over 200 NPR stations, will once again be interviewing a well-known and talented WBUR radio personality. This year David Boeri, the co-host of the WBUR program Radio Boston, will be the featured guest. While David Boeri's television work at WCVB-TV and WGBH-TV is legendary, his entire career in broadcasting is impressive.  He has won Edward R. Murrow awards, Emmy awards, Radio and Television News Directors Association awards, Society of Professional Journalists awards, and was named Boston's Best Political Reporter.

David has reported stories such as the wars in El Salvador and Kosovo, environmental issues in Belize, politics in Canada and organized crime in Boston.  After several years as a commercial fisherman in Boston, he wrote "Tell it Good-bye Kiddo: The Decline of the New England Offshore Fishery". He later lived and hunted with Eskimo whalers in Northwestern Alaska and authored "People of the Ice Whale" about an endangered culture's hunt for an endangered whale. David's breadth of experience, skilled reporting and engaging style is a hallmark of Radio Boston.

This party year we're going to include a Silent and Live Auction offering a wide range of great deals on products and services donated by SBN companies. In an effort to finance the expansion of SBN's work, the SBN Board has personally pledged $19,000 to SBN as part of a Matching Challenge.  The board is hoping that SBN members and friends will match this pledge with an additional $19,000 in donations, party attendance, and purchasing items at the SBN Silent and Live Auction.

Auction Items include:

Four Celtics Tickets

New Orleans dinner for six at Rebecca Rowley's home

One year membership at The Longfellow Clubs

Party at The Longfellow Clubs (tennis, swimming, dancing, etc)

And many more!

Don't miss this fun celebration bringing together the SBN community.

November 30, 2009

7:00-9:00 pm

WBUR Offices on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston

Featuring David Boeri interviewed by Robin Young

Silent and Live Auction of cool products and services of SBN companies

$50 per person and $75 per couple

Please click here to register

Local First networks from all over New England are joining together to promote the "Shift Your Shopping" campaign.  Cambridge Local First and Somerville Local First are co-sponsoring this campaign which begins on the Friday after Thanksgiving and continues to New Year's.  This dynamic marketing campaign will include posters in the windows of participating businesses, articles in various local and alternative newspapers, radio spots, and the The `Real Proof' event at the Somerville Theatre described below.

The purpose of the Shift Your Shopping campaign is to encourage our communities to buy local for the holidays by educating residents, businesses, and government leaders to shift at least 10% of their annual budget to Local Independents.  For many retailers, the holiday season is the time when a local business does the highest volume of sales which makes it the perfect time for customers to show their support for local businesses and to make the 10% Shift.  Where you spend your money helps build strong local economies and is a vote that is just as important as the one you'll make on Election Day.

Thursday, October 29^th, 2009

6:30PM Registration

7:00PM - 8:30PM

Boston College - Gasson 100

A trans-Atlantic dialogue on food, sustainability, and social justice with business organizations, faculty, students, and community interest groups

Panelists:

Paolo Barilla, Vice President of Barilla G & R Fratelli SpA

Rob Everts, Co-Director of Equal Exchange

Charles Derber, Professor of Sociology, Boston College, Author of Greed to Green

Giovanni Moro, President, FONDACA

Facilitator: Rebecca Rowley Leadership for Change, Boston College

Participate in this interactive and provocative discussion and ongoing American-European colloquium on citizen activism and corporate citizenship.

Cost is $15/person

Free admission to Faculty, Students & SBN members

RSVP to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

When we say ALL, we mean ALL:  Absolutely Local & Luscious!

This will be an opportunity for you to:

• Enjoy a five course dinner made from food that is Absolutely Local & Luscious at Upstairs on the Square
• Support local farmers, fisherman and food artisans
• Share a meal with local Cambridge business leaders and local food leaders passionate about their local community and local food choices
• Raise funds for the work of Cambridge Local First

• ALLocal Dinner-- Absolutely Local & Luscious
• Sponsored by Cambridge Local First & Sustainable Business Network
• Five Course Meal with chef's description of the food sources
• Prepared with 100% New England grown and processed food

Where

• Upstairs on the Square
• 91 Winthrop Street · Cambridge, MA (Harvard Square)

When

• Monday, October 19, 7 - 9:30 pm

Menu

• 5 courses with choice of a vegan or fish entree  (Specify preference when you register)

Price

• $60

Transportation

• One block from the Harvard T-stop (Red Line).
• Parking tickets validated for 3 garages ($2 off).
• Valet parking ($14).

Directions

• Click here for directions

Registration

• Seats are filling up fast! You can register by clicking here.

On Thursday evening, September 10, over 100 people celebrated the opening of the new headquarters of Save That Stuff, Inc.  Co-owners Erik Levy and Adam Mitchell opened the doors of their new site in Charlestown for all to see by hosting a benefit party for the Sustainable Business Network. The new location provides Save That Stuff with significantly more space, new offices for staff, new storage for their equipment, and soon, a new paper and comingled container sorting facility.  An exciting part of this new expansion is that Save That Stuff has joined a group of businesses at this new location that's developing a Green Marine Industrial Park with plans for on-site renewable energy operations and expanded recycling opportunities.  The new facilities are striking, and it's even more impressive considering this business expansion was completed during our current economic recession.

Save That Stuff is one of the leading green businesses in New England and it has played a pivotal role in supporting local businesses in increasing their recycling practices and reducing their environmental footprint.  Save That Stuff has been a key partner with the nation's foremost green business program focusing on small and mid-sized businesses--the Sustainable Business Leader Program (SBLP).  SBLP worked closely with Save That Stuff to leverage the services it provides which includes on-site audits, zero waste planning services, and full recycling services.  The partnership has greatly enhanced the sustainable practices of over 50 Boston-area businesses.  Erik and Adam are entrepreneurs who live their mission and they've built a company from scratch that now has a team of over 30 staff members-a real life example of how entrepreneurs can create green jobs!  Save That Stuff has become an indispensable player in the work of greening local businesses in greater Boston.

John F. Palmieri, Director of The Boston Redevelopment Authority's Planning and Redevelopment Office kicked off the event by recognizing Save That Stuff for their efforts to grow the recycling industry in theBoston Area, the assistance they provide to businesses and institutions, and their ability to create green jobs.  He also sent congratulations and well wishes from Mayor Menino from the City of Boston who has been very supportive of Save That Stuff. ;

New Acting Director of The Sustainable Business Leadership Program, Peter Crawley also addressed the gathering and outlined the SBLP assessment program. Peter noted that the work of Save That Stuff exemplified the process of "transforming waste into food", thus organically closing the loop regarding the waste stream. He also encouraged attendees to participate in the SBLP assessment program and help spread the word to other potential participants.

Picture #2: Party-goers celebrate Save That Stuff's new location

One of the really fun and educational parts of the evening was the opportunity to see and actually experience some new and exciting modes of transportation.  Paul Elwood from Electric City Cars (e-citycars.com) brought in two electric cars and several electric motor bikes that everyone could test drive.

The program closed with SBN Executive Director, Laury Hammel, thanking Erik and Adam for their environmental leadership and the vital services they provide our communities.  Laury further expressed appreciation for the financial support they have offered.  Not only did Save That Stuff (along with Tech Networks of Boston) provide much of the seed capital needed to initiate the Sustainable Business Leader Program, but the costs of the celebration were all covered by STS and 100% of the revenues went directly to SBN.  This classy soiree raised over $3,000 to help fund the work of the Sustainable Business Network.  And of course, all food and containers were composted and recycled - making it a zero waste event!