October 5, 2012

Green enterprises adapt to downturn

Northern Colorado companies with environmentally friendly ambitions have seen more than their fair share of struggles this year.

Examples include Abound Solar of Loveland, which shuttered its solar panel manufacturing operations when it declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July. Danish turbine maker Vestas also made big headlines when it laid off workers at its Brighton and Pueblo plants.

Whether there’s more bad news ahead is unclear. A quick turnaround, however, isn’t likely, especially in light of attacks on industry subsidies amid tighter times for government.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Ways to thank a caregiver

If you have a caregiver or know someone who has been serving as a primary caregiver, March 3rd is the day to reach out and show them how much they are valued!

Surviving will take luck, smarts and good fortune. The Business Report caught up with a few smaller alternative-energy businesses and organizations to see how they’ve responded and what they’re doing to adapt to tougher circumstances.

Judy Dorsey’s engineering consulting company, Brendle Group in Fort Collins, has reworked its strategy.

Dorsey, Brendle Group president, said her clients include local government and utilities, schools, ski areas and resort towns. Brendle Group provides sustainability measurement and management services.

The firm has customers in 15 states, including the city of Cleveland, for which it is developing a climate action plan.

“Business this year is good: not great, but according to plan,” she said.

That plan includes new ways for customers to pool resources so they can better afford the company’s services.

As an example, Brendle Group provides a service for the National Ski Areas Association that its ski area members can join to have their greenhouse gas output measured.

Those 18 ski areas pay a smaller fee to participate in the program than if they hired an independent consultant to conduct such an inventory.

The firm also has responded by avoiding competition in what Dorsey calls “commodity services.”

Those are common services offered by multiple companies such as evaluations of buildings for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.

“Sure, we will do that for our customers who ask us for it, but we’re also better situated to offer them more services that are leading edge in sustainability,” she said.

Cyrus Green, who describes himself as an “eco-broker” with High Street Real Estate in Fort Collins, has seen a shift in green real estate opportunities amid the weak new-energy and wider economies.

People once wanted to build homes outfitted with green features; now they’re more likely to remodel older homes.

Taking advantage of the trend, Green markets government loan programs that offer lower interest rates to rural homeowners who want to fund installation of items like solar panels.

Green’s business is “largely based on these loan programs that are designed to let people keep their liquid capital,” he said.

Mark Benjamin, president of Crown Jade Design and Engineering, also has changed his approach.

A certified “passive house” consultant, Benjamin designs homes sealed off from outdoor air for greater heating and cooling efficiency.

He expressed frustration that people cannot seem to “take the leap” to buy a more expensive, yet more innovative and energy-efficient home. The challenge has been spreading his message about his designs’ unique features.

So every Wednesday night, Benjamin has promoted his business by attending meetings in Bellvue with other green construction industry professionals.

Those meetings were started for homeowners trying to rebuild after the High Park Fire, which destroyed 259 homes this summer.

“They’re there just to ask questions,” he said. “We guide them toward, ‘Why not build it right?’”

Ray Aberle, fair director of the Sustainable Living Association in Fort Collins, said the organization has told new-energy businesses it advises that they need to stay digitally connected to their customers and other businesses.

A number of businesses have approached the association asking to spread their messages on the association’s social media channels and email-distribution list.

Those requests from businesses, in turn, have prompted the organization to pay greater attention to how it does things like composing electronic newsletters.

“You can get 1,000 things a day and why are you going to read every one?” he asked. “You have to have some credibility.”

Part of that credibility can come from the language that a business uses. The association has encouraged companies to use language other than “green,” “sustainable” or “organic” to differentiate themselves from businesses that use the same adjectives, Aberle said.

“People recognize that they can’t just stick a ‘green’ label on it or ‘sustainable’ label on it,” he said. “They’re trying to find a new language.”

Aberle suggests businesses use more specific phrases that tell customers what they actually do. Instead of using “organic,” a food-producing company could say, “biological farming.”

The organization has seen a change in the composition of its annual fair, which is an exhibition of green businesses. A greater number of local businesses now promote their wares at the fair instead of larger, national retailers that once dominated.

One business at a recent fair sold a kit that could be used to convert a trampoline into a greenhouse. Another business reused tires to make planters.

These companies are definitely smaller but Aberle remains upbeat.

“That’s been a huge market growth area for us,” he said. “We hope that it becomes a huge resource for them and the community to find goods and services that they didn’t even know existed.”

Northern Colorado companies with environmentally friendly ambitions have seen more than their fair share of struggles this year.

Examples include Abound Solar of Loveland, which shuttered its solar panel manufacturing operations when it declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July. Danish turbine maker Vestas also made big headlines when it laid off workers at its Brighton and Pueblo plants.

Whether there’s more bad news ahead is unclear. A quick turnaround, however, isn’t likely, especially in light of attacks on industry subsidies amid tighter times for government.

Surviving will take luck, smarts and good fortune. The Business Report caught up with a…

Dallas Heltzell
With BizWest since 2012 and in Colorado since 1979, Dallas worked at the Longmont Times-Call, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post and Public News Service. A Missouri native and Mizzou School of Journalism grad, Dallas started as a sports writer and outdoor columnist at the St. Charles (Mo.) Banner-News, then went to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before fleeing the heat and humidity for the Rockies. He especially loves covering our mountain communities.
Sign up for BizWest Daily Alerts