Thursday, July 1, 2010, 9:06am PDT | Modified: July 1, 2010, 3:06 PM

'Greenprint' aims to focus Portland's regional economy

by Christina Williams
Sustainable Business Oregon

• Email
• Reprints
• RSS Feeds
• Share
• Comments

Last week, the result of more than a year of effort was released to the business community: A plan for integrating economic development and climate protection for the Portland metro region.

The draft plan, called a Greenprint, calls for a concerted drive toward climate-sensitive economic development that will require the united efforts of both the business and government sectors.

But first, the folks behind the Greenprint just need business owners to read it.

The Portland Metro Climate Prosperity Work Group, operating under the auspices of the Portland Sustainability Institute, is at the early end of a 45-day comment period on the Greenprint draft, which was formally released last week at the Greenlight Greater Portland 2010 Economic Summit.

Buy in from business owners will be key to the plan’s success.

"We’re hoping that this becomes primarily a business-led initiative," said Liz Hopkins who is managing the initiative for the Portland Sustainability Institute.

"Getting to this Greenprint, is getting to the starting point," Hopkins said. "We want to get to a deeper level with the business community."

Four individual businesses are represented on the work group that put together the Greenprint draft — Nike Inc., law firm Lane Powell, software company Formos LLC and DSW Collective, a consulting firm. The other participants involved in drafting the plan included government and nonprofit groups.

Core members of the work group traveled to Silicon Valley last year where the first regional Greenprint draft — a plan for Silicon Valley developed in partnership with a national organization, Climate Prosperity Project Inc. — was released and discussed.

Portland was chosen as one of three other regions selected to develop their own Climate Prosperity Greenprint along with Denver and St. Louis.

The Portland group worked with Mountain View, Calif.-based Collaborative Economics — thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund — to formulate a custom Greenprint.

The premise of the Greenprint plan is this: A new, green, global economy is emerging and the Portland area will lose its early leadership in sustainability and clean technology without a well-coordinated economic development effort.

The areas of focus for the Greenprint are:

• • Setting up financial mechanisms such as a regional green bank to fund innovation.
• • Accelerating energy efficiency in the region and encouraging the use of renewable energy.
• • Commercializing green innovation by setting up funds to bridge the gap between lab and market, and educating businesses about available resources.
• • Cultivating industry clusters including solar, wind, green building, smart grid and electric vehicles.
• • Developing green talent by calibrating educational and training programs to industry needs.
• • Building support for these efforts by developing a single regional economic development strategy.

The full document, available for download here, goes into far more detail on each strategy wedge.

Initial response to the Greenprint’s plan is positive, if hesitant.

"I am impressed with the plan's focused agenda to leapfrog Portland from a weak economy based on consumption of finite resources to a robust economy based on renewable energy," said Sattie Clark, owner of Eleek and board president of business group VOIS Alliance or Voice for Oregon Innovation and Sustainability. "Does it cover everything? No. But it’s a fantastic way to jumpstart things."

Jeremy Rogers, project manager for the Oregon Business Plan, an initiative of the Oregon Business Council that has been around since 2002 trying to improve the state's economy, was involved with some of the early work on the Greenprint.

Rogers sees some gaps in the first Greenprint draft.

The Oregon Business Plan has identified some keys to job creation and economic development such as the development of a coherent energy policy in Oregon, a stable tax system and the availability of industrial land — none of which are addressed in the Greenprint.

“We look forward to providing feedback on the draft and folding some of its key recommendations into the Oregon Business Plan,” Rogers said.

Hopkins said she is eager to collect such feedback and plans an open house later this summer for businesses to review and discuss the Greenprint.

Immediate actions in support of the Greenprint effort include appointing a leadership council tasked with implementing the plan.