WI Sustainable Business Council: Announces 2017 Green Masters

Contact(s): Tom Eggert, Executive Director
tom@wisconsinsustainability.com

608-279-8608

OR

Kevin Banas, Program Coordinator
kevin@wisconsinsustainability.com
630-935-2274

Kohler, Wisconsin — The WI Sustainable Business Council is today announcing the 2017 Green Master level companies at the 10th Annual WI Sustainable Business Conference. The Conference is being hosted this year by the Kohler Company at The American Club. With roughly 200 Wisconsin businesses currently participating in the Green Masters program, being recognized and celebrated in front of peers makes attaining the Green Master status especially meaningful.

This year, 33 companies are being recognized as Green Masters. Each of these companies scored in the top 20% of all applicants during the year. Of these companies, 27 are returning Green Masters awardees, and we welcome 6 as new Green Master companies this year.

Becoming a Green Master has never been easy, and this year the minimum score for becoming a Green Master again increased. Every year the minimum score has increased, and this year was no exception, even though earning points this year was more difficult.

The 33 companies we are recognizing today have made huge improvements in each of the 9 areas that the program assesses, and they continue to raise the bar for others. The 2017 Green Masters are as follows:

2017 Green Masters

ABB Inc., New Berlin
Alliant Energy Corporation – Wisconsin Power and Light Company, Madison
American Family Insurance, Madison
Amery Hospital and Clinic, Amery
Appleton Coated LLC, Combined Locks
Bounce Milwaukee, Milwaukee
CNH Industrial, Racine
Essity (Formerly SCA Tissue), Neenah
Evinrude, Sturtevant
Evolution Marketing, Oconomowoc
Fairmount Santrol, Menomonie
Green Bay Packaging Inc., Green Bay
Homburg Contractors, Inc., Monona
Inpro Corporation, Muskego
KI (Krueger International), Green Bay
Kohl’s Department Store, Menomonee Falls
Kohler Co., Kohler
Lands’ End, Dodgeville
Laser Pros International, Rhinelander
Lauterbach Group Inc., Sussex
Madison Gas and Electric, Madison
Menasha Corporation, Neenah
Mercury Marine, Fond du Lac
Oshkosh Corporation, Oshkosh
Outpost Natural Foods Coop, Milwaukee
Phillips-Medisize (Phillips Plastics Corporation), Eau Claire
Precision Plus, Elkhorn
Rockwell Automation, Milwaukee
Trane Company, La Crosse
UW Credit Union, Madison
UW Health, Madison
Westfields Hospital and Clinic, New Richmond
Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation, Madison

Program Director, Kevin Banas, says, “Achieving Green Masters status is becoming more and more difficult each and every year. With sustainability awareness and action increasing all across the state, achieving a score in the top 20% of all applicants is a very admirable feat. It takes vision, commitment, and work to make business-wide changes that improve overall sustainability. We updated the application, which resulted in fewer points being available for easily achievable actions. However, these 33 companies rose to the challenge and we continue to see sustainability grow here in Wisconsin.”

The Program is comprised of a very diverse group of Wisconsin companies. They range from small businesses to multinationals. This year, the program recognizes companies from eighteen different sectors. The largest sector is Manufacturing, which 33% of participants describe being part of. It is followed by the Professional sector with 12% of participants. Other sectors include Business to Business Trade, Construction, Energy, Food-Agriculture, Health Care, Hospitality, Printing, and Paper and Packaging

Over the years, participants have made huge sustainability accomplishments, and have made the program more competitive. This year, the average score across all sectors was 448 compared to an average score of 431 last year. To put that into perspective, the average score was only 70 in 2009! This year alone, we welcomed nearly 25 new applicants, and look forward to future growth.

Each of the companies will be introduced and celebrated at the WI Sustainable Business Conference. According to Tom Eggert, Executive Director of the WI Sustainable Business Council, “One of the highlights of the conference each year is the introduction of each of the Green Masters companies. I know the privilege of being recognized in front of your peers is a big incentive for companies to continuously improve, and the competitive nature of staying at the front of the pack causes Wisconsin companies to rise above their peers from other states.”

The Green Masters Program is a free, points-based recognition and assessment program that enables Wisconsin businesses of all sizes and from all sectors to receive recognition for their sustainability initiatives. Developed by the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council and Wisconsin businesses, in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the goal of the program is to not only recognize work that is being done, but to give companies a way to benchmark their efforts and compare their performance to other companies within the state. To be eligible to apply, businesses must take at least one action in each of the nine sustainability categories: energy, carbon and other emissions, water, waste management, transportation, supply chain, community and educational outreach, workforce, and governance.

For more information, or a complete list of all program participants, go to: http://www.greenmastersprogram.com. Both Kevin and Tom are available for any additional questions.