Green Business Development Center

The Issues
Recent Developments
What Delta is Doing
Where Do You Want to GO Next?

The Issues
Investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings, and corporate sustainability has increased dramatically over the past decade, fueled by concerns about climate change, the increasing scarcity of natural resources, and pollution of the natural environment.  Investment in sustainability is also seen as a path to reviving the American economy as federal regulation and investment drive demand for renewable fuels and conservation of water and other natural resources.  Environmentally conscious corporations and industry leaders are setting sustainability standards for their suppliers, creating both a challenge and an opportunity for businesses engaged in the Green Economy.

Recent Developments
Businesses face many challenges making sense of the dizzying array of options and opportunities for entering the green marketplace and incorporating sustainability into their operations. And while there is an abundance of information available through trade associations, media organizations, consulting firms and the internet, many businesses – particularly start-ups and small businesses – have limited access to the objective advice and technical assistance needed to sift through these ideas and implement them cost-effectively. Because of the current credit crunch, access to financing and funding is also a significant unmet need. Businesses are increasingly looking for help understanding, choosing, and implementing the many opportunities to grow with the Green Economy. In addition, brownfield properties and other underutilized real estate can be a low- or no-cost asset for start-ups and expanding green businesses.

What Delta Is Doing
The Delta Institute started the Green Business Development Center in 2009 to help businesses make more economically, environmentally, and socially sound choices about how to make their operations, buildings, products, and suppliers more sustainable. Through the Center, Delta is:

•    Preparing feasibility studies, financial proformas, grant requests, business and marketing plans, and other essential business development services.

•    Launching a low-interest loan program and developing a Seed Capital Fund for green businesses.

•    Providing training and education programs, including a Green Business Boot Camp and business skill training seminars.

•    Leveraging transferable insights from Delta’s project work to provide meaningful business development support to businesses in high-growth sectors, such as renewable energy, waste recycling and urban agriculture.

•    Matching green growth sector businesses with suitable brownfield sites, placing them among the growing list of sustainable reuse prototypes across the region.

•    Launching the GOBiz network, an online resource and networking community for businesses seeking information about opportunities and relationships that can help them advance their Green Economy enterprises. For a modest annual membership fee, participants will have access to inside information about potential financing opportunities, proprietary business development tools, discounts on Delta education and training programs, a private discussion board and other networking opportunities.

•    Opening an office in the Green Exchange, a refurbished factory that will serve as an epicenter for green businesses and organizations in the region. The building will provide 272,000 square feet of LEED-certified space that will serve as an incubator for promising green enterprises. The Center will operate a suite of shared offices and provide technical and business support services to the building’s tenants.
     
Where Do You Want to GO Next?
To explore additional green opportunities, visit our Green Economy Navigator.