Westchester County, Con Edison and the Business Council of Westchester teram up to encourage businesses to go green.Westchester County, The Business Council of Westchester and Con Edison have teamed up to get the county's Green Business Challenge to the next level.

County Executive Robert P. Astorino was joined Monday by Marsha Gordon, president and CEO of the business council, and Tim Cawley, Con Edison Vice President of Bronx/Westchester Electric Operations, at a press conference where Con Ed announced a $20,000 grant to help the effort.

The purpose of the grant is to educate and encourage Westchester County businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) while improving operational efficiency and saving money.

"Westchester County is providing in-kind services and support to this effort to help our businesses become green," said Astorino. "This is good for the county and good for business. It promotes economic development and helps our environment."

"Con Edison's grant is a seed that will bloom into healthier businesses throughout the county. We salute the Business Council of Westchester's vision recognizing environmentalism will grow efficiency, benefiting business owners and their customers," said Cawley. 

"We are pleased to be working with Con Edison and Westchester County on educating businesses about the benefits reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions will have on improving the quality of life and their bottom line," said Gordon. "We are uniquely positioned to lead this important effort because our membership covers the broad range of businesses in every sector of the county's diverse economy."

The WGBC was developed and launched last year as a public-private partnership with Westchester County and modeled after the Chicago Green Office Challenge, a successful program developed by the ICLEI USA – Local Governments for Sustainability and the City of Chicago.

Phase I included the launching of a website, www.westchestergov.com/greenchallenge, complete with green business case studies, funding sources for green initiatives, green events listing and a green business directory. It also featured the WGBC Scorecard, a fully interactive tool that establishes baseline performance and links companies to targeted resources to help improve performance.

Phase II will expand the program beyond the current 50+ companies registered for the WGBC primarily through a series of educational seminars and networking events to facilitate progress and exchange best practices; on-going support to help businesses progress through the program; website and scorecard upgrades and monitoring (new links to helpful resources and improved strategies) based on feedback from participants; and an annual recognition event to celebrate participation and achievements.