This post comes from Kosta Stavreas one of our industry insiders that is getting Green Light Distrikt New York City going.

NEW YORK CITY – Yesterday, Chris and I attended the Green Entrepreneur Summit in New York.  It was a completely sold out event, and rightfully so.  The panelists and audience were high-quality business leaders who are the lifeblood of the cleantech scene in New York.

I went back through my notes and there was some great insight shared by the Funding Strategies Panel on how to raise capital for a cleantech or sustainability venture.  The panelists were heavy-hitters with long track records of successfully raising substantial amounts of capital (in the 10’s and 100’s of millions) and commercializing technologies in the ‘green’ space.

• David Kistner — CEO, Green Apple Cleaners
• Ron Bergamini — CEO, Action Carting Environmental Services
• Franklin Madison — Technology Program Director, ITAC
• Martin Saponsnic – Mentor, Hudson Valley Innovation Center

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

• “The financing environment has completely changed.  A few years ago, finding a senior lender was easy and the hard part was equity or VC.  These days, the VC money exists but lenders don’t want in.  If you’re dealing with a syndicate, you have to sell to each participant to get them involved”.

• “Make sure you can communicate your plan.  How will you commercialize, and how will the investor get their money back. You have to prove you know what to do with the money when you get it.”

• “Know where you fit in the funding value chain.”

• “Find an ally.  Use your networks.  Tap into networking events like Green Drinks and the Social Venture Network, there are a lot of great people there than can help”.

• “Tell your story well.  You need a lot of financial data.  Have a good PowerPoint.  Don’t read it.  Tell your story with passion.”

• “If your house isn’t in order, the investors will eek out more and more equity.  The more they do upfront, the more equity they will take.”

• “I want to see a technology that has become a business.  I like to see customers and I like to see revenue.  If you’ve got a list of 1,000 customers waiting to buy your product, who wouldn’t want to invest into that.”

• [Is there a difference between ‘good’ money and ‘bad money’?]  “Hell yeah!  You need to bring in money with contacts that can help you accelerate.  Anyone can get cash, but does it come with the contacts that can lead into new customers and partnerships.  It helps a lot if you and your investor have similar value systems.”

• “As an angel investor, the approach I’m always going to take is ‘find a good idea, then buy the jockey’. I’m looking to invest in a team that can execute. I will take an A team with a B idea every time”.

These are simple yet profoundly important bits of advice for anyone trying to raise money to grow a leading company for tomorrow.

What do you think?

BOSTON – So last month I spouted off about labels on food and the enforcement behind them.  The topic is a confusing once since there is very little regulation, which leads to consumer confusion.  There are however, guidelines with the FTC that prevent green washing in marketing under the banner of Truth in Advertising. Unfortunately most businesses have very little knowledge of these guidelines, due to their lack of enforcement, and therefore even the most sustainably-minded companies are often guilty of green washing.  But the Obama administration has stated that enforcement of these guidelines is a priority going forward, so consumers are about to get some clarity!

To check out the green guides for yourself you can read them at the FTC website.  Or you can keep reading for a snarky summary.

The Green guides apply to all environmental claims that are included in any kind of marketing, whether directly or by implication.  So a company needs to take the guidelines into account for every aspect of their marketing including labeling, advertising, promotional materials and any marketing through words, symbols, emblems, logos, depictions, product brand names, digital advertising, attributes of the products themselves, as well as the packaging, or services (if you are a services company).  The rules are actually pretty expansive.  If you even so much as place a leaf in your logo (see mine) , you better know the implications.

These guidelines are not definitive rules on how to do things.  Other approaches are permissible, but the guides are meant to be a safe-harbor for businesses/marketers.  If you followed them and your marketing was still green washing, then no harm no foul, just change your marketing to correct the error.

So the basic requirements are these:

1. You have to be clear.
2. Draw a distinction between the benefits of the product, package or service
3. No exaggerations about environmental benefits.
4. Explain comparisons, don’t leave us hanging (20% more than what?)

If you are making qualifications or disclaimers, they need to be understandable.  The customer needs to know what you are qualifying or disclaiming.  What is more relevant however, is knowing when you need a qualifier or disclaimer.  You need to be clear about what the claim is referring too.  Is it the product, the product’s packaging, a service, or just a portion or component of the product or service?  If you market something as recyclable, is every part of it including the packaging recyclable?

The Guides give more specific examples of how these principles are implemented, especially when it comes to the use of certain words. General claims whether intentional or not can be deceptive and misleading, including the company name.  If your name is “Green Fuel” and you own some oil platforms……… (doesn’t matter that your last name is Green).  I wonder if French’s mustard is misleading.  It certainly isn’t French.  Perhaps the apostrophe solves that problem.

• Degradability, biodegradability, or photodegradability should be qualified (explained) in two ways: 1. the product or packages ability to degrade in the environment where it is customarily disposed and 2. the rate and extent of degradation.
• Compostable.  Two things to consider: 1. can the package or product be safely composted in a home compost pile or device; 2. does the claim mislead consumers about the environmental benefit provided when the product is disposed of in a landfill.  If it is only compostable at the local municipality composter, then say that.  You also have to include a disclaimer that municipal facilities may not exist.  Also, how safe is the resulting compost? If it decomposes but leaves behind toxic chemicals, you have violated the rules because composting (in the mind of the consumer) is usually an environmental benefit and can be used for other purposes.
• Recyclable.  Pretty much the same as above.  It has to be recyclable, and accepted by recycling programs.  If because of size, shape, or any other reason, centers won’t take it, then you have misled the consumer, despite the fact that you did not technically lie. You also need a disclaimer about the limited access to recycling facilities. You have to tell people that they may not have recycling available in their area.  When was the last time you saw that on packaging? Hmmm……
• Recycled content.  Is it pre or post consumer (you don’t have to disclose that) but if it is pre, the marketer has to have solid evidence that the content would have otherwise entered the solid waste stream. The material has to have been recovered; it cannot be recycled raw materials.
• Source reduction claims should be qualified.  If weight, volume, or toxicity have been reduced, by how much and compared to what?
• Refillable.  Need to have a collection or refill program set up.  If it is up to the consumer to be creative, get rid of the claim.
• Ozone Safe and Ozone Friendly.  Good Luck!

Obviously some big ticket items are missing, like carbon neutral, carbon recapture, carbon credits, etc.  The Ozone layer was the big concern/buzz words when these guides were initially drafted.  We now use a very different language to describe eco-benefits.   The FTC is currently reviewing these standards and will be issuing further guidance.  So stay tuned on the language we are actually using.

Main thing to remember:

When making any express or implied assertion or claim about the environmental attribute of a product or service, at the time the assertion was made, the marketer must have possessed and relied upon a reasonable basis (competent and reliable evidence) substantiating that assertion.

The “reasonable basis” is generally held to mean that there is reliable scientific evidence in the form of tests, analyses, research, studies, or other evidence based on the expertise of objective professionals in the relevant area.

The Green Guides are not actually enforceable regulations.  Compliance is completely voluntary.  These guides are an administrative interpretation of the laws administered by the FTC.  The real teeth are with Section 5 of the FTC Act.  Section 5 prohibits deceptive acts and practices in or affecting commerce.  So the only way the guides are enforced is that non-compliance may mean that you are failing to satisfy the rules in Section 5 of the FTC Act and the FTC can take corrective action there.

“Deceptive” is determined by three factors:

• There must be a representation, omission or practice that is likely to mislead the consumer
• Likelihood of misleading based on Reasonable person standard/Reasonable Group Standard.
• The misleading representation, omission or practice was material

The reasonable person standard/group standard looks at who the marketing is intended for, whether that is an individual, a sub-culture, or a definable group and determines how they would reasonably interpret the representation.  Materiality is present if the misleading claim is likely to affect the consumer’s conduct or decision regarding the product or service.  Omissions are included.  If you neglect to say something material, it is deceptive.

So having read all that (sure you did), what do you think?  Green Marketing or Green Washing?

*

* Picture taken from the “Greenwash Guide” by Futerra Sustainability Communications.

Tune in for my next blog post.  I will go over the current cases brought by the FTC and how companies have gotten into trouble.  I will also let you know how international transactions are being effected (Europe way harsher than the US thank god) and I’ll give you a heads up on what is heading our way.

Right now, I’m sitting in a room at the Hope Lodge at 132 W 32nd Street in NYC waiting for the Green Entrepreneurship Summit to start.

If you’re interested in learning about the green scene in NYC, here’s your chance.

If you want to see what’s happening, follow the #greenENT tag on twitter

The event is sold out, but if you want to watch it we’ll be streaming live via ustream. Here is the agenda to event, there are going to be some great speakers. Finally, here is the Green Entrepreneurship Summit Ustream

I have my video camera so I’m planning on getting some more in depth videos that I’ll follow up with.

This post was written by James Moreau who will be sharing his experiences in the cleantech scene in Boulder, Colorado. Can’t wait to learn more about what’s happening in Colorado. Connect with him @jrmoreau

I moved to Boulder, Colorado a little over a month ago from Madison, Wisconsin. All I had to my name was a few hundred bucks, a Toyota Yaris packed with everything I (decided) to own and a drive to make a fresh start on my career and overall life in a beautiful, thriving place.

Luckily I had some resources already in the area where I was moving to: my girlfriend, a cousin and some friends from the Boulder Startup Week that I had met when visiting in May. I’ve become somewhat of a proficient social networker with my past experiences in social media, so I figured that the strong base I had established when visiting Boulder Startup Week would help me get into a renewable energy or cleantech company easily.

How easily I had forgotten about the silos associated with renewable energy and cleantech companies.

After a few weeks of living in Boulder, I had met dozens of entrepreneurs and freelancers like myself who were rabidly looking to get involved with some sort of web-technology based startup within Boulder. I’d ask around, “do you have any contact in the local solar or wind industry?” I’d usually get a glance of either confusion or sympathy from a lot of people I asked that and a simple “nope” followed right after.

What gives? Boulder’s supposed to be one of the most happening cities in the entire country when it comes to Solar PV and other cleantech industries, just like Boston, San Francisco and Arizona. When I lived in Boston, I also had a heck of a time (between 2005 and 2009) getting my foot in the door of cleantech and renewables companies.

Oh, how easily the gainfully employed forget the guerrilla tactics of job searching, especially in niche industries!

Here are my top tips for someone planning to relocate who may or may not have contacts already, but not in the cleantech or renewable energy field they prefer:

• Find out where industry leaders and representatives are meeting socially. Boulder has so many computer programmer and social media expert meetups that you could fill every day and night of your week with attending them, but you probably will not find the people you want to talk to in relation to getting hired as a cleantech or renewables professional.
• Job boards are only a small part of the equation. I’ve only gotten one call back from a job board in my renewable energy job search, so I can’t say it’s completely not worth your time, but just be mindful of how many folks you’re competing with.
• If you don’t have technical skills (i.e. engineering, solar installation certification), assume you know absolutely nothing, but don’t let that stop you for a second in pursuing your passion for cleantech and renewable energy jobs. You’ll just need to shorten your learning curve and accentuate the skills you do have to compensate.
• Never, ever stop telling your story and asking people how you can help them and vice versa. Networking for any sort of job can be a challenge, but if it’s niche, sometimes you just won’t have a glaring culture of social beings buzzing around with a welcoming mat when you move to town. That’s okay, just be prepared to network twice as hard as you would normally and leave no stone unturned, no hands un-shaken and no business cards hanging.

As for me? Well, I’m just starting to dig my claws into the sustainability scene here in Boulder and I’m feeling good about some meetings I’ve had with chance encounters that manifested themselves from me being a pest to people who I believed to know everyone in town.

I thought to myself, how can the Vice President of one of the most popular and successful small businesses in town not know a single person in the sustainability related industries that I wanted to break into? Well, I asked this gentleman during a meeting he so graciously granted to me and while he didn’t have any direct correlating contacts with the jobs I was looking for, he hooked me up with a friend who knew a friend who was an absolute gold mine.

Now I’ve got 8 names of heavy hitters in town who are making some noise in the businesses I want to be a part of. Time to roll up my sleeves and get busy. I’ll let you all know how it goes!

James Ryan Moreau, a current resident of Boulder, Colorado, is a Worcester, Massachusetts native and graduated from college in Boston, MA with a Bachelors Degree in Public Relations. He was worked as a copywriter, community manager and social media strategy consultant for large consumer and b2b brands. His passion lies in building community and awareness around renewable energy and clean tech companies, personalities and policy through social media and brand evangelism.

This posts from Brian Hayden, on of our Boston industry insiders.

BOSTON – South Mountain Company is a thirty-year-old, employee-owned design and building company on Martha’s Vineyard.  One of the company founders, John Abrams, published a book in 2005 that changed the way I define success  – and he represents an important demographic for GLD readers.

‘The Company We Keep’ is part business book, part manifesto, part love story.  John sent me the book a couple weeks before I was to drive out to Martha’s Vineyard for an interview with South Mountain Company.  I was graduating from the MBA program at Babson College, knew I wanted to be part of the sustainability movement, and sensed there was some magic in this small building company.  I didn’t put the book down for the next week.  John is a talented writer, and in the book he challenges the ‘gospel of growth’, outlines the benefits of employee ownership, celebrates craftsmanship, and articulates the importance of place.  He made me want to be a better person and a more thoughtful professional.

Ultimately I decided to start a business rather than take a job so I didn’t go to work for South Mountain Company, but that brief interaction with the company changed the course of my professional life.  Have you ever had a brief experience like that, or an influential teacher, or an internship during a formative time that you’ll never forget?  I’d love to hear comments with those stories.

I’m also writing this post because John is part of a group of established professionals that have 30 years of experience from which to teach the younger, Green Light Distrikt crowd.  These are active guys in the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) with an unbelievable wealth of knowledge and perspective that might be helpful to some of us starting out.  Here’s John’s blog, which might be another useful source of information as we all triangulate toward the truth.

This post comes from Andrew Kitzenburg a recent college graduate from Babson College where he was heavily involved in founding the Green Tower on campus who is currently exploring his next move in cleantech in Boston and covering local events.

As a recent college graduate interested in sustainability, I have found it a daunting task trying to determine my path down the road of sustainability. Similar to many graduates, I have experienced feelings of uncertainty and doubt when trying to choose a career or find a job in the clean tech industry.  I identified key questions that helped me alleviate the prevalent chaos of this predicament; these key questions are important in helping me determine my optimal career path, yet I constantly revisit them as my answers constantly change.

• What am I interested in and passionate about?
• Where can I have the greatest Impact?
• What skills/knowledge do I have to thrive in that industry?

“Doing well by doing good” has been an easy adage to adopt, but determining how to do good are the most difficult questions to answer.

The scope of Sustainability is vast—many businesses are riding the sustainability trend.  From niche start-ups in clean tech to large companies rolling out corporate sustainability divisions, one can choose to go in many different directions. So how does someone who has no experience in the field decide what to focus on and where to go?

Learning from a combination of past experiences, advice given to me and constant personal deliberation, I have found it is always best to be open-minded—and as probing as possible.  I have built a solid foundation of knowledge in sustainable business as well as the clean tech industry because I have been proactive and open to learning everything I can (in any way) about sustainability-related fields and ventures.  This helps on a number of levels.

The quest for knowledge—whether it includes researching online, reading publications, or attending events—provides exposure and insight into the different areas of the clean tech industry and shows what is currently happening.  This insight is extremely valuable to have, as the landscape of the industry is constantly evolving and advancing.  Information exploration is not only valuable to recognize what is happening in the industry, but it also allows you to connect and converse with established industry figures. In my experience, one of the most helpful ways to learn more about and establish myself in the industry is to reach out to people who know more than I do—those who are willing to help.

Many people seeking a more sustainable future are very supportive to others working towards similar goals. These people will help others looking to “do good” through their work.

The questions I have posed are not easily answered, and the answers don’t necessarily stay the same. That is why I encourage everyone interested in sustainability and clean tech to keep exploring all that is out there.  Continuously strive to learn more and you will be well positioned when opportunities arise.

If you’re reading this, you are already on the right path of information exploration, and I’d like to hear what else has been effective for you in choosing your path in sustainability.

Hi, my name is Kosta and this is my first post as an Insider for The Green Light Distrikt.

Over the weekend, GLD has had a baby!

It’s a surprise, I know, and a very short pregnancy, but we now have a new member of the family: a new chapter in New York City.  Things move quickly around here!

Last week Chris put up a post expressing an interest in exploring the cleantech industry outside of Boston.  Which I personally believe is a brilliant idea because the industry has a presence in a number of locations around the United States. (Check out our survey)

One thing that’s really interesting about America is how it has organized itself.  There are over 300 million people here.  And like no other country in the world, cities are organized around industry clusters.  Washington DC for policy; Detroit for the car industry; Huston for oil and gas; New York for finance, fashion and advertising; San Francisco for technology innovation; Boston for R&D.

So why not take the platform that is GLD and take it national?

Chris and I got talking.  The thought was: “Can we create clusters of professionals in each city who are also uniquely active in their respective industries?  Wouldn’t that allow them to connect with people in other places, specializing in other areas?  New York finance people with Boston R&D people?   Washington policy people with San Fran project developers?”

I came to find Chris a little while ago because I have a background in the biofuels industry. Throughout 2007 and 2008, I was working for a publicly listed biofuels start-up and we were building a global portfolio of biofuels assets – ethanol, biodiesel, oilseed crushing, biomass power, fuel distribution, and alternative feedstock plantations in the US, Australia and Europe.  Our major asset was a 50 million gallon state-of-the-art biodiesel facility located in a little town called Beatrice, Nebraska.  I spent a lot of time there, and building that business was the most enjoyable and exciting time of my career.  Perhaps like some of you, I feel green energy pulsing through my bones!

I remember the very first time I saw GLD.  Something clicked.  My instant thought was “This is exactly what we need, a platform for young cleantech professionals to connect and share ideas.  Brilliant.”  Chris, I love your vision.

So we are officially announcing a new GLD “Cluster” in New York City

We have decided to replicate the model that Chris has pioneered in Boston and take the next step in New York City.

This is the plan over the next few months is to…

1. Collect a cluster of Insiders to write about the cleantech industry from the New York point of view.
2. Profile the most innovative companies and exciting innovations in the region.
3. Cover all the local cleantech events, and connect with local people in the industry.
4. We might even run a few events of our own.

Over to you

What do you think?  Do you like the idea of taking GLD national? Do you agree with the approach?

If you are based in New York and would like to get involved, let us know!  The doors are wide open.  We’re looking to create a cluster of about 10 insiders that can write about what is happening on the ground in New York City.

If this is something you think is interesting, why don’t you send us an email.

This post comes from Matt Marino, founder of Clean Pursuits a GLD Boston insider. Find him @cleanpursuits

BOSTON – I once heard that the blades of modern wind turbines are modeled after the fins of humpback whales.  I’m not sure its true, but there is a striking resemblance, and such a practice has a name in design and engineering: biomimicry.

There is a less specific, more systemic feature of natural systems that I am interested in: the role of diversity.  It seems that diversity has a protective effect on some of the most critical natural systems, which directly or indirectly impact social well-being and human health; for example, its role in natural carbon sequestration, water purification, curing disease, and – oh yeah – evolution.

So diversity is a good thing for nature, design, finance and energy – so what? Well, as a self-proclaimed innovation economist, I’m always looking for the traits and characteristics of nurturing innovative projects, teams, solutions, ventures and geographic “clusters” (See Chris’ new survey to elect your city), and research I conducted while in b-school led me to believe that diversity is a key component for driving innovation.  The hypothesis that I  didn’t, but would like to, research further: the passive investments in nurturing diversity to drive innovation are just as important as hard spending on R&D.

Of course, diversity isn’t just cultural – it can derive from the cross-pollination of and collaboration between public-private partnerships, intra-industry ventures, and institutional “mash-ups.”  The latter is the focus of projects like Upstate Venture Connect, a project seeking to accelerate the linkage between academia, private and institutional capital, and workforce and industrial capacity in upstate New York.

It’s my belief that the diversity in the U.S. is a prime factor for our nation’s innovation leadership.  Arizona S.B. 1070 notwithstanding, a long tradition of favorable immigration policies have led to what Tom Friedman calls “the world’s biggest and most diverse pool of high-I.Q. risk-takers.”  In my view, the U.S. is still uniquely positioned for “innovation incubation,” an important consideration for those who believe we can innovate our way out of global meltdown (pun not intended, but appropriate I suppose).

Humpback photo credit: Nancy Black.

I love the Boston cleantech scene, but I’m getting a little bored with it. There’s tons of events, business plan competitions and business developments constantly happening but I’m starting to feel like I’m just going through the motions.

Now, I’m really interested in seeing what’s happening in other US cities in cleantech.

I’m going to start with exploring the industry in NYC. I’ve started talking with pros in other cities and two weeks ago I had a great conversation with Erica Grigg who is helping to organize a great event in NYC on July 22nd called the Green Entrepreneurship Summit. The angle is very cool, ‘Scaling Up Without Selling Out’ the goal is to help green business owners who are looking to grow do so, without compromising their ideals. There are some great panelists speaking and I’m looking forward to going to the event. Personally, I’m very interested to see Michael Margolis speak as I’m realizing more and more business is about trust, relationships, and storytelling more then anything else. I’m planning on getting some great content at the event and doing a follow post. If you’re in NYC on July 22nd you should go, if you are fire me a tweet and I’ll be looking forward to seeing you there.

I’m very excited to go to the event and meet some amazing people and learn about what they’re working on in NYC. There are two other items I’m doing to explore the industry in other cities.

First, I’m in the process of recruiting more young industry insiders, working in cleantech in New York City and Boulder. We have one writer in each city right now, and our goal is ten. If you fit this profile, and are interested in joining our community, please contact me.

Second, The Green Light Distrikt is starting its yearly report on the Top 10 US Cleantech Cities. The goal is to crowd-source the research on the state of the cleantech industry and resources in US cities, compile the research, then make it free to the community. If you have any information that may be useful, think you might, or know someone who does, it would be awesome to get feedback. They survey is located on the post Top 10 US Cleantech Cities. Thanks for your help

Chris

This post comes from on our our new Boston industry insiders, Aaron Lindenbaum. Aaron’s first post is really awesome and can’t wait to see more from him. Stay tuned!

Project finance is the key to clean energy growth and many in the industry are worried about the ramifications on financing if the Recovery Act section 1603 cash grants AKA the “cash-in-lieu of tax credit” grants expire at the end of 2010, as they are set to do.  The success of 1603 has been undeniable as it allowed a streamlined way for these capital-intensive projects to get financed during the global recession, accounting for up to 30% of the capital expenditure of a project.

Different iterations have been introduced on Capital Hill to extend the grants.  Most recently, seven US Senators teamed up to propose an extension through 2012.  And most controversially, US Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) proposed to alter 1603 as the centerpiece of his proposed “Buy American” bill.

The financiers themselves are voicing how critical an extension of 1603 really is, simply because investors need to know that they’ll get a return on their investment in reasonably short order. Whether it’s continued as an extension of stimulus or part of a new energy and climate bill, cash grants must be addressed in the short term.  And the dealmakers, the ones who inevitably sign off to make these projects happen, are practically begging for the government to restore financial certainty for their investments.  The fear is that while Congress focuses on climate legislation in the long term, project finance will suffer, stifling the unprecedented industry growth we saw in 2009.

In fact, we’ve already seen a severe drop in the wind sector in 2010.  Experts are reeling that only 539 MW went online in Q1, down from the 2,800 MW put on in Q1 2009.  That said, there are certainly other factors in play besides uncertainty about cash grants, but the fact remains that credit markets are still frozen and the federal business energy investment tax credit (ITC) just won’t cut it for the bulk of new projects that are starved for capital.

The leading project financiers and clean energy executives in the US are convening this week in Manhattan at the 2010 Renewable Energy Finance Forum (or REFF-Wall Street) to discuss the financial state of the industry.  My colleagues and I at Rasky Baerlein are running the media component of the event and will be onsite at the Waldorf Astoria.  I’ve got my ear to the ground and will have some people sit in on the “View From the Major Investment Banks” session for me.  I’m interested in that one most because it includes heavy hitters in renewable energy finance from all the major investment banks, and I’m guessing that 1603 will be a much discussed topic.  Stay tuned…