Looking To The Future - Know Your Next Move

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

business in russia A Guide for Planning Ahead

A Father’s Journey Walking in Daniel’s Shoes

education r eform The Best Bang for Our Buck

From the Battlefield to Business

KNOW YOUR NEXT MOVE

American artist

Georgia O’Keeffe – PG 90 –

Richard “dick” Young

(left) Rear Admiral (Ret.) and Chairman of the Colorado Committee of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR)

Shane Schmutz

(middle) Army veteran, Bronze Star recipient, West Point graduate and founder of Veteran’s Passport to Hope

Lida Citroën

(right) Principal LIDA360

Beyond Science Fiction

Robots as Solutions

Pa An tr Int ic erv k ie G ww a i st th o n

Lida Citroën helps veterans transition to the civilian workforce by refining their personal brand – PG 40

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

KNOW YOUR NEXT MOVE

From the Battlefield to Business

business in russia

A Guide for Planning Ahead

A Father’s Journey

Walking in Daniel’s Shoes

Lida Citroën helps veterans transition to the civilian workforce by refining their personal brand

education r eform The Best Bang for Our Buck

– PG 40

American artist

Georgia O’Keeffe Beyond Science Fiction

Robots as Solutions

Energy Straight Talk A Glimpse into the Mind of John Hofmeister

Building a Better World

Complex and Challenging Issues in Wet Infrastructure

Pa An tr Int ic erv k ie G ww a i st th o n

– PG 90 –

DOING MORE WITH LIFE.

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DA N I EL S CO L L E G E O F B U S I N ES S

Ethical Practice.

Thought Leadership.

Global Impact.

Changing the way business thinks about the world, and how the world thinks about business.

Together, we’ll lead the way.  daniels.du.edu

table of contents | volume 5 issue 1

J

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Letter From The Editor

8

Letter From The Publisher

12

Inspirations

14

Advisory Board

18

focus on leadership

20

book review

104

Collaboration Close Up

108

Thank You

From the Battlefield to Business

Transitioning Our Veterans Into the Workforce

ust like generations of veterans before them, today’s soldiers are preparing to transition from the battlefield back to civilian life.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), there are 2.3 million veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and tens of thousands of additional troops returning home as the United States begins to withdraw from Afghanistan. For these soldiers, the homecoming doesn’t consist of parades and celebrations like the iconic images that symbolize the end of World War II. War is brutal and isolating. And for veterans, there can be confusion in trying to define the civilian from the soldier. Luckily, there are experts who understand the life they have led on the battlefield and how this can impact the transition into civilian life.

I had the pleasure of talking with one of the foremost international experts in personal branding about this topic.

Lida Citroën, of LIDA360, has a demonstrated passion for helping veterans refine their personal brand and prepare for the next stage in their lives.

In a show of gratitude for their service, she does all of this work pro bono. continued on page 40

The expression of the artist’s personal ideas and feelings and that such subject matter was best realized through harmonious arrangements of line, color and notan.”

– A r t h u r We s l ey D o w (Page 90)

If You Think Domestic Violence Does Not Affect You and Your Community…

Think AgaiN page 24

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pg 50 Energy Straight Talk

Helping refugees build safe and rewarding lives in America.

COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES CEDS supports refugees with economic self-sufficiency with the programs of Business Ownership, Asset Ownership and Financial Literacy.

1600 Downing Street / Denver CO 80218 • Telephone: 303.569.8165 • Fax: 303.557.5077 • www.cedsfinance.org

table of contents | volume 5 issue 1

Academia

22

50

80

Energy Straight Talk

Western Union Looks to the Future

A Glimpse into the Mind of John Hofmeister

An Interview with Patrick Gaston, President, Western Union Foundation

The Best Bang for Our Education Buck

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Etiquette Vintage Design Leading the Way to a More Thoughtful Fashion Generation

If You Think Domestic Violence Does Not Affect You and Your Community…Think Again

A Retrospective of New York Fashion Week’s Newest Designer

community

government

86 56 Allosource: Future Focus Makes Doing More with Life a Reality

60 28 Planning Ahead

iRobot: Beyond Science Fiction– Robots as Solutions

Doing Business with Russia and Succeeding

Extending Independent Living, Removing Bombs and Doing the Improbable

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62

City of Fort Collins Striving for Energy Sustainability

Adams Industries: State and Community Development Plans Boast Economic Incentives

38

Bringing New Business to Nebraska

Update From NREL International Activities

66 Looking to the Future Knowing Your Next Move

business

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40 From the Battlefield to Business

MWH Global: Complex and Challenging Issues in Wet Infrastructure

Transitioning Our Veterans Into the Workforce

An Interview with Alan J. Krause

44

74

Going Underground Uba House

Continuous Improvement with a Future Focus

A Father’s Journey Walking in Daniel’s Shoes

90 Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico Architecture, Katsinam and the Land

94 Peace Corp A Lifetime of Service

96 Milestones Project A Snapshot of Inclusion and Capturing What Is In Common

100 Leadership in Communication A Guiding Principle at CEA and Benchmark of Successful Organizations

25 Years of Focus on the Future

46 The Responsible Generation Leveraging Corporate Responsibility for Employee Attraction and Engagement

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102

Pythagoras Solar

Ethical Infrastructure and Organizational Culture

A New Window of Opportunity

Colorado Ethics in Business Association

BUILDING SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE BUSINESSES

ONE LEADER AT A TIME

Business Service Corps, LLC (BSC) assists high performing forprofit companies to develop, organize, implement and measure community outreach programs.

Vision~Strategy~Implement~Measure CSR Workshops / Executive Community Leadership Training / Community Investment Strategy / Employee Volunteer Programs / Community Performance Measurement

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Power to the Pawns!

By Jan Mazotti

E

veryone understands the analogy of chess to life and to business. However, I believe it is important to consider each of the roles of the game pieces as the strategies of long-term planning and implementation are considered. As entrepreneur and avid chess player Bob Rice argues, “The more you look at the business world, the more you see that successful companies and the people who run them use chess strategies routinely–whether they know it or not.”

Because chess is a game of strategy, business must rely on various strategies to “move them forward” in the game so that they can “win” by whatever method– checkmate, resignation or time-out. Gaining market share and momentum has similarities to chess as well.

Recognizing that experienced players– larger, more established organizations– often have the upper hand and are more powerful will be imperative as you or your business begins to consider market competition. Chess is not a game of luck–it is often that novices make more mistakes.

Another common chess theme is the concept of gaining market share. Chess experts say, “Never play for a 50 percent share. Playing for a draw is a fallback position.” Rice, who during his career

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leveraged a software play with the “king” of software–Microsoft–learned quickly that sometimes, “managers must do what chess players do–leverage something good into something unclear.” That strategy paid off for Rice, whose gamble turned into a lucrative business opportunity. Most important, however, is being mindful that a mistake can cost you the “game.”

Perhaps my favorite chess theme is that of the pawns, the least powerful pieces on the board. They can sometimes become the most powerful with persistence–meaning that the small ones occasionally win. We’ve seen it happen time after time–companies gaining competitive dominance and market share using strategy, persistence and perseverance. Rice likens pawns to employees who “can move mountains when their potential is unleashed.” And while the pawn may be considered the weakest piece on the board... a single one often makes the difference between victory and defeat.

Enjoy this issue!

All the best, Jan

LETTER FROM THE Publisher

The King How Chess Represents Business

By Gay l e De n di nger , w it h A n n et te Per e z

“

The great mobility of the King forms one of the chief characteristics of all endgame strategy. In the middlegame the King is a mere ‘super,’ in the endgame on the other hand–one of the ‘principals.’ We must therefore develop him; bring him nearer to the fighting line.”

- Aaron Nimzowitsch

I

like to use metaphors to articulate broad concepts. These metaphors (from previous issues of ICOSA) can be used to describe the processes of running a successful business. In my opinion, business is not much different from many board games–particularly chess. The infrastructure in this case is a board with 64 squares arranged eight by eight and alternating black and white. I often use the strategy of chess in everyday business life, and in this case, I use metaphors to describe the power of each chess piece.

The chess piece of the king represents the leader. The king is the figurehead but not necessarily the most influential player on the board. His presence is vital for the game to continue. The king sets the course and leadership toward the achievement of

In the pinnacle level, people follow because of who you are and what you represent. the organization’s vision, mission, philosophy, strategy and annual goals and objectives. The king–otherwise known as the chief executive officer–sets the direction by deciding which markets the company will enter, what » Continued on next page.

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» Copyright 2013 The John Maxwell Company. Articles accessed via http://www.johnmaxwell.com may not be reprinted or reproduced without written permission from The John Maxwell Company, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

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Letter from the publisher

companies are considered competitors, and what product lines will address the most needs of the market.

My job as a CEO is primarily five things: create a vision, align resources to accomplish the vision, transform the vision, develop the infrastructure that allows the vision to happen, and maintain continuity throughout. In this case, I recommend John C. Maxwell’s book The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential. Maxwell believes the five levels of leadership include

The result? Clarity of purpose, credibility leadership and integrity.

Throughout previous issues of ICOSA, we have discussed the importance of infrastructure, resources, vision, transformation, continuity and the 4 I’s (information, ideas, intelligence and innovation)–all collaborative principles I believe have driven the success of our company. I also believe that applying collaborative principles to leadership allows for better direction. A leader must provide structure and infrastructure;

In the ever-changing environment in which we find ourselves, the need for frequent assessment is even more critical to success.

Founder and Publisher Gayle Dendinger

President & Editor-In-Chief Jan Mazotti

Vice President and Editor-At-Large Kim DeCoste

Managing Editor Annette Perez

Contributing Writers

Colin Angle, Ben Bryan, Martha Butwin, Adam Cohen, Anna Conrad, Jim Czepiel, Kelly de la Torre, Peter Feather, Amy Fischer, Gail Frances, Diane Irvin, John Krohn, Larry Langley, Sherry Manning, Deborah A. Palmieri, Suzanne Pletcher, Maureen Quaid, Candace Ruiz, Jeff Rundles, Steve Sorensen, Jason Stephens, Cristin Tarr, Judith Taylor, Jennifer Van Fleet

Staff Writers

Michael Connors, Maria E. Luna, Emily Haggstrom

Advertising Inquires

Please contact Jan Mazotti at janm@icosamag.com

Art Director

Nick Heckman

1) position; 2) permission; 3) production; 4) people development; and 5) pinnacle.

In the position level, people follow because they have to. In the permission level, people follow because they want to. In the production level, people follow because of what you have done for the organization. In the people development level, people follow because of what you have done for them. In the pinnacle level, people follow because of who you are and what you represent.

Leadership, therefore, consists of taking action to clarify the vision. Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers; they can cut through an argument or debate to offer a solution everyone can understand. They also know how to stimulate and contain the forces of invention and change and to shift the process from one stage to the next. The task of a leader is ingenuity, resources and energy to change various circumstances. An assessment of strengths, weaknesses, skills, blind spots and a state of mind regularly occurs. Failing to assess these areas creates the possibility of hindering rather than assisting progress. This occurs when your existing bias does not match the reality of the current situation. In the ever-changing environment in which we find ourselves, the need for frequent assessment is even more critical to success.

coordinate resources by assembling and aligning the necessary resources; provide vision and inspire by looking at the past, the present and the future; take that strategy and execute it; continue to do the right things effectively; and finally empower and motivate various stakeholder groups.

The role of leadership is to imagine an enhanced future and become the transformation that makes the forthcoming conceivable. This is true of a business, a community or our personal life. Leaders work to get the best out of people. Therefore, all stakeholders are like chess pieces. Even though each person has different skills, authority, power, responsibility, strengths, weaknesses and potential, he or she each has a place to add value. If you, the king/ leader, put the correct team member in the right place, everyone benefits from the talent and potential. They are the ones looking to the future by knowing the next move!

Social Media Annette Perez

Copy Editor Maria E. Luna

Business Advisor Kelly de la Torre

ICOSA® welcomes editorial submissions from its readers.

Whenever possible, submissions should be sent in electronic format. All unsolicited materials should be submitted to the publisher at the address below. Items not sent electronically will not be returned. The publisher reserves the right to decline use of materials at their discretion and assumes no liability for unsolicited materials.

ICOSA® (ISSN1938-2081) is published four times a year. No part of ICOSA® may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. ©2013

ICOSA Corporate Headquarters 4100 Jackson Street Denver, CO 80216

Office 303.333.3688 Fax 303.333.4832 Email janm@icosamag.com Website www.icosamag.com All third class postage paid at Denver, Colorado To view an electronic copy of ICOSA® (ISSN1938-209X) or to get your free subscription, go to www.icosamag.com.

Sincerely, Gayle

Check the ICOSA Channel on YouTube www.youtube.com/user/ICOSAmagazine

Friend us at ICOSA Magazine on Facebook www.facebook.com/ICOSAMAGAZINE

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Cover Photo: Darryl Watson for ICOSA

MASTERS COLLECTION FRANK GEHRY MICHAEL GRAVES MARGARET McCURRY ZAHA HADID ROBERT A.M. STERN STANLEY TIGERMAN

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INSPIRATIONS

Dick Fleming

By Gay l e De n di nger w it h A n n et te Per e z

O

League Baseball to Denver. He also played a lead private sector role in the partnership between former Mayor Federico Peña and former Governor Roy Romer, driving major economic development initiatives, including two successful airport elections, negotiating with airlines and obtaining federal funding to develop $5 billion Denver International Airport.

n January 15th I had the pleasure of attending The Denver Forum luncheon with speaker Dick Fleming. The Denver Forum is an organization dedicated to the dialogue of democracy, and 25 years after its inception, it continues to promote programming that is in the highest public interest.

Fleming’s presentation shared reflections of when he was CEO of both the Denver Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Denver Partnership. He has over 30 years of CEO and practitioner experience in Atlanta, Denver and St. Louis.

Fleming’s influence on the Denver region started in the early 80’s. From 1980 to 1986 he was President and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, Inc. The Downtown Denver Partnership, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that creatively plans, manages and develops Downtown Denver as the unique, diverse, vibrant and economically healthy urban core of the Rocky Mountain region.

“When you’ve been in a role for almost 17 years, the timing becomes a function when it feels right.”

Fleming has many ties to the Denver area - Dick Fleming formerly leading the Denver Chamber of Commerce for seven years from 19861993. His efforts in Denver also included the new Colorado Convention Center which was the centerpiece of the Downtown Area Plan, passage of a quarter-billion dollar city bond initiative, metro-wide referendums establishing six-county funding for the Scientific and Cultural Facility District; a six-county Stadium District; and the recruitment of Major

» Credit: Ffooter / Shutterstock.com

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In 1994 Fleming was appointed as the President and CEO of a 174-year-old organization–the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association–where he rejuvenated it. In 2012 Fleming left the position stating “When you’ve been in a role for almost 17 years, the timing becomes a function when it feels right.” A true collaborator, Fleming’s key achievement was the design and implementation of public/private partnerships at the local, regional and national levels including sub-cabinet grant making roles at the federal level, including the creation and management of multi-billion dollar grant programs such as the $3 billion Community Development Block Grant, the $1.2 billion Urban Development Block Grant, the $15 million Neighborhood Self Help Development, and the $15 million Livable Cities program.

Fleming earned his undergraduate degree from Loyola College. He has two masters degrees, one from Wharton School of Finance and Commerce and the second in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts.

Fleming remains in the St. Louis region doing philanthropic work.

I am inspired by the leadership of Dick Fleming. As a result of his influential guidance he has led Denver into great economic strides, including most of the city’s key tourism areas. When I fly out of Denver International Airport, gain business from a tradeshow at the Convention Center or enjoy a game of Colorado Rockies baseball I have Mr. Dick Fleming to thank.

There isn’t an app for this.

Live, learn, and work with a community overseas.

Be a Volunteer.

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Advisory Board

Jennifer L. Cook

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ennifer Cook has been the Communications, Academic and Cultural Affairs officer at the Consulate General in Denver since January 2005. Her position is part of the Political, Economic and Public Affairs program, which covers Canada’s relations with the four Rocky Mountain states of Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming, and more recently, Kansas. Shortly after the office opened in the fall of 2004, and as the first hire for the position, Jennifer helped establish the consulate’s Public Affairs program including creating and implementing various outreach tools and activities. In her role, she is responsible for building strategic alliances with organizations that can help assist in the delivery of Government of Canada key messaging and support the Canadian position on issues of mutual interest; advising on media relations strategies and outreach including, securing earned media coverage on priority issues; supporting mission-wide communications efforts including writing and editing news releases, briefing materials, speeches and other outreach materials as needed; and raising awareness for the Canada–U.S. relationship and enhancing Canada’s visibility in the territory through strategic cultural partnerships and events, where the consulate can convey key messaging. She was recently assigned the Academic Relations portfolio where she builds bilateral relationships to highlight Government of Canada priority issues; promote Canadian universities and study opportunities.

Cook has more than 15 years of experience as a communications professional with expertise in translating organizational missions into targeted messages designed to advance strategic public relations goals. She has had success in tailoring and disseminating key information to a variety of constituencies through multiple channels of communication as well as a solid background advocating the missions of nonprofit organizations focused on international and cultural issues.

Keenly interested in environmental issues, Cook is particularly interested in growing opportunities for advocacy initiatives focused on environmental issues and the arctic, including promoting Canada’s efforts to deal with conservation and climate-change, as well as the consulate’s initiatives to build bilateral academic partnerships and technology transfer in the area of clean technology development and environmental research. She recently began working on advocacy issues related to the Canada–U.S. security and defense relationship as well.

Her hobbies and personal interests include the arts, yoga and outdoor activities such as skiing, hiking and scuba diving, and international travel. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

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She has lived, studied and worked abroad in France and Australia, and has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Turkey, Costa Rica, Fiji, the Caribbean and Mexico. Jennifer holds two BA degrees in English (cum laude) and French literature and an MA in journalism and mass communication from the University of Colorado in Boulder. She also studied in France at the University of Bordeaux and in Annecy. She has completed a Web Writing Certification program at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., and recently completed an Ecology of Leadership program.

Cook’s feature articles have appeared in national publications. In addition, she has volunteered for a variety of nonprofit organizations such as Engineers Without Borders, Boulder County Safehouse, Sundance Film Festival, and Boulder Philharmonic.

Jennifer L. Cook Consulate General of Canada Communications, Cultural Affairs and Academic Relations Officer 1625 Broadway Suite 2600 Denver, CO 80202 t: 303.626.0640 e: Jennifer.Cook@international.gc.ca w: www.canadainternational.gc.ca/ denver/index.aspx?view=d

Advisory Board

Kim J. Huntley

K

im Huntley is the founder and CEO of Supply Chain Enterprises, a company dedicated to providing new and cost savings solutions to the Department of Defense (DOD) and commercial ventures in the energy and product areas.

As the former director of the Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) and the former Chairman of the Interagency Working Group (IAWG) for Alternative Fuels and Energy Solutions, Huntley has a long history of commitment to the defense of our nation.

During his tenure with DESC, Huntley maintained an active agenda to promote the use of alternative energy in the Defense Department, and with other Federal Agencies. Under his leadership, IAWG united the Armed Services and Federal Agencies by identifying research and development that would promote alternative energy and reduce redundancy across the services and agencies. In effect, IAWG provides a tool to reduce waste, and focus interagency attention on mutual goals. Through his efforts with IAWG, Huntley was able to work with many senior appointed leaders including Vice Admiral Phil Cullom, the current Navy N4 logistics director and Mr. Paul Bollinger, former Army Undersecretary of Defense for Energy.

Huntley witnessed first-hand how technologies developed to provide military solutions could be rolled out into the private sector, to provide solutions to the consumer, while at DESC. Defense bases have adopted alternative energy solutions at an amazing rate, and have used commercial partners in these endeavors.

One of the areas that he championed is modification of base camp LOGCAP contracts to require at least a 10-15 percent alternative energy solution on their operations. This strategy places the burden of finding the right solutions on the commercial LOGCAP contractors.

The result: faster implementation than the regular DOD acquisition cycle.

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Huntley is also on the board of directors of Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (ASTI) demonstrating his passion for advanced energy solutions. Ascent Solar manufactures flexible, lightweight CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) modules that allow for seamless integration of solar power into a limitless number of applications without the restrictions of conventional glass panels. Ascent’s high-efficiency modules provide the transformational ability to generate power anywhere, anytime. It is solutions like these that excite Huntley; solutions that reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, and improve the environment. Ascent Solar has been on the cutting edge of DOD and aerospace solar technology. For example, they have recently introduced their iPhone 4/5 and Samsung III Galaxy solar chargers, and have been working with the Special Forces and the U.S. Army to develop battlefield solar solutions, as well as future solar enhancements to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Using over 37 years of DOD and U.S. Navy experience, Huntley matches technology solutions to particular challenges within the military, various government agencies and private industry; coordinates the right parties from various agencies or facets of private industry that can work with companies to confirm market opportunities; both commercial and military, and matches complementary companies with each other. Conversely, where it’s determined that market opportunity does not exist; he works with companies to pivot their technology focus to take advantage of true market opportunities.

After retirement there is more work to be done. Luckily, Huntley is staying in the game, and he is always on the lookout for companies that can provide real solutions to today’s energy challenges.

Kim J. Huntley Supply Chain Enterprises Chief Executive Officer t: 703.606.7064 e: kimjhuntley@aol.com w: http://supplychainenterprises.com/Home

Center on Domestic Violence Effecting Change, Ending Violence

Domestic violence takes a staggering toll on this nation.

The annual cost of lost productivity in U.S. companies due to domestic violence is estimated as $727.8 million with over 7.9 million paid workdays lost per year. — CDC, 2003

A 2005 national phone survey found that 21% of full-time employed adults were victims of domestic violence and 64% of them indicated their work performance was significantly impacted. — CAEPV, 2005

The Center on Domestic Violence acts as a catalyst for new solutions to the causes and consequences of domestic violence. www.domesticviolence.ucdenver.edu

Contact us.

focus on leadership | Changing Company Culture

Planning for a Better Company Changing Company Culture B y A n n a C o n r a d

During these touchy conversations, we dispelled defensiveness and assured ownership of the results by the leadership team by making sure that no specific division or leader was singled out. We met with the CEO and senior vice president (SVP) of human resources privately before the larger debrief with the senior team to discuss areas of concern, ensure that there were no surprises for them, and gauge their support of the findings and suggestions.

Step 2: Mirror, Mirror

Y

ou could almost taste the hostility in the room. Finally someone spoke. “Let me tell you what happened last year. One of our developers’ wives was scheduled for a cesarean section. His manager insisted that he attend a client meeting in the morning because the operation wasn’t scheduled until the afternoon.”

This story was almost identical to other stories we had been hearing for over two months. A telecommunications client asked us to identify the current company culture, help change it to one that would help improve employee retention, and create a place where people would want to work. Identifying the current culture was pretty easy because we heard stories such as this one in just about every meeting and individual conversation. Changing it, on the other hand, was a little more difficult.

Poisonous cultures such as these will affect everything from your company’s performance (how well do you think the employee who attended the client meeting represented the company that day or days that followed?) to the way your brand is perceived, such as the tell-all op-ed pieces of Goldman Sachs’s Greg Smith.

Changing the culture is not an impossible task–hard–but not impossible. Cultures are identified by the way people treat one another and the stories that circulate throughout the company. The job of the company’s leadership is to change the stories that are being told, replacing the old ones with ones that reflect what you want it to feel like to work at the company.

I will share what we did with the telecommunications client that changed the stories employees told one another and the stories they shared with others outside the company. (How many people do you think the employee and his colleagues told about the cesarean section?) The following are the seven steps we followed, although some were done consecutively with others.

Step 1: Leadership Team Buy In The first thing we did was ensure that the leadership team was aware of the need for the change. We did this by presenting turnover rates and sharing some of the stories we heard during the cultural assessment interviews. Finally, we asked a simple question: “Is this a place that you would want to work?” Responses from the leaders varied from shock to embarrassment.

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Because company culture is defined by its leadership, the leadership team was open to seeing what their role in the culture was.

We conducted customized 360 reviews for the leadership team that focused on the behaviors we wanted to change, as well as those that we wanted to incorporate throughout the organization, such as honest, respectful communication. Only the individuals received their results; we did not share the 360s with the larger group, or even with the CEO. However, we did create an analysis and recommendations based on previous employee discussions and the 360s. Similar to the results of the cultural assessment we discussed in Step 1, we met with the CEO and SVP of human resources ahead of time to discuss areas of concern, ensure that there were no surprises for them, and gauge their support of the findings and suggestions.

The results were full of impact and immediate, with noticeable behavior changes by the leadership team. This step is critical because executives must lead the change by transforming their own behavior.

Step 3: Values and Vision In conjunction with the 360 reviews, we took a hard look at the stated values and vision of the organization. Not surprisingly, the values and vision were aligned with the old culture of revenue at all costs. We created new values with specific behaviors.

For example, the value of profitability changed to customer focus, and we pushed even further and created specific behaviors to support a customer-focused environment. These facilitated team sessions were then conducted throughout the rest of the organization. During this process, the operations team created the following action for a customer-focused company by saying, “We are customer focused by listening intently to our internal and external customers.” (We will create formalized organizational competencies in 2013 that align with the values).

Within two weeks of the 360 debriefs and leadership team value session, the CEO and all members of the leadership team conducted employee road shows to discuss the results. Senior leaders looking employees in the eye and being accountable for the findings was a powerful experience for both the leaders and employees, and one that immediately changed the vibe of the organization.

Step 4: Policies Collaborating with the human resources lead, we examined policies that related to employee selection, retention, pay practices, and talent management. We were able to identify areas that conflicted with the new culture, and modified the policies and procedures to ensure that they met both business needs and the new culture.

Step 6: Training and Development Culture change depends on behavior change. Therefore, all employees must clearly understand what is expected of them, and they must know how to perform the new behaviors. Training can be very useful in both communicating expectations and teaching new behaviors.

Previously, the organization’s training focus had been on technical areas, with professional and leadership development being offered to only a few senior leaders.

We developed a five-year training plan that included a supervisor and manager leadership program; an executive coaching program; an emerging leader program for high-potential senior managers and directors; formalized job shadowing; general business acumen training; the Jump Start Program–a new leader assimilation program; and team effectiveness sessions to build trust, starting with the leadership team.

Step 7: Overcommunicate The communications plan we developed ensured that employees were constantly kept informed of the culture change process, its goals, and actions, and was an imperative step to changing the stories in the company.

Changing the culture is not an impossible task–hard– but not impossible.

Even though changing company culture is surely a journey, it can be done successfully. Some may buy in and some may not, but if you allow for various opportunities for everyone to participate, the results are oftentimes more meaningful.

Step 5: Redesign Rewards, Recognition, and Work Systems The rewards and recognition programs were examined and refined to encourage the behaviors vital to the desired organizational culture. We took a close look at all programs to ensure that teamwork as well as individual work was rewarded. We changed executive compensation so that bonuses were dependent upon how the executive worked with teammates, not just the accomplishment of their department’s goals.

We also changed a key metric for the call centers from average handle time to one-call resolution and development flexibility for incentives, with the employees determining how they would be rewarded when possible (i.e., monetary, time off, etc.).

Anna Conrad, JD, is an expert in organizational effectiveness and leadership development and is president of Impact Leadership Solutions. She has more than a decade of experience in executive and leadership coaching, group facilitation, leadership development and training. Conrad has been a trusted confidante to leaders in numerous Fortune 500 companies, including the financial, telecommunications, legal and health care sectors, as well as in academia, government and nonprofits. To learn more, visit www. impactleadershipsolutions.com. volume 5 issue 1

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book review |

Naked Value Six Things Every Business Leader Needs to Know About Resources, Innovation and Competition

By Maria E. Luna

Brown looks into the essential benefit a product offers and tells what the business is about, “customers purchasing resources that are organized into products, and they use those resources as long as the resources provide a desired benefit,” said Brown. “Only by knowing the relationship between the essential benefits delivered and the quantity of resources required to deliver them can businesses act methodically to innovate, gain competitive advantage and achieve naked value,” said Brown. Naked Value decodes a product’s real benefit to the customer.

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When asked who Brown would like to meet from history, he answered Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi is known for his extraordinary morality. Gandhi’s ethics share a similarity to the ethics Brown describes as awareness of interdependence. It takes the idea of ethics and makes it a pragmatic thing. What would Gandhi say about sustainability?

While most companies focus on waste management, scorecards and reporting, Brown offers a strategy that focuses on materials initially put into a product, and evaluates if that material can be more efficient.

Howard Brown has dedicated his work life to the pursuit of business opportunities that arise from creative environmental management practices.

For more than 20 years as CEO of Resource Planning & Management Systems (RPM), Inc., he worked with major corporations to establish or enhance their environmental practices and performance. His proven techniques are still state of the art at universities and corporations around the globe today, and he continues to push the leading edge with new ideas.

For two decades, Brown was a popular lecturer at Yale University and at Wesleyan University, where his courses on environmental planning and economic development inspired countless students to become leaders in this field.

Brown was also a student and colleague of R. Buckminster Fuller and is an authority on the social and economic implications of Fuller’s work.

oward J. Brown, dMass Inc. co-founder and co-author of Naked Value: Six Things Every Business Leader Needs to Know About Resources, Innovation & Competition, discusses a method that encourages engagement and taking action by “focusing on managing resource inputs instead of managing the consequences of using those resources.” Naked Value describes an established perspective on how to use a sustainable business strategy. “You’re operating your business today in a world that’s fundamentally different than it was even a decade ago and changed circumstances call for a change in strategy.”

Brown has been intrigued by business efficiency since the 1970s, long before being green and sustainability were trendy. With more than 30 years of experience, Brown’s expertise is in the intersection of business and environment; the direction of innovation; innovations that deliver more wealth with fewer resources (resource performance); naked value; and Buckminster Fuller concepts.

Sustainable business strategies have become prevalent in business; sustainable practices are evaluated, offered as university concentrations and popular in general. Brown examines in Naked Value how the world is changing fundamentally and how a company’s awareness of what they produce is more important than ever because of increased scarcity in material. Brown gives an example; “Pepsi, motivated by volatile oil prices, is working to eliminate petroleum from its bottles and is planning to use bio-waste from its various product lines to make bottles.

Many other manufacturers and retailers are also cutting plastic and weight from packaging for the same reason.”

Brown’s background covers working in resource reduction with businesses, government and organizations. Inspired by R. Buckminster Fuller, Brown both worked with him and learned from Fuller that, “You can make money by making sense, but you can’t make sense by making money,” said Brown. dMASS and Naked Value work hand in hand to deliver dMASS Inc.’s mission to identify hidden risks and opportunities for businesses and inventors. The term dMASS means the reduction of mass through design. The company draws on the rich database of emerging technologies, high-performing innovations and new business models that help clients become more competitive while aligning with the environment and business.

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“You can make money by making sense, but you can’t make sense by making money.”

- Howard J. Brown

further info about dMASS • V isit dMASS at www.dmass.net.

• Y ou can also connect with dMASS on Twitter @dMASS_net.

• C heck out dMASS videos at http:// www.youtube.com/user/dMASSnet.

• N aked Value is available in e-book and paperback through Amazon and other outlets; contact dMASS directly for a discount on bulk purchases of signed copies if you’d like to use the book for a team project, business event or class. Write to info@dmass.net.

Visit www.icosa.co/naked_value for ICOSA’s video interview with Howard Brown.

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Academia

Early Childhood Ed ucation

The Best Bang for Our Education Buck

By Larry Langley

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he past several years have seen the debate over education reform versus simply pitching more dollars at status quo public education intensify and get ridiculously nasty. To fix America’s broken education system and create a skilled workforce to make the U.S. more competitive in a global economy, we must focus the conversation on the real issues to reap the rewards we want and expect.

Our kindergarten through higher-education systems find the usual suspects: traditionalists pleading that more money is the remedy for successful student achievement and reformers who insist on leaner specific programs and aligning funding to focused teacher evaluations and stronger interventions for students who are not meeting proficiency in specific disciplines.

Both sides seem to have the research and data that supports their position in this escalating and increasingly divisive argument: getting public education on the right track. Meanwhile, graduation rates continue to drop and remediation rates continue to rise, state education budgets are being cut, and the gatekeepers for no change do everything they can to keep promising reforms on the shelf. The private-business sector, public sector, labor unions, educators, legislators, parents and students cannot seem to find level ground to agree on anything, much less produce solutions that actually work. Then taking those solutions to scale is another issue.

Considering this, is there any hope or anywhere we can all make an investment in education in which there is solid proof of return on investment and something that works? YES, there is!

As someone who represents some 300,000 employees in the state of New Mexico, making sure that we have an educated and skilled workforce for the immediate and distant future is part of the daily thought process and quest of the New Mexico Business Roundtable. I’ve often thought that if we could implode public education in the United States and start all over we could redesign it much the way states are building their early-learning programs and systems. Early Childhood Education seems to be gaining traction and showing results in states where investments are being made in the education of children ages birth to five years old.

Nearly three years ago, I attended an education symposium and listened to a doctor whose practice was in the area of child mental development. Typically, the information at these events is not new or groundbreaking enough to take notes, much less create a shift in our own personal paradigms. But while I listened to this doctor, I was astonished to learn that nearly 85 percent of the human brain is developed between the ages of 4 and 5. Common sense told me that

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if the brain were developed by that age, then motor skills, cognitive skills and, yes, even patterns of social skills must also be solidifying in their development.

Fast forward to yet another forum I attended recently where several CEOs of our nation’s largest technology companies were conveying the urgency of understanding technology development in the U.S. and globally as well as how rapidly technology would be changing over the next 24 months. One CEO spelled out the technology revolution and its speed like this: He had us envision a student who would be graduating from high school in May 2013. Then he transported us back to the beginning of that child’s educational journey. He reminded us who the student that was entering first grade in the early 2000s actually experienced more fax machines than computers in homes and offices.

Graduation rates continue to drop and remediation rates continue to rise, state education budgets are being cut, and the gatekeepers for no change do everything they can to keep promising reforms on the shelf.

That statistic stopped me in my tracks and had me Googling to see if technology had really come that far over the last decade, and what I found was astounding. Just one decade ago, the Internet as we know it only had about 250,000 pages of information available. Today, however, in the time it takes you to recite the Pledge Of Allegiance, 250,000 pages of information have been added to the World Wide Web. What’s more, the speed in which technology

advanced over the last 12 years will be lapped by the proliferation of technology developments in the next 24 months. Our nation has gone from cell phones to smart phones and iPhones in a flash. Personally, I can’t keep up with the technologies that will best serve my needs. And, it seems that as soon as I make a decision, my choice is obsolete. Considering this, when I think about technology progressing at an ever-faster pace, it makes me question if I have the transferable skills to not become obsolete myself. After all, don’t we want to target our energy and resources when and where things are happening? And, where do these two issues of early childhood development and education and technology development intersect?

to adapt to a seemingly daily change in the way we do business is imperative. It doesn’t matter whether a high-school graduate is planning on a higher-education track or heading directly into the workforce–the knowledge and transferable skills necessary to be successful are the same.

I can remember just a few years ago when our business leaders were telling me that if we could just get students graduating from high school on time with a few soft skills like showing up for work on time and knowing how to dress respectfully–then they could take it from there and provide the specific training necessary for the jobs that were open. That is no longer even remotely the case. The need for every new employee to have the technical and critical-thinking skills

invest in education and training, shouldn’t we recognize the critical nature of investing in those early years so that the workforce who will be on duty in 12 to 15 years have the transferable skills necessary and the ability to adapt to an ever-changing technologically advanced global economy?

Technology is certainly changing–and changing fast! If the human brain is 85 percent developed by age five–doesn’t it make sense to pay close attention to investing our financial and human resources and keen attention to skills on children in this birth to five-year-old age bracket? As business leaders concerned about our workforce and considering the trillions of dollars we continue to

I say, “YES!” The research and data tell us that front-loading a child’s education will certainly require a lesser investment later.

Never mind the preponderance of evidence that is showing us learning levels at the earliest grades are definitive predictors of incarceration space needed for when those students become adults. Never mind that establishing a solid educational foundation even before pre-kindergarten is showing amazing results moving through the educational pipeline. We must be giving critical attention to early childhood education and the impact on brain development in those first four to five years of life and how that transfers to an ever-changing, technology-centered economy.

So far, the investments states are making in these earliest-age programs are showing the very best bang for our buck.

Larry Langley is the chief executive officer for the New Mexico Business Roundtable and serves as chair of the New Mexico Early Learning Advisory Council. He is on the board of Ready Nation, a national organization with focus on early learning in the U.S. To learn more about the New Mexico Business Roundtable, visit www.nmbree.org. To learn more about the New Mexico Early Learning Advisory Council, visit www.newmexicokids.org.

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Academia

University of Colorado at Denver Domestic Violence Center

If You Think Domestic Violence Does Not Affect You and Your Community…

Think Again

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ry Googling domestic violence on the web, and suddenly 116,000,000 hyperlinks appear. Then Google shootings or violence, and hundreds of millions more hyperlinks appear. Although these searches link us to stories, many of which are not peer-reviewed scientific studies, they are stories about a pervasive phenomenon nonetheless and are a growing part of our ongoing collective conversation.

Unfortunately, these discussions only escalate in the public discourse after a horrific event steals our attention through a stunning headline or when it directly affects our personal lives.

But there are dedicated professionals and advocates for whom these stories are real each and every minute of every day. They are the fearless foot soldiers on the war against domestic violence.

Some questions exist whether the “domestic” in domestic violence (DV) is exclusive to intimate partner relationships, or if in fact DV actually casts a wider shadow inclusive of the greater collective community. In reality, aren’t we all intrinsically linked together when these horrific stories being reported in the media shatter our trust in humanity? Didn’t we mourn together as a community of Coloradans when the brutal murder of Jessica Ridgeway yanked us from our illusion of safe, tree-lined neighborhoods just a few months ago? What about the brutal mass murder at a movie theater in Aurora that has once again thrust Colorado into the epicenter of violence? These are just a few of our local horrors. What about the almost daily reporting nationally?

Violence is violence. Period.

According to World Law Direct, “Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one partner against another in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family or cohabitation.”

DV, so defined, has many forms, including physical aggression or assault (hitting, kicking, biting, shoving, restraining, slapping, throwing objects), or threats thereof; sexual abuse; emotional abuse; controlling or domineering; intimidation; stalking; passive/covert abuse (e.g., neglect); and economic deprivation.

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By Gail Frances

DV includes more than physical violence; it can also encompass endangerment, criminal coercion, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, trespassing, harassment and more, including shootings, bullying, trafficking and human degradation of any kind–they all fit under this category.

When considering the economic health of our nation, we define the gross domestic product (GDP) as the expenditures, incomes and output of all private, public and government entities as measurements of an indicator of economic health of our country. Domestic violence is also an indicator of the health of our country–the health of our country’s psychological, moral and ethical well-being. Although the cost may not appear as a line item on a profit and loss report, the cost is financed by private, public and government entities.

The human toll is impossible to quantify.

Thinking that DV does not have consequences that affect each of us is in a sense

How do we ignore these events when domestic violence impacts all of us, in one way or another? When it intersects our businesses, our schools, religious institutions, where we engage in recreation–no one and no place is exempt.

turning a blind eye to domestic violence, which gives unintentional sanction to this continued atrocity.

DV is often mistakenly construed as affecting a narrowly defined isolated community of victims and perpetrators. Rarely is there a deep examination of the reverberating waves that extend into our shared communities, places of worship and businesses.

How do we ignore these events when domestic violence impacts all of us, in one way or another? When it intersects our businesses, our schools, religious institutions, where we engage in recreation–no one and no place is exempt.

Many common myths are still woven into a false belief system about DV, such as: domestic violence is not a problem in my community; domestic violence only happens to poor women and women of color; people deserve to be hit; alcohol, drug abuse, stress and mental illness cause DV; and DV is a personal problem between a husband and a wife.

When two players on Steubenville High School’s prestigious football team, the Big Red, reportedly drugged a 16-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her, carrying her unconscious body by the wrists and ankles from party to party, urinating on her and abandoning her at the end of the night at her parents’ house–it forced the community to assess its moral character. These were the sons of prominent community members, possible church members. What happened in their life experience that allowed these young men to think that this behavior was acceptable? Don’t we have a shared moral and ethical responsibility to educate our youth about the reverberating effect of such barbaric atrocities?

University of Colorado (Denver, Boulder and Health Sciences Center) and local domestic violence policy practitioners. Beginning in fall 1998, the program steering committee for SPA met regularly to explore the ability and capacity of the university to design and conduct a national program that provides educational opportunities that enhance leadership in the areas of program administration and policy development aimed at improving the prevention of violence as well as the provision of services for women and children who have been victimized

by DV. The program design was completed, and the first students enrolled in fall 2000.

The truth is … domestic violence affects everyone.

Looking ahead, the University of Colorado at Denver (UCD) is doing something about DV with the first ever Domestic Violence Center at the Schools of Public Affairs (SPA). In collaboration with members of the domestic violence practitioner community, SPA has developed an educational program designed to assist in solving the critical social problem of domestic violence through leadership development. This program provides the opportunity for individuals throughout the nation–from small towns, large urban areas and even the most remote of communities– to earn a master’s of public administration or master’s of criminal justice degree with a focus on domestic violence policy and organizational management.

This program represents the cooperative effort of faculty from three campuses of the

Domestic violence is also an indicator of the health of our country–the health of our country’s psychological, moral and ethical well-being.

The goal of the Center on Domestic Violence is, ultimately, to end violence in the lives of women and children. In order for this to happen, the center says three strategic approaches are needed: • Leaders must be prepared with the full range of knowledge and skills necessary to creatively and effectively confront the challenges of intimate partner violence in society today and contribute to the movement toward its end.

• Original research on promising solutions to domestic violence must be done and be well distributed to inform quality intervention and prevention programming nationwide.

• Collaborative opportunities between academic professionals and practitioners must be enhanced to promote community-informed methods of addressing DV. The center’s vision is ultimately focused on the widespread incorporation of domestic violence information into the curriculum of professional schools to train attorneys, doctors, military personnel, clergy, therapists, teachers and other professions likely to encounter battered women or their children. With regular use of evidence-based research on domestic violence by practitioners, policy-makers and advocates, the center hopes to provide effective services to victims and advance promising solutions to the root causes of intimate partner violence through well-trained leaders and managers for nonprofit and public service organizations working to stop violence against women. There are programs in service provision where organizations can become successful agents for change in their communities and that disrupt/eliminate the negative social norms that enable violence against women.

The program is has a strong reputation, and students come from around the country and the world to participate in its academic programs, which combine online offerings with week-long “intensives” twice per year in Denver. Students may participate if they are:

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Academia

University of Colorado at Denver Domestic Violence Center

• Practitioners in the field of domestic violence–advocates, counselors, activists, social workers and other victims’ services and domestic violence workers– who seek to enhance their management and policy skills.

• Managers in related fields who seek to gain an understanding of domestic violence and the policies, services and public consciousness surrounding it.

• Professionals interested in making a career change or recent college graduates interested in entering the field of DV work.

Since its inception, the Center on Domestic Violence has emerged as a distinctive, award-winning national leader in the field of interpersonal violence and has made a profound impact on the capacity of leaders in the movement to make change and to end domestic violence by fostering institutional and social change through leadership development, education, research and community collaboration.

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Responding to a nationally recognized need, three primary goals define the work of the center: 1) develop skilled and informed leadership for the movement to end domestic violence; 2) inform and empower domestic violence service providers, advocates and policy-makers through original research; and 3) serve the community through direct services, training and advocacy.

violence in their communities. Designed initially for managers and administrators within nonprofit and public agencies, this model education program has been expanded to serve additional fields, such as health care and law enforcement. A variety of degree programs, certificates and professional training opportunities across several academic disciplines are offered.

If efforts to end violence against women and children are to succeed, quality leadership is needed. Individuals and organizations must be well prepared to advocate for change in policy and law, provide quality service and understand the factors that enable violence to continue. The center’s Program on Domestic Violence (PDV) is the first graduate-level academic program in the nation to address, through leadership development, the serious social issue of domestic violence. The PDV prepares individuals to more effectively reduce, respond to and prevent gender-based

Besides education, domestic violence service providers need access to community-based research that informs their ability to serve survivors and advocate effectively for change.

The center acts as a catalyst for original research on the consequences of, causes for and solutions to domestic violence while working to build strong, collaborative relationships between academics and practitioners. The center places an emphasis on applied research related to the implementation of professional development programs, as well as the evaluation of victim services, treatment and intervention methodologies.

Also, the center is home to the Domestic Violence Research and Action Coalition, a partnership of more than 100 individuals and organizations formed to encourage the production, distribution and use of research that promotes community and evidence-based solutions to violence.

Partnerships with the community are key to the success of the center. It works in partnership with a broad cross-section of local and national community- and campus-based organizations to advance creative solutions to intimate-partner violence through training and service.

In fact, the center regularly provides training opportunities and forums to the community, bringing together human services practitioners, advocates, survivors and others to enhance knowledge and forge alliances across a wide spectrum of professions. To date, the center has trained more than 4,500 advocates, researchers and service providers in Colorado through its Community Education Series and Research Symposia, and it has

partnered with the Women of Color Network in the development of a national leadership training program for domestic and sexual violence victim advocates representing underserved communities The center creates innovative solutions to address gaps in service or advocacy by

joining with local partners and national organizations to address identified needs. In collaboration with community and campus partners, the center established the first emergency response, prevention education and victim assistance program for 55,000 students, faculty and staff on the largest college campus in Colorado–Denver’s Auraria Campus. Another service success included its END Violence Project to 30 public schools across Colorado to better equip personnel to identify children who have been exposed to interpersonal violence and to facilitate access both to intervention services for child victims and to prevention education for all students.

Under the visionary leadership of Barbara Paradiso, the Center on Domestic Violence at the School of Public Affairs is planning for the future. She was recently appointed to the Governor’s Domestic Violence Working Group because of her work on behalf of battered women and their children for more than 30 years, serving as an advocate, administrator and activist. Prior to her position at UCD, she developed and directed domestic violence programs for the Sunshine Lady Foundation of North Carolina, and for twelve years, from 1985-1997, Paradiso was the executive director of Boulder County Safehouse. She has had the honor of serving in leadership positions on a number of boards and commissions, including the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the YWCA of Boulder County. Paradiso has presented and provided consultation to organizations on a state, local and national level on effective nonprofit administration, as well as topics related to violence against women and children. “Domestic violence takes a staggering toll on this nation. The Center on Domestic Violence brings together the skills and resources of the university with

the real-world experience and expertise of advocates. Partnering in this powerful way creates tremendous opportunity for innovation and change,” she declares with passion in her voice.

On October 20, 2010, the Center on Domestic Violence held its 10th anniversary celebration, called Behind the Mask: Bringing Domestic Violence Center Stage, at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver. The event drew nearly 400 community leaders, students, alumni, supporters, policy-makers and advocates from across the state and the nation. The dramatic performance underscored the need for the academic programs, research projects and service initiatives provided by the Center on Domestic Violence. “For more than 30 years, concerted efforts have been made to end domestic violence, yet the devastation continues,” Paradiso said at the event. She added, “This event is dedicated to the millions of victims of domestic violence living behind a mask who must hide their abuse from friends and family out of shame and fear.”

Emcee for the evening, Terrance Carroll, former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, reminded the audience, “On any given day in Colorado, more than 1,200 women and children receive services as victims of domestic violence, and every 10 seconds a child witnesses one of their parents being beaten by the other. In any hour of the day, 365 days of the year, the number of children experiencing domestic violence is just shocking.”

As our communities continue to awaken to the enormous price of DV, both the human toll and the financial loss, more corporate and private partnerships have developed over time. But funding is never enough, and many sources have been challenged as a result of budget cuts. “The enormous needs and the hard work continue for the dedicated domestic violence professionals on the front line,” Paradiso explains. “We are reaching out to many local and national businesses and corporations with the goal of engaging their support for the center to help us usher in a second decade of programs, graduate achievements, and community partnerships committed to ending violence against women. We look forward to the progress we can achieve with our new partnerships.”

Gail Francis is a graduate of the center’s Program on Domestic Violence. She received her MPA in 2005 and was a graduate member of Cohort IV. She is a consultant with Leading Edge Advisors, a Denver-based consulting firm.

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government

| Doing Business With Russia

Russia stacks up quite well

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Planning Ahead Doing Business with Russia and Succeeding B y D e b o r a h A . Pa l m i e r i

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.S. companies can win in Russia! While now capturing only a tiny share of what is demonstrating to be a solidly performing market, this article details how the United States can better position itself and gain competitive advantage by planning ahead and seeking accurate knowledge about this challenging and often misinterpreted, misunderstood business environment in Russia.

Russia is now poised for unprecedented growth and integration into the world economy, and Americans are losing out by overlooking its potential. If we forge ahead, undaunted by misinformation and stereotypes, and guided by a careful study of economic data and forecasts with an understanding of key trends and issues, we are in a solid position to contain risks and enhance our probability of gain. On top of that, if we calculate into our strategic planning process the knowledge of how the Russians themselves are planning for their own economic, political and social future, then we use an even greater and superior methodology to guide our business investments and operations in Russia.

So let’s look at some specifics!

Evaluating 2012 and what’s ahead

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he year 2012 was a respectable year for Russia by any standard. The economy grew at an average rate of 3.5 percent; unemployment posted at a decent rate of 5.4 percent. Wage growth or real income showed growth at 8.8 percent and inflation at 6.6 percent, impressive considering that from 2000-2010; inflation was averaging nearly 13 percent. Russia’s middle class continued to grow, thrive and engage in consumer purchasing in the many new malls that have sprung up in Moscow and around the country. The 2012 budget did not run a deficit, finances remained stable and currency reserves grew. Tax policy and administration has remained predictable and competitive over the last decade, with a flat tax rate of 13 percent.

Russia ended the year with a budget surplus and almost no public debt, a significant current account surplus and large international currency reserves. However, growth began to slow by the end of the year as problems in agriculture continued, with the drought situation further highlighting its high dependence on food imports that historically have been problematic.

It is of interest that in the Russian Investment Managers Report to the Directors of JPMorgan Russian Securities in late October 2012, the managers concluded that the risk/reward profile of Russian securities is advantageous for investors. They noted many developments already highlighted in this article, and in addition that the ruble appreciated by 4.5 percent versus the U.S. dollar in nominal terms, a reflection of the strength of the current account due to ongoing high energy prices. Importantly, the report noted that 2012 was the first year for a dividend yield of 3-plus percent for the Russian market, putting it on even footing with other global emerging markets for the first time in history. Russia, they believe, represents an important source of returns for investors.

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here is no doubt that relative to Europe and the United States, Russia stacks up quite well. Although Russia is projected to grow at a slow but steady rate of 3.6 in 2013, other economies are shrinking. The Spanish economy is projected to contract by 1.5 percent and Italy by 1 percent. The German bright spot is only expected to grow by 0.6 percent. The U.S. economy is projected to grow at 2 percent. European economies at best are stagnant if not shrinking over the next several years. With an unemployment rate of 6 percent, Russia looks a lot better than Spain, at more than 24 percent, and with France and the United Kingdom (UK) at more than 8 percent. Russia’s 8 percent

of debt to gross domestic product (GDP) compares well to that of Italy, at 123 percent of GDP, and the UK at 88 percent. The U.S. debt to GDP ratio is 106 percent, while U.S. national debt totals $16.4 trillion. Where crushing debt is a handicap for Western economies, lack of debt offers Russia a distinct advantage in the future.

WTO accession a major gain for Russia in 2012

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any U.S. business deals transpired in 2012, including the ExxonMobil-Rosneft deal for exploration of the Arctic shelf; a continuation of Boeing’s aircraft sales in Russia; and ExIm Bank’s agreement with Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, to finance up to $1 billion in exports to Russia.

But the most important development with implications for American companies was that finally, after a prolonged effort since its application was first submitted in 1993, Russia gained accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). On August 22, 2012, Russia became the 156th member. This means that Russia’s trading policies will comply with WTO rules, regulations, norms and standards followed by all member nations and is expected to significantly enhance Russia’s integration into the global trading regime, helping not only Russia but expanding trade with other member countries. Some analysts estimate that Russia’s involvement in the WTO can stimulate trade and investment to the tune of tens of billions of dollars a year.

Also of significance was the repeal of the Jackson-Vanik amendment, the U.S. trade act of 1974, which restricted most favored nation status and normal trade relations through

linkage with Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union. This signified the removal of a significant historical barrier, although the United States continued to trade with Russia through an exception to Jackson-Vanik granted annually by every president since 1992. One important aspect of the repeal is that U.S. companies will see reduced tariffs on goods exported to Russia. For examples, duties on power and hand tools would decrease from 9.3 to 6.8 percent. Tariffs on medical equipment would be capped at 7 percent, down from 15 percent. Duties on

The risk/reward profile of Russian securities is advantageous for investors.

» Skolkovo Innovation Center. Photo Credit: drserg / Shutterstock.com

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| Doing Business With Russia aircraft engines would go down from 10 to 5 percent. American sales to Russia can well soar with such improved favorable terms.

Unfortunately, the victory for American business was clouded by passage on the same day of the Magnitsky bill, which punishes Russians for allegedly having played a part in the death of Sergei Magnitsky by denying visas to those responsible, freezing their assets and imposing other stipulations seen by Russians as interference in their domestic affairs. In retaliation, in late December 2012, President Vladimir Putin signed the Dima Yakovlev law, which bans the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens starting January 1, 2013, and provides other sanctions against the United States.

Nonetheless, entry into the WTO and repeal of Jackson-Vanik can be seen as the removal of significant barriers for American companies in the Russian marketplace.

Looking ahead

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If you see the glass as halfempty, you will focus on the weaknesses, problems, shortcomings and doomsday predictions. If you see the glass as halffull, you will focus on change, promise, optimism and challenge.

he World Bank has projected a 3.6 percent growth rate for Russia’s GDP in 2013. I believe that we can reasonably expect the general trajectory of positive domestic economic growth and innovation to continue, along with increasing global economic integration. This is not to underestimate problems and criticisms that are well known, both by Russia and the world. These include the need for economic diversification and growth of small business, improving public administration and allowing greater freedom of expression and dissent and addressing corruption, lack of transparency and weak rule of law. Many allege that Putin is suffocating the country by letting state corporations ravage the economy and deepening the gap between haves and have-nots. Others anticipate slowdown and stagnation in 2013.

All in all, it comes to whether you see the Russian glass as halfempty or half-full. If you see the glass as half-empty, you will focus on the weaknesses, problems, shortcomings and doomsday predictions. If you see the glass as half-full, you will focus on change, promise, optimism and challenge.

I look at how far the country has come from the collapse of the Soviet Union, with all of the challenges of literally starting all over.

Seen in this light, where Russia is today is nothing short of amazing, all problems notwithstanding. I look at Russia also in terms of how it stacks up against other countries and the domestic challenges we all face in the post-2008 economic downturn. I believe there is undeniable opportunity for the United States in Russia and with Russia’s entry into the WTO and repeal of Jackson-Vanik, American companies are better positioned than ever to make significant gains in Russia.

More on Russia into the future

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here are many ways that Russia is positioning itself for a better future. A recent Wall Street Journal article detailed how Russia is encouraging Moscow companies to list through the Moscow Exchange, demonstrating their renewed pro-business attitude and Moscow’s goal to become a major financial center. Russia is actively planning for accession into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) now that they have achieved membership in the WTO. Early this year, Russia’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov met with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria during a working visit to Moscow. The talks affirmed a mutual interest in the accession and the importance of Russia’s participation in the organization. The parties discussed

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what practical measures were expected from Russia for it to gain entry. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has also indicated that Russia has formulated a road map to achieve this goal.

The OECD was established in 1961 to coordinate the economic processes of member states. There are 34 members, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and the countries of the European Union, who account for more than half of the global GDP. Communist countries traditionally did not belong, so if Russia were to join, it’s another benchmark development for Russia’s integration into the global economy.

Russia’s own Silicon Valley: Skolkovo

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nderstanding the need for business innovation, Russia established its own Silicon Valley, known as the Skolkovo Innovation Center. Primarily funded by the government, Skolkovo’s mission is to promote research and development in IT, energy, nuclear technologies, biomedicine and space technology. Another example is the formation of Titanium Valley, a special economic zone in the Ural Mountains. This endeavor hopes to increase the productivity of titanium in such industries as aircraft, auto, shipbuilding and medicine. Participating companies include Nokia, Rolls-Royce, Goodrich and Boeing.

Russian foreign direct investment in the United States

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n often-overlooked trend is Russia’s foreign direct investment into the U.S. economy. Severstal, a Russian steel company, has invested approximately $3 billion in two U.S. operations, in Dearborn, Mich., and Columbus, Miss. Similarly, another Russian company, Evraz, took over the steel industry in Pueblo, Colorado, and now owns Rocky Mountain Mills. Evraz has invested in new equipment in order to upgrade productivity and output. A third company, RUSNANO, invested in high-tech American companies by opening a branch in Silicon Valley in March 2011. RUSNANO is known to have invested in top U.S. biotech companies, which will now operate out of the Skolkovo Innovation Center in Moscow. RUSNANO has also invested in a 30 percent share of a Colorado-based producer of biochips for drug tests.

There are numerous other examples of Russian investments in the U.S. economy, from steel to biotech and more.

Americans achieving in Russia

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oving in the other direction, there are likewise many examples of successful American investments in the Russia. In recent years, they include Chevron’s investment in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which initially stood at $800 million. It is expected to invest another $810 million to increase the output of oil to 1.4 million barrels of oil daily. Ford Motor built a production plant in Elabuga in 2011, and in 2012 had increased vehicle sales in Russia by 11 percent. Ford opened five new dealerships in Russia in the last quarter of 2012, totaling 120 dealerships in 79 Russian cities. Anticipating the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and other growth markets in Russia, Coca-Cola opened a new plant in 2011 in Rostov-on-Don, costing $120 million, as part of a $3 billion investment plan in Russia for 2012-2016. PepsiCo in 2011 acquired a two-thirds stake in Wimm-Bill-Dan, Russia’s second-largest food and beverage company, for $3.8 billion. The list goes on and on.

U.S.-Russian trade

I

n 2012, U.S. exports to Russia totaled $9.5 billion, and imports totaled $27 billion, leaving the United States with a trade deficit with Russia of $17.5 billion. Major U.S. exports to Russia included machines–such as engines and pumps–vehicles, aircraft and spacecraft, mean products, medical and technical equipment and electronic equipment. Major U.S. imports from Russia are primarily in natural resources. These include oil, iron and steel; gems and precious metals; inorganic chemicals; fertilizers; aluminum; and nickel. This structure of trade has been repeated for years and follows a traditional pattern of developed nations with Russia,

An often-overlooked trend is Russia’s foreign direct investment into the U.S. economy. Severstal, a Russian steel company, has invested approximately $3 billion in two U.S. operations.

the exchange of raw materials for sophisticated manufactured goods and high-tech equipment. But as William Cooper from the Congressional Research Service points out, trade turnover is minor relative to the size and potential of both countries. Russia accounted for 1.6 percent of U.S. imports and 0.6 percent of U.S. exports in 2011, and the United States accounted for 3.3 percent of Russian exports and 5.3 percent of Russian imports. Russia was the 31st largest export market and the 14th largest source of imports for the United States in 2011.

Sochi Winter Olympics and World Cup in Moscow

R

ussia is actively preparing for two prestigious international events in its future, the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, February 7-23, and the FIFA World Cup in 2018. The Winter Olympics will be the first held in the Russian Federation, and the first since the USSR 1980 Olympics in Moscow, which was boycotted by the United States. Undertaking the Olympic planning will be Dmitry Chernyshenko, the president of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Organizing Committee. It is being financed with a combination of private sponsorships and government funding. The games are expected to cost anywhere from $18 to $30 billion. There is a huge infrastructure renovation underway, including projects such as hotels, new sports venues, new railroads and light rail, a new terminal in the Sochi airport, enhanced power stations and telecommunications and modernizing the city of Sochi.

The 21st FIFA World Cup in 2018 will be held in Moscow. This prestigious soccer tournament will involve 32 national teams, including that of the host nation. This will be the first time Russia hosts the tournament. Russia is also to become the largest nation geographically to host the World Cup. The bidding process was intense, with Spain, Portugal, Netherlands and Belgium also in contentious competition. Russia plans to build 10 new stadiums. Soccer matches will take place in cities across Russia. To support the event, Russia will waive the visa requirement for tourists coming to Russia for the games!

Group of Twenty and Group of Eight

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inally, this year Russia assumes the rotating chair position of the Group of Twenty (G20). Twenty finance ministers and Central Bank governors from the top twenty major economies in the world are expected to participate. The annual summit of the group will be held in St. Petersburg in September 2013. Russia continues an active role in the Group of Eight, which annually brings together eight of the world’s top economies and governments (the United States, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan, the UK and Russia) to discuss global issues. Russia became an official member in 1997 when it first participated in the summit meeting in Denver, Colorado. volume 5 issue 1

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government

| Doing Business With Russia

Russia’s development strategy to 2020–the concept

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aving looked at some facts and details about Russia’s economic performance and what’s ahead in its future, it’s useful to step back and embrace a broader conceptual perspective. Companies can benefit by having a broader perspective on the dayto-day happenings of the economy by evaluating the body of Russian information about how Russia is positioning itself for economic performance. You can find many clues and insights into the direction of the Russian economy, and a whole range of other reforms in civil society and politics.

For Russia, planning ahead comes naturally. Following a long tradition of planned, command economics during the years of the Soviet Union, where five-year plans for socialist development were the norm for more than 70 years, Russia under President Putin and Prime Minister Medvedev has a planning process with goals in place.

Companies can learn by adopting the Russian way of thinking about how it intends to move ahead. What are the main components of Russia’s economic development aspirations?

Where would Russia like to be 10 and 20 years from now? What are the chances of achieving these goals?

Is Russia’s performance today consistent with what it says it’s going to do in the future? Definitely, there is something to be gleaned from this approach, one that is often overlooked in traditional American corporate strategic planning and overseas risk assessment.

Russia’s overarching growth strategy was first comprehensively presented by President Putin in a February 2008 speech to the State Council titled, “Russia’s Development Strategy to 2020,” popularly known as Strategy 2020. The cornerstone philosophy of the plan is for strong state support to protect the national interest. The main strategic goal is to transform Russia into one of the major leaders of the global economy and successful integration into major global institutions such as the WTO and OECD. The means to do this include an emphasis on modernization through science and technology and stable growth of the economy, contingent on expanding industrial production, gross national product (GNP), personal income and the middle class. President Putin once said, “I am confident that the new growth model 32

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should center on economic freedom, private property and competition. We need honest competition to revive our economy.”

Very specific and indeed ambitious goals have been set–they include improvement in areas of rare earth metals, biotech, genetic engineering, information technology and urban construction. Russia also committed to creating 25 million new high-productivity jobs by 2020 and enhanced investment in aerospace and the Arctic. Overall, the plan targets Russia to become one of the world’s five top

a major world leader. They yearn for, and in fact demand, recognition. They aim to place science, technology, research and advanced thinking at their doorstep in a quest to achieve their goals.

Part of their strategy is to work with international institutions to normalize relations as an active participant and leader in groups such as the WTO, OECD, G20 and more. It includes a domestic reform process to strengthen the rule of law, legal and law enforcement institutions and their own variant of democracy.

Concluding Remarks

I

Ford Motor built a production plant in Elabuga in 2011, and in 2012 had increased vehicle sales in Russia by 11 percent. economies, with an annual growth rate set between 5 and 6 percent. Analysts can remain current on the latest developments by regularly reviewing business writings, speeches by public officials, reports by investment houses and other Russian source material.

What Russia’s ambitious development strategy in its conceptual form tells us is this–Russia has no intention to turn back the clock either to Communism or weak and untested models of economic development. Nor is complacency, mediocrity or business-as-usual acceptable. The Russians are determined to grow competitively, command respect and admiration for their national achievements and secure a role as

t’s clear to me that what the Russians want and how they intend to achieve it is out there in print in the public domain for all to read and know about. We can take it upon ourselves to see if there is a consistency between what they are saying they hope to do and what they are doing. It can be tremendously useful for business researchers to look at Russia in this light to help with their own planning process. Further, I think if we ask the question, ”Has Russia’s growth trajectory and current outcomes remained consistent with the projections and goals set in 2008 and since?” the answer is “yes,” and there is compelling reason it will remain consistent into the future.

Russia will always present an especially unique environment for foreign investors: Its potential is great, whereas its risks, uncertainties and problems can be seen as overwhelming. Therefore, superior planning and fact-gathering, in a solid analytic framework, are required to stay on track, and hence the ability for accurate knowledge and forecasting becomes all the more pressing.

This article concludes that Russia is on a consistent and positive growth path for the future, despite obstacles, barriers and shortcomings. American companies, equipped with the right strategy, risk-management plan and knowledge can succeed and thrive in Russia.

Deborah A. Palmieri, Ph.D. is a business specialist on Russia. She is the honorary consul general of Russia in Colorado and president and founder of Deb Palmieri Russia LLC, a consultancy. Contact Dr. Palmieri at 1552 Pennsylvania Street, Denver, CO 80203, 720-980-4829 or at Deb@ DebPalmieriRussia.com. Special thanks to Keith Detweiler, student intern from University of Colorado, Boulder, for research support for this paper.

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government

| City of Fort Collins

I

» John Phelan

Fort Collins Striving for Energy Sustainability

By Su z a n n e Pl etc h e r a n d M au r e e n Qua i d

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n what can be likened to a sack race toward a distant–and distinctly different–future for communities and the power they consume, the City of Fort Collins is leading the pack.

Colorado’s fourth-largest city with a population of 147,000 has laid down goals for a clean energy future and then worked closely with its electric utility to get there. But it’s a race with no defined route, and with few other Colorado communities attempting to lead the way. Fort Collins is forging ahead and learning by doing.

“Fort Collins Utilities is willing to set ambitious goals, try new ideas and build partnerships in a concerted effort to transform itself into a modern utility. So far, the results are impressive,” said Howard Geller, executive director of Southwest Energy Efficiency Project. Geller has studied the utility’s energy efficiency efforts and often refers to it as a role model for others.

Located 60 miles north of Denver along the northern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Fort Collins is home to Colorado State University and an educated, progressive citizenry concerned about climate change and quality of life. The university alone has more than 100 professors and researchers who are dedicated to clean energy, and one of the university’s goals is to become carbon neutral by 2020. But when City Manager Darin Atteberry came on board in 2004, he felt the city–and its utility–needed to become more visionary about aligning its sustainability goals with the community’s desires and the reality of a world of diminishing resources.

“The drivers to reduce greenhouse gases, improve energy efficiency and develop more renewable energy are growing stronger,” said Atteberry.

Dedicated to performance measurement, Atteberry championed what turned out to be a five-year process of carefully defining the city’s sustainability future and goals. He hired Brian Janonis to lead a cultural shift at the Fort Collins Utilities and renewed the focus on making progress towards the City’s Climate Action Plan and Electric Energy Supply Policy. The race to the future began.

Fort Collins Greenhouse Gas and Renewable Energy Goals

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he city adopted Colorado’s greenhouse gas reduction goals of 20 percent below 2005 emission levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. Also, the state mandated that 10 percent of the utility’s power supply must come from renewable energy sources by 2020. In 2009, the City updated its Energy

FortZED

“We wanted to transform our internal culture to align with our vision and goals.”

– Brian Janonis

Efficiency, Technology and Human Behavior When it comes to advancement in energy efficiency, “technology grows new low-hanging fruit,” said John Phelan, Fort Collins Utilities Energy Services Manager.

For instance, LED lights are becoming available which work well in places where now “traditional” CFLs do not. Advanced efficiency built into ENERGY STAR® appliances and smart thermostats also help people save energy.

In 2009, FCU partnered with a company called OPower for a three-year trial run of OPower’s Home Energy Reports program.

They picked a sample of 25,000 “pilot” households in the city and a similar “control” group, then provided the pilot homes with reports that compared their electricity use to similar homes, customized energy savings tips, and feedback on progress over time. The messaging and game element of the feedback inspired people to lower their energy use by 2-3 percent said Phelan.

The success of the program inspired the utility to expand the reports in 2013 to all residential customers.

Early on, FortZED project managers built partnerships with the city, utility, university, Larimer County, business and community groups. They identified and coordinated sources of power that could be used to help the utility meet peak demand without having to buy more power from the city’s supplier, Platte River Power Authority.

What developed is a cooperative system that works like this: On a hot summer day when air conditioners are sucking massive amounts of

electricity from the grid, the county courthouse will turn off its large courtyard fountain, the university may fire up its emergency natural gas generators (the generators are required to be fired up for 20-hour test runs every month anyway), and the city’s iconic New Belgium Brewery will switch its bottling line to onsite renewable power. The project proved how these resources could operate seamlessly together with the traditional utility grid.

One part of FortZED didn’t work so well.

Policy with a clear focus and explicit objectives related to energy efficiency and the previously adopted climate goals.

Greenhouse gas reduction was an ambitious goal because 100 percent of the city’s power is purchased from Platte River Power Authority (PRPA), and 68 percent of PRPA’s electricity is sourced from coal-fired power plants. Coal-fired power plants emit significant amounts of climate-warming carbon and even though PRPA’s coal plants use advanced scrubbing technologies to curtail emissions, Fort Collins knew it would have to minimize its reliance upon fossil fueled power if it was to achieve its long-term greenhouse gas goals.

Fort Collins does not control its supplier’s source of power but it held one ace: It owned its electric utility (the Fort Collins city council serves as the board of directors). An initiative entitled, A Utility for the 21st Century, was started in 2008 to address the internal cultural shift required to fully align utility staff with the city’s energy and climate action policies. Together, the initiative and policies drive the city’s efforts for efficiency, conservation, and renewable and smart grid technologies, all of which will help meet the greenhouse gas reduction goals. Annual progress reports are shared with the community on the utility’s website.

“We wanted to transform our internal culture to align with our vision and goals,” said Janonis of Fort Collins Utilities. “John Phelan, our energy services manager, has been a key part of the team to develop and implement this vision.”

When Phelan arrived in 2003, he found a traditional utility with a small number of large power generators and a one-way path from the generator to the consumer via transmission and distribution lines. He knew that would change, but the first order of business was beefing up energy efficiency in the City in order to minimize energy use and its related greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy Efficiency in Fort Collins Has Saved Enough to Power 10,000 Homes

P

helan knew that simple energy efficiency programs that focused upon education and technical assistance had been in place since 1982. But since 2004, the new objectives of the City’s Energy Policy have driven continuous development and expansion of efficiency programs. Now, 10 staff at Fort Collins Utilities deliver a wide variety of “best practice” energy efficiency programs for residential and commercial customers,

Called the Community Energy Challenge, the initiative asked customers to pledge to reduce energy use with easy, medium and hard tactics by using existing utility programs for energy efficiency and conservation. The grassroots effort included a neighborhood competition. Over two years, FortZED received more than 2,000 pledges, but without a robust data collection plan it could not document measurable savings.

Organizers are working to ensure that pledges can be a sustainable grassroots model.

most of which are detailed along with a case study of Fort Collins in a recent report, The $20 Billion Bonanza: Best Practice Electric Utility Energy Efficiency Programs in the Southwest.

Between 2002-2011, the utility saved 83,000-megawatt hours of electricity through efficiency, enough to power 10,000 homes in Fort Collins for a year. Efficiency also helps Fort Collins residents and businesses pay among the lowest utility rates in the state.

“City and utility leaders believe that efficiency should remain a cornerstone of our long-term energy policy,” said Phelan. “It is our lowest cost, lowest risk option for energy supply, and it helps us transition to the clean and renewable energy opportunities that emerging technology is bringing to the marketplace.”

Exploring the Utility of the Future

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ut beyond efficiency is a whole new utility system that takes in power as well as delivers it. In order to realize its ambitions to embrace that new model, the city needed an entirely different, “distributed,” or smart grid, power system, one that would allow electricity to flow in multiple directions from wherever it is generated in the system. Therefore, a home with excess solar capacity on the roof, for instance, could feed power into the grid for use by someone else. The university could fire up its backup natural-gas-powered generators and feed extra electricity to utility lines on peak power demand days.

“If you were to ask me what our utility is going to look like 20 years down the road, I’d tell you that we don’t know the details but it’s going to be a whole lot different than it is today,” said Phelan. volume 5 issue 1

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government

| City of Fort Collins

Electric Vehicle (EV) Deployment Project

Fort Collins Experiments with a Zero Energy District

FortZED Leads to Another Opportunity

A

F

group of key stakeholders in the community, including the university and Fort Collins Utilities, wanted to demonstrate how renewable sources of energy at the consumer end of the transmission system could be coordinated with energy efficiency to reduce peak demand for electricity (peak demand is a concept similar to rush hour traffic: Instead of adding new lanes to highways, or building new power plants, you try to reduce use).

With the go-ahead from city leaders, the utility has embraced what Phelan calls “a big, hairy, audacious goal” to try to achieve net zero energy use in a real-life experiment which encompasses the CSU campus and the commercial section of historic downtown as the guinea pig. Dubbed FortZED, it is an ambitious project to demonstrate a transformed electric system, leading the way towards a smart grid.

The utility led a partnership that won a $6.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund a three-year project as part of FortZED. The project used energy efficiency, demand side, supply side and renewable energy resources in an experimental integrated system. “It was a research and development project, but it was live and connected to the grid, not isolated in a laboratory,” said Phelan.

Along with energy efficiency pledges by residents and retrofits of commercial buildings there, the project inventoried all of the sources of power–renewable or otherwise– within the FortZED zero energy district and developed control systems for the energy exchange (see sidebar for lessons learned).

ortZED led to an invitation to join Rocky Mountain Institute’s eLab (Electricity Innovation Lab), which brings together a diverse group of innovators from throughout the electric utility sector. With eLab, Fort Collins now is part of a larger team of stakeholders who are in the race and learning together, piece by piece, how the “distributed” power generation system of the future will work in real life. “eLab is exploring activity and innovation of the future power grid, which will be happening on the fringes of the utility system, at the point where the current utility system stops at the meter. On the other side of the meter, you have energy efficiency, renewable energy, storage systems like electric vehicles or hybrid car batteries,” explained Steve Catanach, Fort Collins Light and Power Manager. “These are dynamic systems that need to be scaled up in a massive fashion and the people at eLab are trying to figure out how that might work,” Catanach said.

FortZED is the first project being explored by eLab members. The group will contribute to the next generation of innovation, dubbed FortZED 2.0, which will explore–after efficiency–how utilities will meet the remaining demand for electricity with a dynamic, integrated energy demand system. Catanach said that advanced meters and e-Lab are foundational to those developments.

Fort Collins is providing every residence in the city with an advanced, or “smart meter,” which can send and receive information back and forth between the utility and homeowner. In the future, a customer will be able to receive an email or text from the utility on a hot summer day, offering discounts

Efficiency Supports Economic Development In an innovative collaboration that marries incentives for energy efficiency with economic development, the City of Fort Collins and its utility are bringing new companies and jobs to the community.

In 2010, Avago (formerly Agilent Technologies) faced either onsite expansion or relocation. Tiana Smith, Fort Collins Utilities’ Commercial and Industrial Accounts Manager, helped to develop an overall economic incentive package

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that included targeted efficiency funding totaling $170,000. The Avago expansion added more than 90 new local jobs. The company has since committed to additional expansion of wafer fabrication facilities in Fort Collins from facilities that are in Asia, “in-sourcing” rather than outsourcing like most companies do these days.

Joanne Holmes, commercial property manager for Carrington Company, manages a

63,000-square-foot office building in Fort Collins’ Oak Ridge Business Park. In 2012, she faced losing the building’s major tenant, a federal agency whose lease renewal was tied to federal requirements for building efficiency. With Fort Collins Utilities’ technical assistance and rebates, Holmes embarked upon a $1 million upgrade of lighting, heating and air conditioning, and plumbing that will transform the 1988 building to LEED Silver certification–and keep the federal tenant.

Fort Collins was selected in a national evaluation process by the Electrification Coalition as a deployment community for mass-scale electric vehicles. The Coalition, based in Washington, D.C., is a nonpartisan, nonprofit group of business leaders committed to the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale. As a selected community, Fort Collins will be one of the first in the country to develop all aspects of the electric vehicle ecosystem in a coordinated effort to increase adoption of electric vehicles by consumers and commercial fleets in the region within the next few years.

One critical piece of the project is ensuring that Fort Collins Utility has enough electric capacity to add EVs to the system. One EV uses about the same amount of electricity as an air conditioner.

On the flip side, a car battery may feed electricity back into the power grid in the future.

“It would take very high adoption rates to challenge our existing infrastructure, and if we are seeing those rates coming on, then there would be enough time for us to figure out what to do,” said Steve Catanach, Light and Power Manager for the utility.

Other pieces of the system that Fort Collins will develop include building code standards for public and home charging stations, marketing the benefits of EV ownership, and creating awareness of state and federal incentives that make the cars affordable.

or incentives if the customer will adjust the temperature upward on their air conditioner or downward on their hot water heater. If the customer is at work, she will be able to use a computer or iPhone to adjust those appliances back home and bank some savings. The utility saves money because it doesn’t have to buy electricity at peak power prices. The new meters and integrated web tools will provide detailed electricity and water usage information to customers with which they can manage both their use and bills.

For more information download the Fort Collins plan at, Utilities for the 21st Century and Energy Policy Annual Update or review best practice utility programs and their benefits to communities, as well as a case study of Fort Collins Utility at, www.20billionbonanza.com.

Suzanne Pletcher is Director of Communications for the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), where she works to share SWEEP’s marketplace analyses and support proactive public policy. Maureen Quaid is SWEEP’s Senior Associate focusing on utility DSM and other strategic initiatives. She has worked for more than 20 years in energy efficiency, renewables, and behavioral approaches to clean energy adoption, mostly for nonprofits and government agencies. Learn more at, www.swenergy.org.

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government

| Update from NREL

Update From NREL INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

By Martha Butwin

T

he second week of January 2013 found Ambassador John Roos, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, in Denver as part of a four city road show. Although the program’s primary focus was the new Boeing Dreamliner nonstop flights, departing respectively from Denver, Seattle, San Diego and San Jose to Tokyo, the opportunity to engage with the nation’s leaders in the field of renewable energy was too valuable to forgo for a man whose tenure has included a devastating tsunami that completely altered the energy infrastructure of the country in which he serves as plenipotentiary of the United States of America.

Thus, on a Tuesday afternoon in early January, Dr. Dan Arvizu, Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), called to order a Renewable Energy Roundtable, including: Ambassador Roos; Consul Shunsuke Ono of the Consulate General of Japan in Denver; former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, now the Director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University; Colorado Renewable

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Energy Collaboratory Director David Hiller; U.S. Department of Commerce Minister‐ Counselor for Commercial Affairs Andrew Wylegala; and U.S. Department of Energy Attaché Jeff Miller, both of whom are stationed in Tokyo; along with several representatives from Colorado businesses, universities, and organizations that are working within the renewable energy arena in Japan.

The roundtable was an open dialogue of information exchange, with the embassy representatives presenting their perspectives on the current needs of the Japanese energy industry, Consul Ono providing his view on the Japanese people’s level of acceptance of renewable energy, and NREL and the industry representatives suggesting possible solutions to the energy crisis that is a result of the widespread nuclear shutdown in Japan.

Bilateral cooperation with Japan is not new to NREL. In fact, NREL works with a wide range of Japanese institutions on technologies to advance concentrating solar power and is collaborating on activities related to vehicles and hydrogen fuel, climate technology centers, policy best practices, field-testing of manufacturers’ modular systems, bio-molecular design software, fuel cell membranes, solar resource modeling, biofuels adoption, platinum catalyst formulation, grid integration and biofuels emissions controls development. The laboratory engages in bilateral partnerships with more than 50 countries that span the globe to advance development and use of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

NREL also plays a leading role in supporting several multilateral initiatives designed to advance the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency in ways that both increase economic development and address global challenges such as climate change and energy security. In a recent interview, Dr. John Barnett, NREL’s International Program Manager, summarized some of the key global partnerships currently developing at the laboratory.

NREL is collaborating with the government of India on a variety of initiatives to reduce market barriers that deter investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. NREL experts are analyzing the impacts of increasing the amount of photovoltaics on the grid in the state of Gujarat, comparing scenarios with the photovoltaics plants distributed in different locations across the state. National solar resource data is being refined to include satellite data on aerosols, particles that reduce the Direct Normal Insolation and reduce the efficiency of concentrating solar plants. NREL is also conducting two studies of wind resource data in the states of Uttarakhand and Gujarat to improve the

understanding of how complex terrain impacts wind resources in India. In partnership with India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, NREL is leading the development of an online, public database of all clean energy policies, regulations and incentives offered by the state and central governments. These projects are funded by the U.S. Departments of Energy and State.

Mexico is entering its second year of cooperation with the U.S. government in the program “Enhancing Capacity for Low-Emissions Development Strategies” (EC-LEDS). This USAID-funded effort, involving countries around the world, focuses on enhancing the capacity of interested developing countries to plan for and implement low-carbon-emission economic growth. NREL staff, as part of a U.S. government team, is working with Mexico’s Low Emissions Development Strategy Team (MLED) on clean energy activities including project finance training and a roadmap for a comprehensive energy integration study. NREL also continues to work with USDA and La Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (SAGARPA) to explore possible areas of cooperation including, as one example, in the field of bioenergy.

organization set up to identify, screen and fund proposed projects.

In Eastern Africa, NREL is providing technical assistance for a USAID project with the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) to support regional energy (RE) planning efforts.

The project includes activities focusing on a database to support RE project planning; increasing the capacity of EAPP stakeholders to prioritize RE projects based on technical, economic, social and market considerations; and supporting EAPP stakeholders increase their capacity to assess the feasibility of proposed projects with sufficient rigor to attract further financing from donors or the private sector to complete full project feasibility studies.

Thus, the U.S.– Japan Renewable Energy Roundtable that brought together representatives of the Japanese government, representatives from the U.S. Departments

NREL is supporting the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Compact with Indonesia, which will invest over $200 million in rural renewable energy, natural resources management and sustainable land use projects. The focus of NREL’s work is to develop a screening process with criteria covering technological, economic, environmental and social requirements identified in the Compact and established in MCC’s corporate practice. NREL is also developing a set of eight pre-feasibility studies of selected projects to demonstrate how the many criteria can be met for diverse project types. Eligible energy projects may include small-scale hydropower, solar photovoltaics, biomass, and household biogas systems. NREL’s work will help build the independent capacity of the Indonesian

of State, Commerce, and Energy, as well as energy industry leaders from educational institutions and the private sector was an accurate snapshot of the first step in the collaborative efforts that NREL staff put forth every day to formulate solutions to global energy challenges.

NREL is supporting the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Compact with Indonesia, which will invest over $200 million in rural renewable energy, natural resources management and sustainable land use projects.

To learn more about becoming engaged in international activities at NREL, access, http://www.nrel.gov/international/ or contact Dr. John Barnett, NREL International Program Manager at john.barnett@nrel.gov. volume 5 issue 1

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business

Veterans Workforce Training

From the Battlefield to Business Transitioning Our Veterans Into the Workforce B y K e l ly d e l a T o r r e

“Everyone has a personal brand, but most people do not control or manage it.”

– Lida Citroën

J

ust like generations of veterans before them, today’s soldiers are preparing to transition from the battlefield back to civilian life. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), there are 2.3 million veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and tens of thousands of additional troops returning home as the United States begins to withdraw from Afghanistan. For these soldiers, the homecoming doesn’t consist of parades and celebrations like the iconic images that symbolize the end of World War II. War is brutal and isolating. And for veterans, there can be confusion in trying to define the civilian from the soldier. Luckily, there are experts who understand the life they have led on the battlefield and how this can impact the transition into civilian life.

I had the pleasure of talking with one of the foremost international experts in personal branding about this topic. Lida Citroën, of LIDA360, has a demonstrated passion for helping veterans refine their personal brand and prepare for the next stage in their lives. In a show of gratitude for their service, she does all of this work pro bono.

ICOSA: Veterans are focused and highly trained; yet they are finding these skills don’t translate well on their résumé for reentry into the civilian workforce. In your work as a personal branding expert, you’ve found the résumé is not the key. Rather, veterans should focus on their personal brand. What is personal brand?

CITROËN: I define personal brand as your reputation–the behaviors and beliefs you have expressed that create a perception of value (or not) in the minds of your target audience. That said, everyone has a personal brand, but most people do not control or manage it. It is important to understand and maintain the way you are perceived and how others assign you value and relevance.

Personal brand already exists in the minds of colleagues, friends, clients and people with whom you served in the military. Your behavior and actions over time earned you this reputation–good or bad. For some

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people, their reputation is not how they want to be seen, and they might find themselves limited in personal and professional growth and opportunities they are afforded.

For those of us who went the civilian path, we learned through career experience or in business school that professionals thrive in the world of differentiation, value propositions and competitive advantage. We’ve learned the importance of capturing the attention of target audiences with compelling and relevant messaging that promotes a specific value proposition. At all levels of the civilian work environment–from blue-collar labor to executive work–individuals can embrace the power of personal branding to intentionally build a reputation for themselves that attracts opportunities to them.

ICOSA: How does military training alter or impact personal branding?

CITROËN: Since personal brand is rooted in values, beliefs and ideals, most people who served in the military were drawn to service because of a sense of commitment, patriotism and loyalty to country or other similar beliefs. Yes, there are some who serve for other reasons, but being able to articulate the value proposition tied to service is important.

Training in any strong culture, such as the U.S. Armed Forces, brings opportunity to examine one’s personal brand. Much of the work I do with transitioning veterans is spent uncovering those personal assets, strengths and beliefs that make them unique and differentiated. Just saying you are loyal, team-oriented and able to work well under pressure” is not enough of a differentiator. Shane Schmutz, Army veteran, Bronze Star recipient, West Point graduate and founder of Veteran’s Passport to Hope (VP2H) says, “As a veteran who made the transition myself, I know how important it is to be able to market yourself in order to compete effectively in a civilian workplace.”

Today’s recruiters are looking for applicants to bring a clear sense of value and purpose to the job and to stand apart from others. Because military training emphasizes team over individual, this can be challenging for veterans.

ICOSA: Who should the veteran in transition consider a target audience for a job transition?

CITROËN: Because personal branding is a journey about how to move from here to there, transitioning veterans must identify a target audience that understands and embraces military skills and values. This audience holds the opportunity we desire. A new job?

A promotion? Additional resources? Our goal is to understand this audience and what they need and want in order to effectively position ourselves and our personal offer.

For veterans, there can be confusion in trying to define the civilian from the soldier. » Lida Citroën with Wall Street veterans

Here are some things to consider: • What industries, companies and fields would you enjoy working in? Do you like structure and formality? Do you work better outdoors? Do you work better in mission-driven industries?

• Which types of people do you do your best work with? Are you social, outgoing and friendly? Do you like to keep your work and personal lives separate?

• What do you know about your target companies and the people who work at those companies? Do they attend industry meetings?

Are they located in a certain area of the country? Are they active online (social networking)?

• Learn everything you can about the individuals you are targeting at these companies–what do they need for you to deliver (job requirements) and what do they need to feel (personal needs).

Your target audience is going to consider how well you can do the job, as well as how you will get along with others and fit into their culture. Understanding your audience by knowing who needs to find you relevant and compelling in order to hire you, promote you or refer you is critical. You simply cannot focus your efforts on Workforce Transition Resources everyone. You must find a specific industry, audience segment and personality and then target Personal Branding: that group in order to get noteworthy results. www.lida360.com “As employers strive to hire more and more veterans, it becomes so important that veterans can Veterans Green Jobs: www.veteransgreenjobs.org articulate their value proposition. We can’t just rely on résumé to get the attention of hiring managers,” ESGR: echoes Richard (Dick) Young, Rear Admiral (Ret.) www.esgr.mil www.esgrcolorado.net and Chairman of the Colorado Committee of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR).

ICOSA: Many veterans are highly trained in a specific skill. How can they explain these skills in a way that is easy to understand?

CITROËN: I hear this question a lot from veterans making the transition. While it is impressive to put “sniper” on a résumé, my concern is the impression and understanding that is created for the hiring manager reviewing the résumé. What if the only experience she’s had with snipers is in the movies? That could work against you.

Focus on highlighting the value from the skills you have learned, instead of a list of strengths and skills. Instead of, “expert in team building,” share the ways you have built collaborative efforts that met a specific objective and the end result’s impact. This is more descriptive and relevant, and gives the employer a concrete picture of your role and the outcome.

Similarly, if you are pursuing a leadership position and are uncomfortable offering yourself up as a leader, consider letting testimonials, endorsements and recommendations promote you more effectively. This is a great way to let the credibility of others highlight your strengths.

Above all else, make sure your résumé promotes who you are as a person–your personality, charm, passion and uniqueness. The Summary or Overview at the top can explain your difference in a couple of sentences. For instance, I worked with a Navy SEAL who was “passionate about getting IT systems right.” He

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Veterans Workforce Training

ICOSA: For a veteran returning home from war, what do you recommend as first steps to set them on the right path in building their personal brand?

» Branding workshop with Citroën

wrote, “I believe that the role of an IT director is a customer service position, ensuring the customer experience reinforces the company’s brand.” That made him stand out!

ICOSA: What are the common stereotypes of the military culture? Can some of these stereotypes be overcome using personal branding?

CITROËN: On the employer side, there is still a great deal of confusion and mystery about military service, particularly those who have experienced active combat.

Thanks in part to media hype, fears of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and other issues have created misperceptions about the veteran in the civilian workforce.

At the same time, the beliefs that military veterans are trained in loyalty, collaboration, integrity, discretion, trust building and hard work are not to be overlooked! Do all that you can to demonstrate examples of how those traits and skills came to life during your service time and how you expect to use them to be more effective and valuable to the company with whom you are seeking to work.

Many of the veterans I work with are transitioning to professional careers in professional services such as law or finance. Those industries value qualities such as integrity, discretion,

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loyalty and positive personal interaction. Other clients of mine are continuing the training they received in the military and pursuing careers in technology, aerospace, engineering and design. In those fields, employers see the value of a veteran’s training–the aptitude to work under tight deadlines and the ability to manage complex and expensive systems and technologies–as assets.

self. But this is not how the civilian workforce operates. Those of us non-military professionals see the benefits of self-marketing and competitive advantage to gain access and opportunity in our careers.

As the veteran makes the transition and begins to build their personal brand, it is critical to take prideful ownership of the successes and achievements gained during

Recruiters are looking for applicants to bring a clear sense of value and purpose to the job and to stand apart from others.

ICOSA: How can veterans use their experiences to positively influence their personal brand?

CITROËN: The veterans I have met and worked with–well over 100 now–have never shied away from something that was challenging, unique or difficult. There is a resiliency, pride and commitment to mission that a veteran brings to a situation that uniquely qualifies them to understand and leverage the personal branding process.

I often say that, building your personal brand is simple, but it’s not easy.” Veterans understand this.

The concept of self-promotion is foreign to them, as they have been trained to maximize mission over

service. Then, the job is to make it understandable and relatable to a non-military hiring manager.

There are some significant cultural differences between military and civilian life that impact the personal brand. For example, in the military soldiers are required to be fit for combat and there are strict standards for grooming. In the civilian world, their fitness is a choice and grooming guidelines are on a case-by-case basis.

Military personnel also have restrictions on freedom of speech– they can’t participate in political activities while in uniform and expression of varying viewpoints can appear to conflict with good order and discipline.

CITROËN: The personal branding process starts with you and your goals. It begins by understanding what you are passionate about, what you value and how you live an authentic life. In other words, what would you fight for? What led you to a military career? What passions did you bring forward in your service that are relevant as you transition to a civilian career?

And what makes you stand out in the minds of your colleagues?

Next, you need to understand your audience’s needs. In personal branding we strive to make ourselves relevant and compelling to a specific target audience. As I write about in my book, Reputation 360: Creating power through personal branding, (Palisades Publishing, 2011), not everyone will get your jokes or feel comfortable around you. Targeting those employers, clients and customers who will find you relevant is critical and cuts down on your marketing efforts.

It is easier to promote yourself to people who already get you.

From there, you can build a strategy and a game plan to market and promote yourself with intention, focus and authenticity.

You will begin to take note of your image and body language. You will have a strategy for networking and using social media to build your profile in a way that gets the attention of employers. And you will use tools available to you–gained through service or afterward–to become in control of your perceived value to the marketplace; thus affording you opportunity to grow personally and professionally.

To learn more about how to begin your personal branding journey, visit www.lida360.com. To learn more about the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, visit www.esgr.mil or in Colorado, visit www.esgrcolorado.net. To learn more about the work of Veteran’s Passport To Hope, visit http://www.veteranspassport2hope.org/.

And to learn more about the Military and Veterans Employment Expo, visit www.mvee.org/default.html.

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business

Uba House: Denver’s only earthberm house

Seeing the Light

Going Underground Uba House B y B e n B r ya n

G

ary Uba and his family have gone underground–but they are not hiding from anyone or anything–especially not from the sun. Uba has built an earth berm house, apparently the only one in Denver.

Tucked into a gently sloping residential lot in southwest Denver, overlooking the town of Bow Mar and the southern portion of the Front Range mountains, the Uba House is in a typical middle-class Denver neighborhood. At 2,100 square feet, it is a typically sized house with typical fixtures and appliances, but in almost every other way it is atypical.

Most important, the house, except for the front, is covered with earth, four feet of it for the most part. This, combined with its all-concrete shell, enables the structure to maintain a fairly constant and comfortable interior temperature all year round. The house is on one long and horizontal level, with arched features in the façade that hint at domed spaces within. One of the long sides faces outward, due south, with tall, large windows, allowing for passive solar heat in the colder months, as well as light penetration throughout the dwelling. The Uba House has no furnace, in-floor heating or air conditioning units. As a result, there is no ductwork anywhere in the dwelling.

The house uses only electrical power for its energy needs–lights, appliances and hot water. Seventeen solar panels in two arrays on the property (a 3.2 kW system) generate more electricity than the house uses. For each of the 18 months that the Uba family has occupied the house, Xcel Energy has rebated money to them. Far from hiding out, he welcomes scrutiny as ardently as he welcomes the sun and subsequent Xcel Energy rebates.

U

ba has worked professionally in the construction end of the commercial and residential real estate fields and has long harbored a desire to build his own house. His vision was to build a forward-looking, simple, sustainable and energy-efficient middle-class dwelling–a house that is cheap to live in and one he doesn’t have to worry about when he and his family travel. After extensive research and finding a sloping house site in southwest Denver, Uba decided on an earth berm, or earth-sheltered home.

Although earth berm homes can be built on a flat site, building into a gentle slope can save time and money.

The Uba House became the ultimate do-it-yourself (DIY) project. Conducting his own research on the Internet, he soon entered into working agreements with a local contractor and a company in

Earth berm homes use the thermal properties of the earth to insulate the structure.

Durango, Colorado–Performance Building Systems, Inc.–which specializes in manufacturing steel framing systems for earth berm structures. Uba stayed hands-on in all aspects of the house’s development and construction.

A key goal for the Uba House was that it be cost-competitive with a middle-of-the-road, custom-built house. Obviously, there are much higher excavation and earth-moving costs that offset the savings of not having to install any heating or cooling systems or any interior structural elements. The house used fairly standard appliance packages and window packages: The windows are Low-E to let in solar heat but not UV rays. All in, at completion, the Uba House cost around $150 per square foot–meeting its cost goal.

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Back to Earth

E

arth berm homes have a long history. Think Mesa Verde. The generally understood definition of such homes focuses on the use of earth against three or more outside surfaces, including the roof, in an attempt to use the thermal properties of the earth to insulate the structure.

Modern materials and technology now make earth berm/earth-sheltered homes stronger, more efficient and affordable. An Internet search brings up many sites–from YouTube videos of earth berm houses being built, to articles from sources as varied as Mother Earth Magazine and the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DoE). There is also an Earth Sheltered Homes Facebook page.

The U.S. DoE cites these advantages for an earth-sheltered dwelling: protection from outside weather extremes, lower exterior maintenance costs, superior soundproofing and lower insurance costs due to protection from the consequences of extreme weather such as hail or wind damage.

It specifically mentions the Rocky Mountain region as ideal for such homes.

Negatives for these homes can be water penetration and damage and poor indoor air quality, but both can be mitigated by proper engineering and construction methods.

Gene Pearcey, the president of Performance Building Systems, the company that manufactured the steel frame for the Uba House, has been in business for more than 30 years and has been involved in the design of hundreds of earth berm houses. He got into the business because he wanted a house with little or no energy costs and marveled at comfortable temperatures in his then-current house’s underground storm cellar.

When he couldn’t find a cost-effective structural frame for an earth berm house in the marketplace, he designed and fabricated his own and began marketing it. The focus is on dome shaped structures, using concrete covering a steel frame.

Like Uba, Pearcey is not an environmentalist and is not out to change the world. What he wants to do is provide an alternative type of residence that has a competitive construction price and extremely low operating and maintenance costs. The objectives are to be sensible, practical and functional. His customers have two primary motivations: energy savings from the thermal properties of soil, and safety from the consequences of bad weather and natural disasters. Most customers live in semirural or rural locations, but Pearcey has worked on numerous homes in Phoenix as well as the Uba House in Denver.

Form Following Function

T

he Uba House consists of three domes, half domes really, because the front half of each dome is cut off vertically to present a flat façade to the southern exposure. Looking at the house from right to left, the first dome is a two car garage, the middle dome is the main living and eating area and the last dome is the sleeping/bedroom area. The bedrooms are along the outside facing wall, not just for the direct sunlight, but for egress in case of fire. The domes are connected internally by large, long archways, providing nice transition spaces between the various dwelling uses.

When entering the Uba House, one is immediately struck by the openness, the sense of space and volume. The domes are 12 feet high with curving walls finished with stucco-like texture in a soft off-white color. There are no internal structural elements to obstruct the sense of space. There is an organic and earthy feel that is very comforting to the eye. Next, one is then struck by the quiet. The house has a peaceful lack of ambient noise due to the extreme soundproofing qualities of the earth covering the structure.

The home is anchored by a concrete floor stained the color of a mocha latte, which significantly helps retain passive solar heat coming in through

the south-facing windows. Three skylights bring ambient light to the back spaces of the various domes, where functions such as a laundry and storage are located.

Strategically placed large tubes, running from the interior to the exterior of the home, use thermal properties to promote air exchange and therefore prevent air quality or moisture issues.

The house was constructed somewhat like a layer cake. The foundation and concrete floor were poured first. Then the custom-manufactured steel frame was erected and tied together with standard pieces of rebar.

At this point, electrical conduit was run and places for outlets and switches were identified. The frame and rebar was then covered in burlap for better adhesion of the sprayed-on concrete.

Once the concrete was sprayed on the interior and exterior of the structure, attention was paid to insulation and waterproofing.

First, a waterproofing material was applied to the exterior concrete, and then the sides and tops of the three domes were covered in the first layer of earth, to a depth of three feet on the top, and to grade along the sides and back. Recycled billboard banners were added on top of this earth layer as an additional waterproofing element.

Above the living and dining area is an old Burger King billboard sign; one for a casino covers the bedroom dome.

In keeping with a preference for recycled materials, used perlite panels were placed over the billboard material to enhance insulation before everything was covered by a final, foot-deep layer of earth.

The structure is so strong a construction-size backhoe was used on

top of the dwelling to spread and tamp down the two earth layers.

Because of its unique residential construction method, structural strength was a critical issue in the City of Denver’s review of the Uba House building plans, according to Julius Zsako, spokesperson for Denver’s Department of Community Planning and Development.

He was not aware of any other earth berm houses in the city. A certified engineer with Performance Building Systems provided the requisite stamp of approval; however, as the house met all other code requirements, it was quickly approved. Pearcey claims that none of the houses designed to use his structural systems have failed to be officially permitted.

Living in the Dream

U

ba has learned a lot in the process of planning, building and living in Denver’s only earth berm house. He has learned that you can build a house that has a rooftop garden, and the views can be awesome. He has learned that each of his neighbors is fine with a house that looks different.

He has learned that he needs a pellet-fueled woodstove when temperatures outside dip into the single digits or lower. Mainly, Uba has learned that his long-held dream of a practical, affordable home, with almost nonexistent operating and maintenance costs, was well worth looking forward to.

Ben Bryan is the president of Owl Properties LLC, a company specializing in commercial real estate, financial services and management of complex projects. volume 5 issue 1

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The Responsible Generation: Millennials in the Workplace

The Responsible Generation Leveraging Corporate Responsibility for Employee Attraction and Engagement B y C r i s t i n Ta r r w i t h C a n d a c e R u i z

M

illennials, also known as Gen Y–those 20-something kids in the office that don’t always seem to get it, have been labeled entitled, lazy, unfocused and self-absorbed. But who are these young people and what makes them tick? Perhaps they are not the uncaring generation we thought. Global environmental and social awareness is in their DNA and they aspire to be active corporate citizens.

Some believe that these young professionals may eventually elevate the private sector and transform business as usual into thriving conscious capitalists. So understanding and empowering the new workforce is vitally important to every industry and every company’s growth. It becomes quite clear we can’t move forward without them.

Millennials were born roughly between 1980 and 2000. They are already integrated into the office, filling cubicles for the past 10 years, but arguably misunderstood. These young workers have a drastically different view of what they expect from the workplace experience. Millennials are well educated, very self-confident, creative, and have plenty of energy–similar to generations that came before.

However, one attribute that is unlike all generations before is the multi-tasking, information seeking and natural brainiacs of modern technology. A key phenomenon, Gen Ys are the first generation that does not need authority to access information. They don’t need to build a relationship with managers nor follow protocol (or stay on the job from 9 to 5) to be successful at work. Sites such as Facebook and gaming give young people a place to tell their successes and constantly reach for and meet a goal through quick problem-solving skills. Relate these characteristics to the workplace, millennials need to be challenged with a clear purpose and respected for their attempts, even when they fail (remember video games). Technology also produces globally aware youth as the world is at their fingertips.

Millennials are the most inclusionary generation–they were born citizens of the world. This generation is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in history. Gen Ys are conscious bystanders of environmental and humanitarian adversities, literally in their hands. With one look at their smart phones, Facebook or YouTube they see crippling inequities and destruction that humans or nature impose on our own planet and they take action. This compassion and empathy for others is part of what makes this generation so powerful and must be integrated into the workplace. Rena Dulberg, director of community service, academic affairs at Johnson & Wales University-Denver Campus, believes that good employees expect to work for responsible companies. “We teach students to ask their potential employer about their social and environmental practices. If they don’t have an answer, the student should be comfortable to move on if this is important to them.”

The Responsible Generation may be a better label for this generation. The information revolution allows young people to learn more about the world around them, resulting in compassionate global citizens. Take for example the Kony 2012 experiment, which to date, has been viewed nearly one billion times. Supported by this information explosion, millennials have knowledge and information about society as if it affects their daily lives.

What’s more, caring is extended into schools as well. Almost every elementary school in America has on-going programs to raise money for a cause. Becky Lindberg, a student at Johnson and Wales said, “Community service is part of our education at the university and while we were growing up and applying for college, community service was almost a requirement. Why companies aren’t engaging employees in responsible practices as part of my job is surprising, as that fits with what I was taught and with my values.”

Why should companies care about millennials in the office? This generation makes up 80 million people and is projected to make up more than half of the U.S. workforce by 2020. At the same time as millennials are entering the workforce, the baby boomers are leaving–leaving a significant

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labor and knowledge gap, especially in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Jim Paradise, graduate talent manager at Lockheed Martin stated, “Sixty percent of our current workforce are baby boomers and over half of those employees are eligible to retire today.”

Even with the slow economy, Gen Y workers are choosing where they want to work, or not work at all. This generation has an overwhelming sense of responsibility.

They have grown up learning the importance of recycling, using less water, volunteering and sending money to those in need around the world. In a Deloitte survey of millennials, 92 percent believed that companies should be measured on more than economic success. In addition, 86 percent polled believed that companies had the same or more potential to make a positive social impact and 52 percent said that businesses should use their innovation to change our world for the better.

With so much written on Gen Ys, it is hard for managers to know what direction an office should take to get the best from this gen-

Understanding and empowering the new workforce is vitally important to every industry and every company’s growth. eration. One baby boomer-aged manager said, “Let them adapt, we did.” But they will not, and this is part of the reason attracting top talent and retaining good workers has been such a challenge for HR departments. This generation prefers to be fulfilled rather than climb the corporate ladder.

Dulberg adds, “Social responsibility is giving companies a market share advantage. I think it is smart of students to use this as an evaluative criteria when choosing a company to work for.”

“Gen Ys have a reputation for ambition, efficiency, fondness

for working in teams, and a mix of boldness and casualness in interpersonal relationships. All great attributes, if you can convince them to work for you,” explains David Stillman co-author of The M-Factor: How the Millennial Generation Is Rocking the Workplace. “This is a generation in search of meaning, and by that we mean from day one they want to walk into the workplace and know they are making a difference in the world.”

To simplify the barrage of information on millennials, below are the four key drivers and misunderstood myths about millennials and

aspect of your organization. A top executive from a Fortune 500 company said, “An overwhelming number of young people ask me how they can get into a CSR profession, but I say all professions need to have CSR as part of their job.” So decisions companies make on the environment, the community and the employees should not be stuck in the public affairs department or the sustainability office. CSR needs to be integrated and employee performance reviews reflect triple bottom line–people, planet, profit– performance. One of the best ways managers can give purpose to the

companies that embed corporate responsibility into their organization. They are the doers. Patagonia CEO Casey Sheahan says, “They (the companies) know what they do each day is contributing towards a higher purpose–protecting and preserving the areas that most of them love spending time in.” For millennials, the CSR movement is about purpose and impact. Setting responsible goals for a company and allowing the individual employees or teams to meet these goals creates purposeful and measurable actions of good that go beyond a traditional job. This work practice is

This generation makes up 80 million people and is projected to make up more than half of the U.S. workforce by 2020.

Millennial Truth #2: Millennials are respectful and caring about the world around them and want these attributes in their place of work.

Manager Myth #2: Millennials act entitled and indifferent.

what they need in the workplace to be successful. Leveraging corporate social responsibility strategies to attract and retain workers will be the hallmark of the future work place, as it blends values with corporate mission.

Millennial Truth #1: Millennials want to be responsible and purposeful in the workplace.

Manager Myth #1: Millennials are self-absorbed and unfocused.

Embed corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices into every

workplace is to challenge employees every day to use their resources and competency to solve societal problems. This generation wants to know what your organization stands for in improving society, what it stands for in action, as opposed to reporting the dollars donated or hours volunteered.

Millennials want to know how they will make a positive difference in the world if they join your business and how it will integrate into their jobs on a regular basis.

Tom’s Shoes, Patagonia, Rally Software, Snooze Eatery and New Belgium Brewery to name a few, are

called social innovation, unleashing the barriers to innovate new ideas to help with world challenges.

And better yet, these incubators of thoughtful purpose for good can potentially lead to profitable return.

Dr. Bernard Amadei, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado in Boulder and founder of the humanitarian organization Engineers Without Borders said, “Everything an engineer designs impacts society, and every engineer should be more aware of those potential impacts. You can become a better citizen engineer without changing the job you’re in.”

Set corporate initiatives that positively impact the planet and the communities where an organization lives and works, locally and globally. This generation is the most inclusionary of any generation before. In the United States almost 40 percent of 18 to 30 year olds are minorities and they care about world events. Specifically, they believe that, as civic-minded employees, it is up to them to assume the responsibility of making a lasting, positive impact on the future. If they care, they want their company to care too. A recent study by Cone Communications found that 83 percent of millennials trust a company more and 79 percent want to work for a company that shows they are socially and environmentally responsible. Protecting our environment, caring for communities and a respect in the workplace is paramount to these young workers. With technology and social media, transparency is critical and conscious capitalists understand the value that grows with active corporate citizens.

Sanofi, a global healthcare provider, believes in building global citizenship through the employees’ children–the next generation of do-gooders. The “Holiday Exchange” is a way for the children of their employees volume 5 issue 1

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The Responsible Generation: Millennials in the Workplace

to become culturally enlightened. Sanofi families host Sanofi children from diverse foreign countries and then send their children to live with their Sanofi “partner.” Typically, each exchange lasts for about one to two weeks, and Sanofi provides a financial contribution to cover the travel expenses.

Over the past four years, Hanes Corporation has teamed up with the Salvation Army to distribute 2.2 million socks annually to the homeless.

A past recipient of the sock drive is now helping with the project and believes that we can change the world with what we buy today.

We can also choose where to work based on the company’s commitment to our communities.

Snooze, a breakfast and lunch eatery in Denver and San Diego, built their restaurant on making great food, while also caring for the environment and the communities. They recently implemented 12 months of green, an initiative that protects the planet by buying local, recycling and composting, reducing chemicals, etc. Adam Schlegel, co-owner of Snooze says, “Caring is who we are. Our employees know our company puts actions behind what we care about and ultimately we attract more guests, we get better people working for us, and we save money.”

Millennial Truth #3: Millennials want a work-life balance and recognize that their professional assistance can go beyond the office walls.

Manager Myth #3: Millennials are lazy and can be defensive.

The integration of social and environmental values into the workplace and the alignment of the company mission with cause is paramount to this population.

Millennials don’t see workplace completely separate from home life–that is why companies are now offering perks, like bring your dog to work or a foosball table in the break room. Those are nice to have at a company, but office perks alone won’t attract Gen Ys nor keep them working at your company.

It’s all about values of the company and integrating those values into the workplace. This generation

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needs to be engaged, appreciated, and contribute to the world. Ruhi Shamim, a blogger specializing in corporate social responsibility, explains, “As a millennial, I would love to see companies invest more in younger people by incorporating them into their CSR and civic engagement strategies. Don’t ask these young employees to participate in a Saturday clean-up at the park and expect them to be engaged. They want to be part of a service project that builds a longterm community partner, where they can offer expertise while working toward a goal of solving a pressing societal problem.”

Rally Software founder, Ryan Martens, at a recent TedX talk described the, “Citizens Engineer as an engineer confronting societal problems and tackling solutions with the commitment to create a better future.” He believes it means

many of their products in Google Labs started out as pet projects in the 20 percent time program. Google is the perfect example of why you can’t stifle innovation!

Since millennials care about the world, the practice of social innovation is very compelling to these young workers. Social innovation is a new vision in which a company profits from creating social change.

Social innovation is the “DO” of social responsibility and philanthropy, producing a blend of impact and profits.

It turns out this vision of doing well by being good is so powerful to Gen Y that there are now employment agencies that solely match social enterprises with qualified workers.

ReWorks and Morethanmoneycareers.com are employment agencies that provide information on responsible career options, including CSR jobs, sustainability careers, and social entrepreneurship options.

As civic-minded employees, it is up to them to assume the responsibility of making a lasting, positive impact on the future. integrating work, life and purpose.

It means drawing sustainability and social justice boundaries from which to work toward moving forward. Furthermore, reputation and values on sustainability and social responsibility transcend into worklife balance, where personal and company values collide.

Millennial Truth #4: Millennials are global independent thinkers, creative and innovative.

Manager Myth #4: Millennials don’t follow authority and think they “know it all.”

Empowering social innovation by creating a corporate culture is very important. One the most innovative companies today, Google, allows its employees to use up to 20 percent of their work week to pursue special projects. That means for every standard work week, employees can take a full day to work on a project unrelated to their normal workload. Google claims that

Years ago, Ashoka recognized the disconnect between caring and doing, and created a nonprofit that supports new ideas and innovations that inspire a new generation of leaders to make social impacts and create social enterprises. Historically, Ashoka supported social entrepreneurs, but surprisingly the millennials in the corporate world wanted to jump on the social entrepreneurship bandwagon, so they shifted focus to include corporate programs that encourage social changes using organizational networks and knowhow. Ashoka president Diana Wells said, “There’s a ‘lost tribe’ of social innovators embedded in corporate America, building better business from the inside out. Ashoka and Accenture have joined together to find them, fund them and change the way the world does business.”

Thus, the new role in business is “social intrapreneur,” a term identifying individuals of companies that utilize the network, core expertise and infrastructures to extend their job and to solve a societal issue.

In 2009 Amy Chen, a manager of PepsiCo and recent graduate of Stanford, was perplexed that 20 million students nationwide received subsidized school meals, and were lacking these meals during the summer months. Ms. Chen and a group of her PepsiCo colleagues decided to do something about it. “If kids can’t get to food,” they thought, “why can’t we bring food to kids?” That simple insight was the genesis of Food for Good. “I remember one of the first community meetings we had. We were describing how we wanted to work together on pilot programs, and start a process of experimenting, and learning and exploring.” Chen said. Today, thanks to partnerships with state and federal governments, local nonprofits, and community organizations, combined with the expertise of colleagues within PepsiCo, Food for Good has become the largest summer mobile meal delivery program in the United States. It operates all summer long–rain or shine–and has provided more than a million nutritious breakfasts and lunches to underserved youth in Dallas, Chicago, Austin and Houston.

This generation of millennials is looking for purposeful and impactful outcomes that blend workplace goals with societal needs. Adam Schlegel, owner at Snooze Eatery says it best, “It’s a long-term approach to business–people, planet, profit, and how do we act today to make tomorrow better.” Help “The Responsible Generation” grow company profits while doing good for our world. In Dr. Seuss’s words: “You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So ... get on your way!”

Cristin Tarr is co-founder and managing partner of Business Service Corps, LLC (BSC); a social enterprise helping companies with high impact employee and community engagement programs. The company has developed executive overviews and employee workshops to educate and enhance corporate social responsibility initiatives. To contact Cristin visit, www.businessservicecorps.com.

Candace Ruiz is co-founder and managing director of Business Service Corps, LLC (BSC).

She is a part-time business professor at the Community College of Denver. To contact Candace visit, www.businessservicecorps.com.

Inform. Innovate. Impact.

US DOT Region 7 University Transportation Center MATC is a consortium of 8 universities headquartered at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Partners include the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, the University of Missouri, Lincoln University, and the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

The Mid-America Transportation Center (MATC) facilitates world class education, workforce development, and technology transfer initiatives. MATC’s research portfolio surrounds the central theme of improving safety and minimizing risk associated with increasing multi-modal freight movements on the U.S. surface transportation system.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

For more information about MATC or to sponsor a student in our K-12 afterschool program please visit matc.unl.edu.

business

John Hofmeister

I

f you didn’t know who John Hofmeister is, you might believe he’s a roving political figurehead and not a former energy CEO. And while the topic of energy seems like a convoluted issue to most, for Hofmeister, understanding energy is as simple as understanding that proper nutrition is good for your body; he often compares being an intelligent energy consumer to being a healthful consumer of food.

Traveling around the country, the former Royal Dutch Shell, U.S. Business, CEO talks to groups about the importance of energy and its role within the political realm. His commonsense fervor toward energy slaps you upside the head in a “wise up” kind of way. He enthusiastically reminds consumers that it is important to know the ins and outs of supply and demand as well as the availability or lack of availability of energy and how to keep it affordable, sustainable and available.

He warns that consumers’ lack of knowledge about energy and how it affects their day-to-day lives is not only detrimental but elicits unintended consequences we as a society are not ready to face. He stresses the importance of learning the basics. For Hofmeister, energy isn’t a hard lesson.

In fact, it is a lesson we don’t focus on but we should. In a one-on-one interview, ICOSA had the distinct honor and opportunity to learn more about Hofmeister’s perspectives on the energy sector and its impact on all of us.

» John Hofmeister

Energy Straight Talk A Glimpse into the Mind of John Hofmeister B y E m i ly H a g g s t r o m

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ICOSA: How do you think leaders in the oil and gas industry can be more transparent about what is going on in the industry so that citizens can have more informed conversations around fossil fuel development?

Hofmeister: We have to explain energy from the consumers’ perspective and that’s not generally what companies do; they tend to explain energy from the engineering and natural resources perspective. While it is completely logical to approach a technology industry from a technology standpoint–that’s not where consumers’ heads are.

We must dramatically shift how we talk about energy and think of who the ultimate consumers of energy are and the implications on their consumption of energy, which means affordability, availability and sustainability. Everyone assumes that we have enough energy; everyone hopes that energy is affordable, and everyone prays that energy is sustainable. Well, we can do all three with a sound energy policy that enables the production of more energy from all sources.

It’s very clear that in elections going back, really, all the way to Richard Nixon, who was the first to promise energy independence, that politicians have basically manipulated misinformation, disinformation or lack of information of the average voter to try to get what they want from an energy priority standpoint. That’s not good enough; public officials should not manipulate voters.

Voters should have the freedom of choice to choose people who they hold accountable for energy. But they won’t do that if they are not well informed. Consumers have to be convinced before they vote for people who have a rational balanced approach to energy.

ICOSA: The energy industry continues to be demonized. How can leaders within the energy industry get their message out front to halt some of the blatant misinformation perpetuated by the media, environmentalists and politicians to scare the American public?

Hofmeister: I think you have to go back to the consumer. If you compare industries like the food industry, the information technology industry and the financial services industry, any consumer product industry focuses on advertising and public awareness of what they do with the consumer first. Energy is exactly the opposite–it doesn’t focus on the consumer because it is selling to a wholesale marketplace, or it is producing oil that goes into a global trading market.

The industry believes that by going into a global trading market, there’s no customer there. They don’t think about the person who’s ultimately buying the refined product. You have to continuously

“Politicians have basically manipulated misinformation, disinformation or lack of information of the average voter to try to get what they want from an energy priority standpoint.” - John Hofmeister think about what the implications of your product is as it relates to the ultimate end user–that to me is how you build your communications. The oil and gas industry in particular, but also the electricity generation industry, tends not to focus on the consumer.

People will wait outside, in line, overnight for a new Apple product.

Nobody, however, is about to wait outside, in line, overnight for a tank of gas unless they’re desperate or unless gas is in short supply. People just take it for granted, but they still need more information about how hard it is to get that gasoline to market.

ICOSA: Consumers have an ideological fear that’s been constructed by media, environmentalists and politicians. And as outlets that exist based on consumer and constituent satisfaction, the output of topics and information can in most cases be skewed for ratings and favorability numbers. With politicians spending more time trying to be re-elected, it seems as though they are nurturing ideology with bad regulatory policies instead of educating their constituents and holding more productive town hall type meetings to quell un-needed public fear. What are your thoughts on this?

Hofmeister: First, I think we have to recognize that the free market for energy disappeared a long time ago. There is no such thing as a free market for energy; it’s completely regulated by the government, and that’s something that consumers need to know. They’re completely governed as to what they can sell, where they can find it, where they can produce it and how they can produce it.

The U.S. government, not the manufacturers, sets the specifications for gasoline; the government sets the implications for distribution, and whether we have pipelines or not is a government

decision. So the public needs to understand who is really running the show.

It’s not the oil companies–the oil companies are trying to do the best they can to serve their customers through a publicly regulated process.

Generally politicians escape accountability by artificially blaming oil companies for public policies, which they either did not create or refused to create, or which created public policies that harmed the consumer. We have to be brave enough as an industry to explain all of that so that politicians can’t get away with the manipulation and the demonization when the problem is not the companies–when the problem is the public policy failure. If politicians blame the oil companies for something, the oil companies can only do what they do based on public policy. It happens over and over again; politicians love to demonize the oil industry to move the accountability for problems away from themselves.

ICOSA: Why aren’t more company leaders speaking out and addressing these concerns?

Hofmeister: There are two problems: One, if politicians think they are being criticized by companies that are depending upon them for permits–they will withhold permits. They will punish the companies that criticize them.

They will retaliate against the companies who need the public’s permission and who need the permits for speaking badly about the politician or the public policy that the politician supports. Number one, you don’t bite the hand that feeds you. I don’t know how you get around this problem easily, especially when the public doesn’t understand that politicians or public policy are the problem.

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The second problem is that many of the leaders in oil and gas companies do not accept that it is their responsibility to inform the public of what they need to know, much less to engage politicians.

There’s a phrase that’s expressed quietly among many energy companies when they run up against opposition, whether it’s consumers, environmentalists or politicians demonizing the industry; the under-the–breath, soft expression is, “Well, let them freeze in the dark.”

If you have a mindset that says because you are opposed, then your opponents can simply freeze in the dark, I propose that you’re not likely to go out and communicate openly and effectively with those people who are dependent upon your product down the road.

Or if the price of gas gets skyrockets, instead of explaining that poor public policy has led to the high pricing, companies just don’t say anything. They try to explain their high prices based upon their cost systems which overwhelms consumers.

Most people understand supply and demand, whether it’s milk, whether it’s tickets to athletic events or whether it’s gasoline; supply and demand is supply and demand. If companies presented basic economic education for the public with respect to supply and demand, people might not be so antithetical to what the oil companies are trying to do.

ICOSA: You wrote a book called.

Why We Hate The Oil Companies.

What led you to write the book and to give it such a title?

Hofmeister: Believe it or not, I got the title from Tim Russert, the former moderator of Meet the Press.

On my first Meet the Press interview, Russert interviewed me and two other oil company CEOs. His first question to three heads of oil companies was, “Do you know how much the American people don’t like you?” And that stuck with me.

Then he presented the favorability numbers of the annual Gallup Poll on “How Americans Perceive the Oil Companies,” which is hard data.

He demonstrated to the three of us live on television in front of millions of people how disliked the oil companies were.

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Of course, when you go through decades of being demonized because the industry has done some terrible things to the environment, like the Exxon Valdez spill or BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster or other oil spills, you don’t effectively engage the public on what happened and what you’re doing about what happened. Instead, you’re not transparent about it, which builds mistrust. There is a reluctance to engage, and it’s a reluctance companies will pay a price for.

The oil industry must move from being introverted to being more extroverted like any other consumer products company because oil and gas companies are ultimately consumer products companies. There must be a mindset shift in the boardroom and at the executive level that recognizes that they are in fact consumer product companies as well as technology companies.

define the natural gas extraction issue. The industry has been so far behind in explaining itself to the public that now Hollywood gets to give their version of the facts–which are often created or invented for the purpose of selling movie tickets. Meanwhile, the reality of fracking hardly gets explained. But when it does get explained through a movie or documentary, I credit the film industry for going into communities with a premeditated storyline to explain the issue–whether it’s the farmers, the townspeople, seniors or the young people of the community.

Companies really are doing a good job explaining the case of fracking, but what they are not doing is explaining the case of fracking to the American people at large. Take Pennsylvania as an example. You often get people from the Philadelphia area to go to Pittsburgh or other communities in western Pennsylvania, who

“There is no such thing as a free market for energy; it’s completely regulated by the government.”

- John Hofmeister

ICOSA: One of the biggest challenges for the industry right now is hydraulic fracturing. The American people don’t know much about any of the upstream, midstream or downstream processes, yet they “know about fracking.”

New York State is finalizing its comment period over its moratorium, and many of its residents can see the benefits just over the border in Bradford, Pennsylvania, but the issue continues to linger. How do consumers become better educated on the topic, and how do people within the industry resolve this issue on hydraulic fracturing?

Hofmeister: You really have to out-Hollywood, Hollywood. In 2010 you had Gasland, a movie about natural gas extraction and fracking, and now we have Promised Land with Matt Damon, a movie, where Hollywood gets to

have never been talked to about fracking, to go and protest fracking.

Often, the local residents like the economic opportunity that drilling represents, like the fact that their young people don’t have to move away to get good jobs and can live at home or stay in the community.

But the Philadelphia folks show up to protest the fracking and make it out to be something that’s just plain awful. So when the news media covers the protests against fracking, it’s not the local residents in many cases that are protesting– it’s the visitors.

Or, what about New York state … I’ve been in southwestern New York state and talked to a number of people there. They have been waiting for fracking to be approved because they want the economic option to have private landowners to be able to sell their mineral rights. But citizens from the New York metropolitan area

or upstate New York, where there is no opportunity for fracking, are trying to shut it down, encumbering these locals who’ve been patiently waiting.

You end with outsiders, so to speak, making a case for fracking.

I’ve invited the American Petroleum Institute to come and present to a number of groups, and the people there do a wonderful job. They have an excellent presentation that is completely understandable and puts everything into perspective. Why isn’t the industry using that information to make a movie? There are great actors who could create a movie that sells the benefits of fracking as it pertains to national security, to economic growth, to job creation–to all the things that it actually does deliver to communities.

It’s not that people love fracking; nobody loves fracking–including the frackers. It’s a dangerous, dirty process, but it leads to economic value creation. Steel-making is a dirty, dangerous process too, but think of all the things that come from that–cars and huge buildings–all because of steel. We must make fracking safe, just like steel-making became safe to realize the full benefits of it all. We can put up with the risks associated with the dirty and the dangerous part, which are mitigated by technologies, as well as the safety regulations and rules. The industry doesn’t think that way, and that’s why I’m out in the public trying to describe, in my own words and in my own views, what needs to be done. The industry can help itself a long way by out–Hollywood-ing Hollywood, and not trying to be the technicians that they are but getting their messaging out in front of people.

It’s hard to find Americans who want to fight job creation. But, they don’t think of fracking as job creation, they think of fracking as destroying the Earth. It doesn’t destroy the Earth. It’s such a small piece of what the Earth represents, and it can be done in such a way as not to harm or seriously damage it. If, for example, you went to a so-called dirty fracking site and then returned in two or three years, all you’d see is a pipe in the ground, because nature would

“There is a reluctance to engage, and it’s a reluctance companies will pay a price for.”

- John Hofmeister

have reclaimed the land–you wouldn’t know that there was ever a fracking site there. Same with coal mining and other harsh excavation-type activities; there is something called restoration, and it is part of the regulations. So it can be done, and should be done because we need the energy.

ICOSA: You retired as Royal Dutch Shell’s president of U. S. business and soon founded and became the CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy. What led to this transition?

Hofmeister: My former company (Shell) had a retirement policy of 60 and out. So when I reached 60, I had six months to leave–and so six months later–I left. When I thought about what was next I experienced the frustrations of trying to deal with the political process to create sound public policy on energy. I was engaging

with thousands of people across the country in an outreach program, and I was flabbergasted by the lack of knowledge, awareness and information that the public had with respect to energy.

So I decided being relatively young at age 60, being healthy and being somewhat of an extrovert, that the American people deserved better, they deserved to know what they needed to know, not only to enable themselves to have a better future, especially when it comes to the future of energy, but also for their children and their grandchildren. After discussing it with my family, we concluded the best thing that we could do was spend the next period of our years trying to persuade as many people as possible to simply learn more about what affects their life every day.

Since starting the work I am booked solid and my time is no longer my own–my time is given

to the people that I talk to. My wife and I started the nonprofit, Citizens for Affordable Energy, which is solely funded by voluntary contributions from consumers only. We do not accept any money from the oil and gas industry or any other energy company. We are constantly talking with people all over the country and sometimes outside the country about the future of energy and the environment. It’s not that difficult to engage people.

We believe to move forward we must address four basic energy priorities: (1) we need more energy from all sources; (2) we need more technology for efficiency; (3) we need more environmental protection so that all future generations have clean air, clean land and clean water; and (4) we need more infrastructure to move energy from where it’s produced to where it’s consumed. These parameters are what we call “The Four Mores” and volume 5 issue 1

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they can guide Americans’ understanding of the future of energy and the environment, as well as serve as a foundation to create public policy.

Our mission is to educate many people as we can to support energy for the future because our energy systems are old. Furthermore, the reliance on existing supplies is not secure, so we need more secure supplies to promote affordability and availability, and we need environmental protections to provide sustainability.

We’re not idealists, and we’re not ideologues–we’re practitioners, and we’re very pragmatic.

If you read the discussion on the environment in my book, you could probably come away from that chapter believing that I am a full-blown environmentalist, which I am, but I also recognize that we need energy. So it’s not how do we stop using energy, but really how do we make dirty processes cleaner, and how do we make dirty energy cleaner? I believe it’s possible because we have all the technology available to us to make it happen. And, I think it is important to have a secure nation with a strong potential for economic growth while we make sure that our environmental needs of the nation are also protected.

ICOSA: Beginning in 1919, the oil industry created the American Petroleum Institute, its governing body, to self-regulate and standardize the way oil companies do business. The group enforced advocacy, standardization and certifications to ensure the industry was held to an exceptional standard of business. How does the industry converge their views along with the views of the environmental movement?

Hofmeister: You listen to all sides.

You don’t start with criticism–you start with openness, transparency, realism and pragmatism. You can’t start with ideology; if you make it religious zealotry where you cannot comprehend or you are unwilling to comprehend the views of others, nothing works.

I’ve met environmentalists who are absolutely and fundamentally, with every fiber of their being,

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opposed to a hydrocarbon future.

They’ve closed down their minds; they’ve just refused the beliefs of others and the needs of others.

They have the right to be a zealot but because they are a zealot, they are on the fringe of our society.

All the surveys tell you that most of our society consists of centrists and pragmatists. I think it is dead wrong for politicians, because of a noisy, zealot-led minority, to make public policy that affects the top of the bell curve. That’s not what a democracy is. Citizens have the right to disagree, they have the right to protest, they have a right to their own point of view, but if they are going to try to stop the vast majority from enjoying the benefits of energy because of their zealotry and the elimination of hydrocarbons, that’s not good

the future of domestic energy development as it pertains to exploration and production, new technology and domestic energy independence?

Hofmeister: We’ve been muddling through for years, and we’ve been successful because we have been so reliant on foreign imports. We’ve basically exported the risk of producing energy for the United States by buying imported oil. We have totally enriched other parts of the world with our disposable dollars.

When we import foreign oil into this country, jobs are created elsewhere in the world–not here.

Because those jobs are created elsewhere in the world, we have promoted economic growth in other parts of the world while our own economy has suffered the loss of those reinvestment dollars.

municipalities, counties and townships, which all set energy rules.

We have so much governance over energy that there is no free market left. I believe we need a new governance model for energy, which includes the creation of an independent regulatory commission that enables the energy system to be managed for the future, independent of politics, independent of who’s in office; in the same way that that independent regulatory commission called the Federal Reserve to manage our monetary system for the good of the nation, for the good of the economy and for the good of American consumers. We need an independent regulatory commission to manage energy for the good of the nation, for the good of the consumer and for the good of the economy because

“It’s not that people love fracking; nobody loves fracking–including the frackers. It’s a dangerous, dirty process, but it leads to economic value creation.” - John Hofmeister public policy. That’s not where the majority lives; it doesn’t deny them the right to protest, but it should not empower them to stop what society needs.

The United States has a unique problem that most other countries in the world do not have–we tend to have a binary view of the world–it’s either this way or that way. That binary view of the world gets in the way of rational conversation for the common good.

Zealotry on either side doesn’t take us to the common good. We have to have the public involved because the public are the decision-makers of the future of the country. That’s where the industry has let itself down and has let society down by being too remote from the mainstream of political behavior and political knowledge and understanding.

ICOSA: You talk a lot about the future, but with no real energy policy and increasing regulations, where do you see

We have an old infrastructure in this country, water systems, sewer systems, highways, bridges–you name it–our infrastructure is old. We have an energy system that’s the oldest in the world and we are not reinvesting in it. Instead, we’re still relying on foreign imports to get through the day. So while we’ve been muddling through for decades, we can and should make choices that demonstrate that a crumbling infrastructure and enriching other locales is not a good enough option.

Going forward I am promoting a reasonable, rational plan that extends beyond an election cycle. In that plan, we must change the governing structure of the industry, which is extremely convoluted. Today, the energy governance consists of 15 cabinet agencies in the executive branch, 40 committees in Congress, 735 federal judges, plus 50 governors; 50 state legislatures; 50 state court systems; and thousands of

the politicians have proven that they can’t do it. They can’t do it as politicians because they won’t– they won’t reach agreement, they won’t come to bipartisan conclusions, and they won’t operate from a consensus model.

Currently they operate from a partisan party model, and that model doesn’t work. That’s sort of the last item to discuss here because–it gets pretty complex– you’re asking elected politicians to give up some of their authority to an independent regulatory agency as a result of their failure.

Politicians don’t want to admit that they’ve failed, so it might take power blackouts to demonstrate that their failure is real.

The failure of the political process to provide for future energy security is real. When we realize this, then we might have the wherewithal and the pragmatism to solve the governance problem, which has created the impossibility for this nation to have a secure energy policy.

CITY OF FORT COLLINS

JOURNEY TO ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY • Renewable Energy • Energy Efficiency • Electric Vehicles

• Smart Grid • Zero Energy District • Public/Private Partnerships

Learn more at fcgov.com/sustainable-leadership

business

AlloSource

» AlloSource CEO, Tom Cycyota

Future Focus Makes Doing More with Life a Reality B y J a s o n St e p h e n s , w i t h J i m C z e p i e l & A d a m C o h e n

Honoring the gift of donation, AlloSource responsibly develops processes and distributes lifesaving and life-enhancing human tissue for our communities.

- AlloSource Mission Statement

W

hen this statement is your company’s mission, it characterizes the work your people do every day.

The future suddenly takes on a greater sense of urgency and significance. AlloSource, an innovator and processor of donated human tissue, located in Centennial, Colorado, emphasizes its deep commitment to honor the gift of donor tissue by determining the best ways to maximize tissue donation.

AlloSource’s longtime commitment to traditional allografts (human bone and tissue allografts) has evolved significantly over the years. Developing and delivering products that are distributed to surgeons throughout the world to treat a wide variety of injury and disease is now the norm for AlloSource. As the organization approaches 20 years of business in 2014, their product portfolio has expanded drastically. From traditional bone void fillers, to uniquely innovative products such as AlloStem®, a bone allograft with adult (mesenchymal) stem cells, AlloSource continues to honor their mission and strives to maximize the gift of donation through innovation.

AlloSource’s mission reaches beyond innovative products and into their business model. Founded in 1994, AlloSource began when three of the nation’s top organ procurement organizations (OPOs)–Donor Alliance in Denver, Mid-America

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Transplant Services in St. Louis and Gift of Hope in Chicago–came together to create a separate entity to process tissue donors and then distribute that tissue back into the community. As a result, the company was established with the leaders of these OPOs sitting as the AlloSource board of directors. As the business grew, the board expanded to include six OPO leaders.

Tom Cycyota, AlloSource president and CEO, says, “We continue to revolutionize tissue transplantation for patients in need, [so] donor families can take comfort in knowing that we will continue to develop new ways to honor their loved ones’ gifts. Coupled with our commitment to collaboration and customer service, more people are being positively impacted by our work than ever before.”

In today’s rapidly changing health care and tissue industry, AlloSource manages to innovate new products, collaborate with medical professionals, invent breakthrough technologies and most importantly maximize the gift of tissue donation.

Because of this, AlloSource remains sustainable and is establishing itself as a leader in the industry.

Focusing on the future with strategy and innovation

S

urvival as a sustainable organization requires a focus beyond today’s urgent needs.

An understanding of the longrange trends and opportunities is required to make long-term commitments for growth, while engaging employees in the mission and maintaining the utmost standard for safe and quality tissue.

Anticipating and predicting the future, then betting on it by investing human and financial resources, is an inexact blend of science and art. However, organizations that only focus on the near term maintain success only if their industry remains static over time. Such conditions are dangerous, at best,

physicians, medical professionals and researchers; and • Anticipate health care industry changes such as insurance reform, delivery models and treatment protocols.

For typical organizations, a strategic plan that gathers dust on the shelf hides missed business opportunities. Misalignment of people and processes diminishes financial performance. Lack of engagement of people and partners harms commitment, productivity and cooperation. Customer service means responding to problems.

Because each donor can impact up to 200 lives, AlloSource’s future focus on strategy and innovation is imperative to produce and to continuously develop progressive products medical professionals will choose. For AlloSource, a higher cause and calling require no less than excellence in strategy, align-

Organizations that only focus on the near term maintain success only if their industry remains static over time. Such conditions are dangerous, at best in today’s business environment.

IBM didn’t become the world’s largest consulting services provider by doubling down on its past investments in adding machines, typewriters, supercomputers and desktop PCs. Systematic, future-focused processes for strategy and innovation enable AlloSource to: • Understand and address challenges that face the organization; • Capitalize on competitive advantages and market opportunities; • Nurture organizational competencies that enable product innovation and realization; • Evaluate and take intelligent risks that expand markets, products and technologies; • Gather knowledge from

4,000 donors, which translates to nearly 100,000 lives affected each year. The evolution of success has developed into a defined five-part strategic planning process built to guide the executive leadership team in their decisions that will drive future sustainability.

AlloSource’s product portfolio ranges from living cartilage products for joint repair, life-saving skin for burn victims, whole femurs for cancer patients and even stem cell products. The executive team decides where to expand product offerings to further honor the gift of donation. It all hinges on an extensive situational analysis process to identify blind spots, opportunities and internal and external trends and influences.

The situational analysis process collects a large amount of information through external expert presentations, surgeon and scientific advisory boards, departmental analysis and active listening to their customers. The executive team devotes a great deal of time and energy to take this large amount of information and extract critical knowledge needed to build AlloSource’s defined strategies.

With such a broad range of innovative technologies, it would be hard to lose focus. AlloSource has learned that having a few significant strategies is an effective

method for keeping the entire organization focused. These strategies have ranged from building infrastructure for future growth, organizational culture shifts and expanded distribution to new products and technologies that will separate AlloSource from the competition, while always honoring the gift of donation.

Driving the project portfolio

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trategies alone are not enough to lead AlloSource into the future. The next step in the process is to determine actionable projects that will be the focus for the next year. This process involves bringing nearly all levels of the organization into the process so that all have a voice in developing projects that align with the strategies. A rigorous process of project evaluation ensues to whittle down the project list and ultimately decide on which projects will bring the most benefit to AlloSource.

This benefit can only be realized when there is alignment between the customer needs and what AlloSource delivers. AlloSource recently implemented a program to allow physicians to give direct feedback on their products. This input, plus

ment, innovation, engagement and customer centrism to optimize a donor’s impact and to save and enhance more lives. AlloSource’s success is measured by its mission to honor the donor’s gift and to save and enhance lives.

Systematic planning brings the future closer

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olid growth and continued success through innovation describe the last 20 years for AlloSource. This did not come easily but was driven through the continual progression of strategic planning and strategic decisions.

Today, AlloSource gives back to the community by processing nearly

» AlloSource research and development projects explore the viability of future-focused products. volume 5 issue 1

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» Rachel Frank, an allograft meniscus recipient, completed the Hawaii Ironman 70.3 Triathlon following her transplant.

input to marketing managers, district managers and other AlloSource personnel, is critical to delivering the products that will meet the needs of the customer.

The resulting strategic plan is formally documented, presented to the board of directors for approval and formally delivered to all levels of AlloSource leadership. No strategy will be successful unless it is effectively communicated to all employees, and they must understand their role in delivering the strategy. AlloSource uses a company-wide network solution where corporate goals are cascaded down from senior leadership to every employee so all know how their role is aligned to the AlloSource strategic plan.

During the past 10 years, AlloSource has enjoyed a number of successes that have honored the gift of donation while increasing

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their market competitiveness, in part because of the rigorous strategic planning process. AlloSource’s product portfolio has grown so much in the past decade that more than half of the products produced today were not part of the product portfolio 10 years ago. They have seen double-digit annual growth rates over the past few years, and new, innovative products using stem cell technologies have been a strong driver of this growth.

Envisioning a successful future

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he strategic planning process is an endeavor that is never stagnant. As soon as the process is complete for one year, it immediately acts as a foundation

to continue the next cycle. As AlloSource learns from its successes and continues to develop new technologies, the mission of AlloSource will continue to change the lives of the community.

Evolving industry trends require AlloSource to keep adapting in planning for the future. Unknown impacts of health care reform on medical reimbursement affect the company’s physician and hospital customers. Technology in the medical products industry enables new applications for donated tissue.

Partnering in the industry, from collaborating with OPOs to joint ventures with medical device and technology companies, opens avenues for new project development and distribution.

Following the mission that has guided them for two decades, AlloSource will achieve their goals in the next 20 years. While the

industry’s future may be uncertain, AlloSource’s mission makes its future completely certain: honor the donor gift by providing life-saving and life-enhancing tissue products.

With so much at stake, a process that focuses AlloSource on the future is more than a good idea; it’s absolutely mission-critical.

Jason Stephens is corporate development manager at AlloSource. Jim Czepiel is vice president of strategic development at AlloSource. To learn more about AlloSource and their progressive allograft products, visit www. allosource.org or www.allograftpossibilities. org. AlloSource is a Denver Business Journal (DBJ) Health Care Champion–Top Innovator (2010), DBJ Healthiest Employers (2012), and Rocky Mountain Performance Excellence award recipient (2010). Adam Cohen, principal of Accelerant Performance Solutions (accelerantperformance.com), contributed to this article.

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business

iRobot

Beyond Science Fiction–Robots as Solutions Extending Independent Living, Removing Bombs and Doing the Improbable

By Colin Angle

U

nderstanding the needs of society, as opposed to showcasing feats of technology, is pivotal to the longterm success of the robotics industry. While hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on cool robotics demonstrations, the industry as a whole has put relatively little toward solving the high value needs of businesses and consumers.

The incredible undertaking of the development of humanoid robots is a perfect example; it’s been an exercise in putting coolness before utility. Unlike those portrayed in science fiction, today’s humanoid robots are pre-programmed to perform solo tasks, or a series of them. They’re slow, limited and lack the ability to assess and respond to their environment. Many aren’t autonomous. Even the most exciting and promising systems often have a team of engineers walking behind them. Plus, the systems have a mean-time to failure of about 45 minutes with limited performance–not to mention all those millions of dollars.

But after decades of grand demonstrations and failed follow-throughs, the robot industry has finally reached a tipping point. Technological advances in robotics are solving problems, moving the industry beyond hype and into practical applications that are making a difference and driving profits.

Consider this:

» In 2002, the iRobot® Roomba® vacuum cleaning robot rolled off the assembly line and into the homes–and hearts–of people around the world, quickly becoming an international pop-culture sensation. In addition to cleaning carpets and hard floors in millions of homes, Roomba has appeared in hundreds of print publications, TV shows and YouTube videos.

• When Americans are in the market for a new vacuum cleaner, 25 percent consider a robot instead of an old-fashioned upright.

• Life-saving military robots, in the past used almost exclusively for bomb disposal, are now performing a greater range of missions for infantry and Special Forces.

• From a business and finance perspective, venture capitalists are increasingly viewing robot companies as a category instead of a miracle.

Right now, robotics is one of the most promising areas for scientific innovation and economic growth in America. In the not-so-distant past, the United States enjoyed great economic and technological success with automobiles, aviation, agriculture and information technology. In the near future, robotics has the same potential to be an economic engine that carries the nation forward, providing a

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» Jason Knight, MD, connects via the RP-VITA telemedicine robot to remotely examine an ER patient during a clinical validation process at Hoag Hospital.

foundation for significant enhancements and employment opportunities in healthcare, defense, consumer technology, and many other critical sectors.

The robot industry has come a long way–for robots and for humankind. Twenty years ago, robots were mostly an idea. They certainly weren’t practical, affordable mainstream products. And the perception that robots were expensive, didn’t work and posed a threat was driving a false reality.

We’ve also had to deal with the Hollywood-hyped fear of robots.

In movies, TV shows, comic books, video games and other products of pop culture, robots of the future are portrayed as sentient, almost human, as they battle mankind. It’s no wonder the American public was afraid that machines would take over the world.

But time and affordable, reliable robots have changed things. Now, reality is driving perception; practical robots are making a difference, performing all kinds of tasks in various environments. And those practical robots aren’t humanoids.

In homes around the world, for example, robots are revolutionizing the way people clean. The robots are vacuuming carpets, washing floors, clearing gutters, and performing other automated home maintenance tasks. Millions of home robots have been sold worldwide. iRobot’s award-winning Roomba® vacuum cleaning robot is leading the cleaning charge. Roomba made practical robots a reality for the first time and showed the world that robots are here to stay.

On the battlefield, robots are a critical security and intelligence component of 21st-century warfare. Unmanned ground, aerial, and underwater vehicles provide situational awareness and perform bomb disposal, surveillance/reconnaissance, and other dangerous missions for armed forces around the world. As a result of their proven success in combat, the types of missions that robots perform are rapidly expanding on and off the battlefield.

Helping with humanitarian efforts after natural disasters is another way that robots are making a difference in times of need. The iRobot 510 PackBot® and iRobot 710 Warrior®

were deployed at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan to help in the aftermath of the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Equipped with a range of sensors and payloads, PackBot and Warrior performed operations in areas of the disabled power plant where radiation levels and temperatures were too high and unsafe for people.

In the U.S., robots are also being used to perform routine operations at nuclear power plants.

Technology has arrived at the crossroad where the promise of

for a variety of significant practical applications in many areas, including healthcare and remote presence. RP-VITA is a joint effort between two industry leaders, iRobot and InTouch Health. As the first FDA approved autonomous telemedicine robot, it combines the latest in navigation and mobility technologies developed by iRobot with state-of-the-art telemedicine and electronic health record integration developed by InTouch Health. RP-VITA allows remote doctor-to-patient consults,

Robotics is one of the most promising areas for scientific innovation and economic growth in America. practical robots is no longer just a promise; robots are a reality now, and there are going to be many more of them in the not-so-distant future.

Looking Ahead

T

echnological advancements are making new robotic functionality a reality for less cost than ever before. The Internet and wireless connectivity–along with advances in computational horsepower, artificial intelligence, sensors, and power efficiency–have also helped bring us to today’s inflection point.

Of course, we’re not anywhere close to creating the Terminator or other humanoid robots as they’re often portrayed in pop culture. To a large extent, science fiction has gotten it wrong–artificial intelligence isn’t going to enter our lives as a human-looking cyborg that is an autonomous killing machine. Instead, robots will continue to increase the number of simple to moderately complex tasks they perform for us.

Eventually, individual robots will be built up into more integrated systems. The top-down solution doesn’t have a chance to succeed, given the immense and complex challenges to accomplish it.

With the latest advances, robotic technology has the potential

ensuring that the physician is in the right place at the right time and has access to the necessary clinical information to take immediate action. The robot has unprecedented ease of use. It maps its own environment and uses an array of sophisticated sensors to autonomously move about a busy space without interfering with people or other objects.

Using an intuitive iPad® interface, a doctor can visit a patient, and communicate with hospital staff and patients with a single click, regardless of their location.

The FDA clearance specifies that RP-VITA can be used for active patient monitoring in pre-operative, peri-operative and post-surgical settings, including cardiovascular, neurological, prenatal, psychological and critical care assessments and examinations.

There are very few environments as difficult to maneuver as that of a busy ICU or emergency department. Having crossed this technology threshold, the potential for self-navigating robots in other markets, and for new applications, is virtually limitless.

Robots also offer tremendous potential to help extend independent living for seniors–an issue that is going to become critically important in the United States over the next 15 years, as the number of people over the age of 65 doubles.

Nursing homes, which today cost

» Colin Angle

$10,000 a month or more, aren’t just an undesirable choice for seniors; they’re also not economically viable for the majority of us.

Robots can also proactively help with prescription drug compliance, alleviating many unnecessary hospitalizations and the skyrocketing healthcare costs associated with them. By integrating a practical, self-navigating robot with the wonders of mobile and tablet computers, robots like Ava have numerous practical applications and create endless commercial possibilities in healthcare, education, retail marketing and many other sectors.

And that’s the whole point–creating robots that offer more value than they cost to produce is what ultimately makes the robotics industry important and profitable.

With practical robots, the possibilities to change the world are limitless. And that isn’t science fiction.

Colin Angle is chairman of the board, chief executive officer and co-founder of iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT). Angle’s leadership has transformed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spinoff into a global leader of practical robots. One of the world’s leading authorities on mobile robots, Angle is an industry pioneer with more than two decades of experience. Under his guidance, iRobot is at the forefront of the growing robot industry, delivering home and military robots that are making a difference. A longtime sailor, Angle is known for his ability to bring together and inspire a winning crew. By setting a course of team empowerment, collaboration, and innovation, Angle is enabling iRobot to deliver cutting-edge, market-leading robots that save time and lives. Today, more than 9 million home robots have been sold worldwide, revolutionizing the way people clean. More than 5,000 military robots have been delivered to defense forces worldwide, performing thousands of dangerous missions while keeping troops out of harm’s way.

To learn more about iRobot visit, www.irobot.com. volume 5 issue 1

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Adams Industries

State and Community Development Plans Boast Economic Incentives Bringing New Business to Nebraska B y E m i ly H a g g s t r o m

T

outing fiscal opportunities has not been at the forefront of state chambers of commerce or offices of economic development across the nation that are responsible for luring in businesses based on their states’ competitive incentive opportunities. Instead, states are selling themselves based on aesthetic qualities that their cities have to offer. While this seems to be the case for most states, Nebraska, which ranked sixth behind places like Colorado, North Dakota and top-ranking Utah in Forbes 2012 List of Best States for Business, continues to be assertive in its pursuit to bring new businesses to the state.

“Our right-to-work legislation is actually built into our constitution so that is a pretty sound protection for employers. We have no state debt by constitution, so the state of Nebraska can’t borrow money, which means we’re not stalling future obligations and we’ve managed to live within our means in that process,” said Richard Baier, executive vice president, Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “So among other great attributes, these have really helped Nebraska float to the top.”

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Coupled with strong educational systems along with the resurgence and diversification of the economy, Nebraska has had the support of great leadership championing the state. “Governor Heineman has completely modernized our incentive program called Nebraska Advantage,” said Catherine Lang, Nebraska’s commissioner of labor and the director of the Department of Economic Development. “Truly, while the state of Nebraska can’t lend the credit of the state, we believe that we offer one of the most aggressive incentive programs for businesses and their long-term goals.”

The state’s aggressive incentive program aptly titled, Nebraska Advantage, established by the Nebraska Department of Revenue, was created to “offer comprehensive economic development incentives to meet the needs of expanding or relocating businesses” as a

“Companies may not first think about Nebraska because we’re a rural state in the middle of the country, so we want to make sure from an anecdotal standpoint as well as a business standpoint that they find Nebraska a successful place to have their business,” Lang emphasized.

Recognizing the challenges, Sidney, like the state of Nebraska, developed its own plan under the town’s Local Option Municipal Economic Development Act Section as its own development tool in 1997. Under the plan, one-fourth of each cent collected through local sales tax is allocated for the economic development program. The town’s citizens voted nearly unanimously, with 92 percent in favor of the plan, that would generate $2.5

“Our initiatives have been to support all of our communities.”

- Catherine Lang

million dollars to be used for expansion projects over a 10-year period. Then again in 2007, Sidney’s citizens reinstated the plan for another 10 years with an annual allocation of $300,000 of existing sales-tax revenues.

While $2.5 to $3 million seems trifling to an outsider, the development program paid dividends to the town. In just 10 years, between 1997 and 2007, before the plan’s reinstatement, the town’s valuation grew by 56 percent, annual building permits averaged $12 million, up from $4 million previously, and Sidney led the panhandle communities in population and job growth. It was evident that the plan had a direct correlation to the progress of the community.

So when a new vote came for the program’s next 10-year extension in 2007, citizens again jumped on board. Along with new allocations, $500,000 was specifically “targeted for community economic development projects in the area of Sidney north of the Union Pacific tracks.” One such company fit the bill exactly: Adams Industries–located in an industrial park just north of Sidney on the old Sioux Army Depot and next to Cabela’s distribution center.

way to increase Nebraska’s competitive advantage amongst other states in the nation; especially as it continues to establish itself as a place of higher education, building its workforce, and increasing economic development.

“Our initiatives have been to support all of our communities whether they are our largest communities like Omaha or any one of our smaller communities that are attempting to work and attract new businesses to their locations or expand existing businesses in their locations,” said Lang, “all of which goes to the effort of creating high-quality jobs so that our citizens can have a high standard of living in safe communities with quality education for their children and of course for the future of our state.”

One of those communities is Sidney, located in a remote area of western Nebraska. Known mostly for being home to outdoor retail-giant Cabela’s, which employs roughly 35 percent of the town’s 6,857 citizens, Sidney boasts a growing business sector and is working with the state to build its workforce and attract new and expanding businesses. While growth has been slow, the steady increase has helped the town plan for the future and lead its citizens into a more prosperous future.

Hampered by state rules and regulations, money to incentivize new and expanding businesses has been slow and cities and towns across Nebraska have had to find creative ways to entice businesses to their communities.

Adding to the competition are states like neighboring Colorado and Utah who lead the country not only in a pro-business atmosphere but also possess a variety of outdoor activities, sports teams and growing community-development projects that sparkle in the eyes of interested executives.

This has forced communities like Sidney to take action, providing real costbased savings and financing incentives for these businesses.

Free Trade Zone, Dual-Served Rail Access Puts Adams Industries on the Map

T

he bones of the old Sioux Army Depot, deactivated in June 1967, greet you as you drive in from the state highway. Once a United States Army depot during the height of World War II, the site contained ammunition storage igloos, supply warehouses, support buildings, living quarters and 51 miles of railroad tracks on more than 19 thousand acres. Besides its dry climate for storing munitions, the Depot was centrally located to both coasts and had access to both major rail lines. After 25 years in operation, the Sioux Army depot was shuttered. Some of it was sold back to the existing farmers who were displaced during the depot’s construction; the rest was left to the Army and the town of Sidney to secure some sort of use for the property.

Both had mediocre success.

Much of what remains of the depot is either dilapidated structures or the eroded frames from existing buildings spread about the property, which now only encompasses roughly 600 acres. Yet, tucked up front, alongside several beleaguered and restored facilities is a new warehouse. There, mixed amongst the past, lies the future of Adams Industries–a family-owned and seemingly modest-sized company.

At its onset, the company used its truck fleet as water trucks and to move drilling rigs, but as the oil fields slowed in the late 1980s it was clear that the family needed to reevaluate their business model. While the rig count declined, oil companies started using more pipe per rig as the technology within the industry changed. The Adams family immediately realized where they could carve out and cultivate a niche. Expanding the business, Adams volume 5 issue 1

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branched out into the flatbed truck market and started hauling pipe.

It paid off. The company eventually got too big for its space and in 2000, Adams started purchasing land for warehousing at the depot north of Sidney where they are currently located.

“We knew that to compete in the market that we were in, that if we could get the product into this area cheaper it would give us a more regional approach, especially using the transloading side of the business to get the product here and then from us to the enduser,” said Don Adams, president of Adams Industries. Within a few years, Adams not only grew, but also became a viable opportunity to lure businesses to the state and increase economic growth in the area. The depot’s distinctive features and location hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Adams’ depot property not only allowed for expansion, but it also provided dual-served rail access and a rare free trade zone (FTZ) for a rural area that the state of Nebraska worked on for five years for Cabela’s, whose distribution center is also on the property. Normally only available in urban areas, the FTZ increased the types of businesses, especially in manufacturing and agriculture that could come into the area.

“As you begin to look at transportation in this country, we wanted to find where there was really solid rail access, and when possible, where could we find dual-rail access,” said Baier. “So that’s when we started working with Don Adams and his group to see what we could do to take that area and develop it into a preferred site

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for companies that needed heavy transportation access.”

The state of Nebraska’s Department of Economic Development in conjunction with the municipality of Sidney and Don Adams soon started work on a set of terms to continue development on Adams’ depot land. With Nebraska Advantage already in place, the group worked to see how they could take Adams already preferred status

growing pains. The company had already expanded three times to its current 600 acres, so to accommodate Bell and other potential manufacturers, they needed to significantly expand. The previous expansions had resulted in a significant diversification of their business, allowing Adams to bring in everything from line pipe, OCTG and coils to fertilizer, bulk rail and lumber products, as well as storage

The $10 million Adams Industries’ expansion will increase the property size from 600 to 900 acres and will bring 10 to 12 miles of rail capacity on site. with Union Pacific (UP) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and make it work for others who could be potential tenants on the land.

Because Nebraska can’t lend the credit of the state, the group found a unique provision within the state statute that allowed for the use of tax increment financing (TIF) outside of a city limit as long as it was tied to a project that provided natural, value-added agriculture.

Concurrently, Bell Lumber & Pole was looking for a new location to expand its business. The TIF agricultural statute solidified Bell’s business within the state. The diversification wasn’t just good for the state–it was good for Adams, too.

As the anchor tenant, Adams needed to prepare for the additional space that Bell would need.

But at 90-percent capacity, the company was experiencing some

for barite and bentonite. Adding additional partners could only help.

The investments from the three earlier expansions may have seemed risky at the time, but this newest expansion was a no-brainer, especially with the help of TIF. Already, Adams had privately funded renovations of the site’s drainage system as well as the utilities and was close to finishing all of the warehouse buildings on site. But what the property desperately needed was extra room and significant improvements to the rail infrastructure. Along with private and state funding, the $10 million Adams Industries’ expansion will increase the property size from 600 to 900 acres and will bring 10 to 12 miles of rail capacity on site. The $5-million rail expansion alone will allow Adams to handle seven-unit trains at once as well as manifest

cars, a distinct advantage to that of other locations that cannot handle the throughput.

The expanded tracks will be especially useful for industries utilizing Adams’ site for storage. The dual-rail advantage works especially well for transporting crude oil. With the additional rail, tanker cars with aggregate product can be held onsite and transported based on spot markets of the refineries without incurring a switching fee to move the car from one rail to another. The site allows for companies to make decisions that are most economical for them, a very attractive quality for businesses.

“Successfully bringing Bell to Sidney had a lot to do with Don Adams’ energy, passion and enthusiasm. I’ve never seen Don find a project that he couldn’t get done; he also has that same ‘What are we going to do to get to yes’ mentality and he’s been willing to risk his own personal wealth, he’s been willing to integrate his kids into his business, and so he really has been the driver behind this project.” Baier said with praise, “He is key to making a lot of things happen without all the attention, he’s very unassuming, and that’s what separates Don from others.”

Adams and its dual-rail site is one of the few things leading the progressive town of Sidney into the future. “The key is to let people know that we’re here. A lot of companies don’t realize how close Sidney is to some of the large areas and how competitive this town can be,” said Adams. For the town of Sidney, whose primary employer is Cabela’s, it’s really about creating new jobs, broadening their business base and building a community to lead them into the future.

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business

Knowing Your Next Move

Looking to the Future Knowing Your Next Move B y St e v e S o r e n s e n

The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Peter Drucker

W

e had our best business year in 2012. Why? Our business continues to thrive and prosper because it’s our objective to help our clients thrive and prosper in their organizations. Looking into the future and your success therein is building HP2–high-performance, high-profit organizations.

The outline for this level of success is not as complicated as many wish to make it. However, it does require a mindset that cannot be avoided. The mindset is executives having the courage to say yes to the possibilities, understanding the messiness of implementing real and positive change and lastly a solid grasp that any change worth making takes time. This brand of courage requires sincere, unbridled transformational leadership– nothing less will achieve radically successful results.

We’re successful because we seek out business owners and business executives who are ready to stop talking about a brighter future and are ready to take the actions required to make it so.

These are the people who are taking ownership of their organizations’ future.

It seems elementary that organizations are working to achieve their strategic vision. However, we continue to uncover a significant disconnect with the perception of achieving that strategic vision with the reality of dealing with “now.” We continue to see that the biggest victim in the past economic downturn has been “organizational strategy.” Many organizations are locked into “now,” thinking there is no forest behind those trees.

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Perhaps some of you have heard of the FUD factor–fear, uncertainty and doubt–which keeps most organizations locked in indecision and tactical short-term thinking. Those creating radically successful businesses look beyond the day-to-day and are returning to a strategic alignment.

From the first day we, Enlighten 360, begin working with clients, we weave the Drucker quote into a possibility mindset for executives and those who comprise that organization. In essence, we take this quote and make it actionable.

We contend that if you don’t take control of your future, someone will do it for you.

How can you create your own highly prosperous future? The future starts with the end in mind.

If you’re an executive or business owner thinking about taking your operation to the next rung on the financial ladder in 2013 … here are the steps.

The steps to creating HP2 organizations Step one: evaluate Access, evaluate top-down, bottom up–no leader begins organizational strategy without a crystal clear understanding of the capacity and capability of the organization–right now.

There is an opportunity when you contract with a consultancy group that have the diagnostic tools to give clarity to the organization’s current status. A true assessment minus wishes, hopes and dreams creates a capability/ capacity baseline, which allows for an achievable blueprint. A word of caution–we rarely find an organization that possesses the tools to effectively conduct a true organizational 360 assessment.

Another opportunity happens when you seek out the objectivity of outsiders in favor of internal management input. Going inside to solve strategic issues by enlisting those who may be the root cause of the issues or those who don’t have the helicopter view of the organization is insanity. We know that insanity is defined as

doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. If you want something you’ve never had, you must do something you’ve never done. Being too close to the operational machinations is simply more fruitless discussions and internal cycling.

The third opportunity considers that after the problem/opportunity/strategic direction is identified comes the phrase “now what.” It’s the time when a company asks how to effectively clear the speed bumps and implement a success strategy. A common disconnect is trying to fix the issues with the same old internal programs or processes. The only constant is change, and new ways of creating HP2 organizations changes continually.

Step two: align Once organizations completely understand what’s missing and what’s preventing success in the access/evaluation phase, it’s time to align people, purpose, structure and systems.

There are seven game-changing components to create HP2, including: 1. A healthy organizational culture. To be sure, a healthy culture will provide the “keys to the kingdom” of high prosperity. Culture is a healthy organizational body–a learning organization and a place where the best and the brightest seek out employment. The culture projected onto your people will create a ripple effect with employees, customers and the general community. Whether you’ve created a healthy culture or a notso-healthy culture, the word will spread. In today’s social media environment, the word is viral. How’s your culture?

2. Leadership–real leadership, real results. It’s a rough job to explain to people who think they’re leaders that they are not. It’s not because they’re not good people; they just haven’t developed the leadership skills required in today’s highly competitive environment. Businesses are competing for customers, workers, vendors and most of all relevance within the market. And, being an executive or the owner of a company does not automatically inject “leadership” into your style. It’s a skill that must be developed, over and over again. Once a “leader” assumes he or she has “it,” we have to start over completely. Leadership is the destination where we never arrive–it’s too dynamic.

3. Your people–engaged and re-engaged for higher contribution.

Another Peter Drucker quote that we use daily is, “They’re not your employees, they’re your people.” The minute you think of your people as employees, you’ll get one–someone who shows up to just collect a check. If you want high-contribution, engaged workers, start thinking of those “people” who are making a substantial difference in growing your revenues, who are becoming trusted advisers to your customers, who are helping innovate better ways to conduct business, and who find new customers or more marketable products for your company.

4. Customers/clients or members, properly acquired, mean high-retention, high-profit ratios. Customer engagement is the path to HP2. Becoming the trusted adviser to your clients or customers is not selling–it’s providing value. I have vendors constantly trying to sell me “sales training” modules that they think would be appropriate for my clients. The truth is, there is maybe one in one thousand worth looking at, and I’m still looking for that “one” that I would share with my clients. These sales companies were created during an era of technic, the numbers game, manipulation and psycho-babble and haven’t fully realized the importance of providing value instead of just selling widgets or services.

5. Process efficiencies and continual process improvement. Process is your friend. Without it, your organization can easily be brought to its knees. At Enlighten, we spend a great deal of time with our clients to understand what processes they’re using that should stay or could go away. Organizations will often get into the process rut and will try to justify using processes that serve no useful purpose or may even slow/stop production. To become an HP2–this must end.

6. Organizational structure–becoming the employer of choice.

Employer of choice is just one of many programs we provide to make the most of existing resources. It’s a simple process to mitigate turnover, which is a major expense that pounds the bottom line, as well as to reverse negative branding so that people seek out the company, stay longer and contribute more. One subset of the employer-of-choice model is to become a learning organization. We accomplished this by building a corporate university to tap into current successes and learning while developing programs that cover the basic “how to’s,” such as communicating effectively, building trust, presenting ideas effectively and building a high-performing mentality. Last, a knowledge-transfer program where outgoing people share valuable information within the organization for the benefit of all is imperative to becoming an HP2.

7. Measuring what counts.

Companies have an array of metrics used to guide their specific business or business units. Defining and deciding which metrics mean the most to the strategic direction of the organization are very important, should minimize monitoring everything and help focus the organization on monitoring fewer key metrics that are actionable. The theory is that information is like food: consuming more of it doesn’t necessarily make you healthier.

Eliminate unnecessary metrics and make the ones that count executable and framed in a timed component. As you monitor your progress, however, be prepared to change course.

Step three: accelerate financial growth When you accelerate financial growth, the results begin. Having the courage to implement change and partnering with a consultancy group that can clearly assess organizational strengths and weaknesses can help you effectively align the seven core functions of the organization. This creates sustainable organizational performance and profits.

Why is now the best time to create the HP2 organization?

At a basic level, strategic planning is really a matter of survival, when done with a strategic alignment perspective in mind. Half-hearted efforts result in half-hearted progress; therefore, strong business fundamentals will help organizations of all shapes and sizes thrive. In today’s ever-changing marketplace, you either create change, or the lights slowly fade to darkness.

With the profound changes occurring in today’s marketplace, some organizations choose to allow FUD to manipulate organizational strategy down to consistent tactical panic … or there are those organizations predicting their future by creating it to suit their purpose and strategy.

The three simple steps–assess, align and accelerate–create an organizational profit engine by engaging the workforce, re-inventing customer relationships and developing leadership skills so that the company will have a financially sustainable future.

The future can be very bright for those willing to brave the complexities of strategic alignment and the daily execution on a plan. Knowing your next move is creating that future. Remember, you will own your future, or it will own you–it’s the same for all of us. It is time to be bold and to create the difference!

For over three decades, Steve Sorensen has helped companies achieve a competitive advantage by improving their sales strategy.

This has consistently provided growth velocity and increased profitability for both companies where he was employed and now for his clients. Steve has successfully hired, trained, mentored, coached and led numerous national and regional sales teams. As president of Enlighten-360, LLC, Steve is directing his wealth of experience to help companies achieve increased revenue and velocity of growth through improved sales strategies.

Steve has seen firsthand how creating and keeping raving fans for your business and products is the path to long-term profitability.

To learn more, visit http://enlighten360.com/ or at steve@enlighten360.com. volume 5 issue 1

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MWH Global & Alan J. Krause

Complex and Challenging Issues in Wet Infrastructure An Interview with Alan J. Krause B y E m i ly H a g g s t r o m

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lan Krause is chair and chief executive officer of MWH Global, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado.

With more than 30 years of industry experience, Krause provides leadership to the worldwide operating companies of MWH while maintaining the organization’s position as the global leader of the wet infrastructure sector.

With professional expertise and personal passion focused on natural resources, Krause exemplifies the MWH mission of Building a Better World with a commitment to protect and develop the world’s natural resources in a responsible and appropriate way. He has traveled the world, engaging in dialogue to address the unique challenges facing MWH clients, advancing the organization’s commitment to providing customized engineering, management and construction services to meet client needs.

ICOSA: As the leader of MWH, can you speak to how the company continues to stay relevant and meet the needs of projects in all of the countries where you do business?

KRAUSE: Obviously, there are several factors involved in our success. Our success starts with staff that are trained, educated and experienced in the areas that we operate. It is also critical that we have systems in

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place that connect the resources of the company on a virtual real-time basis so that we can take advantage of the strength of the mass of our capabilities represented geographically across the globe. Like any company, we must constantly be innovating to provide solutions, not only to technical challenges, but also solutions to contracting vehicles, delivery approaches and funding. One of our strengths as a global company with offices

Building a Better World The Role MWH Plays in Building Toward the Future

By Jennifer Van Fleet

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strategically situated across the globe is our local understanding of issues. It is this understanding which allows us to have the ability to solve the social issues which oftentimes drive project developments that we work with our clients to address.

ICOSA: Where do you see the future of water infrastructure moving at MWH? KRAUSE: MWH defines wet infrastructure to include both water and energy. We believe that this market space is significant, and it is our intention to stay focused in wet infrastructure, including both traditional and conventional water and wastewater as well as energy-related wet infrastructure. This market will continue to be a cornerstone of MWH’s business strategy.

ICOSA: As MWH takes on new public and private projects, what are the funding challenges and opportunities as they relate to the volatility in global markets?

KRAUSE: It is obvious to us, in both our domestic business and our international practice, that in wet infrastructure in general, and specifically as related to water and wastewater, there are significant unfunded needs that must be addressed as infrastructure ages and wears out. The concept of operating until failure is not acceptable for critical utilities such as water and wastewater.

As a result, there is a strong movement both in the domestic municipal sector, as well as the private sector, to attract private investment through public-private partnerships (P3) that allow these unmet needs to be addressed.

The expected rates from private investment in these opportunities are currently in alignment with the cost of capital for traditional municipal investments. Therefore, these P3 opportunities are becoming more viable. From our perspective, we need to be careful with where we operate under these investment schemes and have a strong sense of comfort in the funding source.

ife on earth is dependent on water. Without it, creation ceases to exist. It is imperative that this precious resource is respected and the infrastructure that brings it to civilization is managed properly and constantly improved to ensure that future generations have access to it.

Since its founding in 1820, MWH Global has engaged in the engineering, construction and management of some of the largest and most technically advanced wet infrastructure, hydropower, mining and transportation projects for municipalities, governments and multinational private corporations throughout the world. The company has been driven by its purpose: Building a Better World. For example, Thomas Hawksley of Watson Hawksley Consulting Engineers, an early leader of MWH, was one of the first people to advocate “continuous service” pressurized systems as a way of providing safe water.

Today, keeping drinking water systems continuously pressurized remains one of the most fundamental, and likely underappreciated, requirements for providing safe drinking water.

Through the involvement in wet infrastructure and water-engineering projects, the role of MWH has been to help manage water purity and availability in a sustainable fashion for the health, livelihood and security of people worldwide. The company’s ability to lead in this market successfully has been dependent upon forward thinking and anticipating not only what is just around the corner, but what will be the future in a few short years.

The company’s highly experienced team of nearly 8,000 professionals operates on six continents and is continually looking to provide innovative ways to design around the world’s most precious resource: water.

Planning MWH has developed a Global Strategic Intent (GSI) that is used to drive the company toward the future. It is built upon the MWH purpose: Building a Better World, core values, vision, client outcomes, strategy, strategic priorities and competitive differentiators. Inherent in this have been horizons of growth. In the last 10 years, MWH has focused on 1) where and whom: geographic and client-type expansion through mergers, acquisitions and major projects–taking staff to more than 34 countries worldwide; 2) what: the creation of new service-led business areas taking MWH into business solutions, program management, software solutions, asset management, design-build and construction management; and 3) how: the development of strategies to reinvent how employees do work by using parametric design, templating, licensed tools and more. This careful planning has led to some very exciting developments.

Learning and preparing for the future Part of the MWH strategy has been to develop knowledge through an incubation initiative with » Continued on next page.

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MWH Global & Alan J. Krause

ICOSA: What part of your core business do you think will take MWH into the future?

KRAUSE: We are a company of approximately 8,000 professionals that historically is dominated by engineers and scientists. While the markets that we operate in are competitive and complex, we certainly believe that our strong group of engineers and scientists will be a major underpinning force as our company grows into the future. We must, however, be prepared to take our workforce and educate them and equip them to address more and more complex and challenging issues that bring higher value to our customers.

As a result, we expect our staff to grow with our clients, learning new skills relative to delivery, efficiency, quality and innovation that will take us into the future.

ICOSA: How does MWH strive to meet the social, environmental and economic needs of the

people in the locations where their projects are?

KRAUSE: By focusing on attracting and retaining professionals who appeal to our core values and purpose of Building a Better World, we are able to develop a workforce and culture that strives to meet today’s more challenging needs.

Just one example of this is waste byproducts from wastewater treatment facilities. These by-products used to be considered a cost and liability.

Our professionals have embraced the social, environmental and economic impacts associated with operating a wastewater treatment facility and have worked hard to ensure these by-products are now viewed as an asset, containing nutrients and energy that can be cost-effectively repurposed and utilized for a benefit.

ICOSA: What stands out to you as a challenging, innovative or game-changing project in one of your service areas?

“There are significant unfunded needs that must be addressed as infrastructure ages and wears out. The concept of operating until failure is not acceptable for critical utilities.”

- Alan J. Krause

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Building a Better World corporate funding. An outcome of this incubation effort has seen the company engage, for many years, in disaster recovery efforts around the globe from New Orleans to Christchurch to Queensland. Through these activities, MWH has identified opportunities for planning and preparedness activities that can result in faster and more efficient recovery efforts. Therefore, MWH has applied its knowledge to develop an industry standard “resilience” index (CORRI), which helps insurers and involved agencies to assess, in a consistent fashion, their readiness for major catastrophic events and take action in advance to deal with areas of weakness. This templated approach is being warmly received by major insurers and reinsurers.

“Oftentimes, operations within a company are not set up to afford the investments for developing transformative IP and people. Part of what MWH has done is to develop this incubation initiative, setting monies aside at a global level, so that we are able to develop the processes and technologies that allow us to know our next move,” said Ian McAulay, chief strategy officer for MWH. Beyond the incubation initiative, MWH understands that the scientific needs of the industry and project must also be met.

In a competitive environment with changing requirements and ever-advancing technology, MWH has dedicated a centralized research group. The company places key emphasis on the engineering science associated with its projects, allowing for new and innovative solutions to be provided to clients worldwide.

The research group conducts studies for a wide variety of applications across industry sectors such as water, wastewater, mining water and industrial waste. The group focuses on the energy water nexus and how the interrelationship of the two affects clients’ environmental issues. This group is looking at the issues of today as well as those of 15 years into the future.

At MWH, knowing the next move is not limited to developing capabilities internally with appropriated monies and focused study, but extends to watching the megatrends in the marketplace. » Continued on next page.

“We must be prepared to take our workforce and educate them and equip them to address more and more complex and challenging issues.”

- Alan J. Krause

KRAUSE: Our ongoing work and role in the design and construction of the Panama Canal Third Set of Locks Project certainly meets those criteria. Working on an engineering project of that scale and magnitude offers a wide variety of challenges and opportunities. By combining our talent and knowledge network, we were able to develop a wide variety of technical innovations, such as the unique approach for the water-saving basins, which reduced costs and will improve operations. The project also allowed us to showcase the diverse capabilities of our professionals and take advantage of our global footprint by completing the design activities within a very aggressive schedule through our office network and a 24-7 production approach.

The Panama Canal represents a world-scale, heavy civil engineering project that will connect the Western and Eastern Hemispheres of the world through engineered locks capable of taking the largest vessels in the world today. We have used a variety of very innovative approaches to design, including three-dimensional design, as well as extremely innovative watersaving basins which allow the preservation of precious water resources that are required to fill and empty the locks that allow ships to pass.

ICOSA: In an interview with Alaska Business Monthly, you said the Panama Canal will change global trade. Based on MWH’s project involvement, what type of change do you foresee?

KRAUSE: From a trade perspective, the Panama Canal will allow post-Panamax vessels, which today compose approximately 35 percent of the maritime fleet

that moves goods and services around the globe. With the ability to pass post-Panamax vessels, it is estimated that somewhere between eight and 10 percent of the world’s trade will pass through the new Panama Canal on an annual basis. The effect of this will be felt in the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. However, these larger vessels will require infrastructure improvements to load and unload vessels, as well as dredging that will allow vessels to pass through with deeper drafts.

There are also several side benefits to the Panama Canal Third Set of Locks Project. Obviously, the first and foremost benefit is reduced energy consumption by avoiding the long circuitous route around the tip of South American, which is approximately 8,000 miles. As a result, the amount of energy consumed to move freight from one hemisphere to the next will be greatly reduced.

ICOSA: Hydropower is the number-one renewable power resource in the United States.

Moving into the future, do you see wind or solar rising to meet power needs like hydropower currently produces?

KRAUSE: Wind and solar both have their place in a national renewable energy generation portfolio, but neither can provide the same benefits and value that hydropower provides, such as enhancing grid reliability and the availability of peak energy. Both wind and solar are intermittent resources that cannot be easily dispatched on demand, so both need to be “firmed up” using other power generation sources such as hydropower and especially hydropumped storage so that the energy is available when it is needed and not just when it can be generated.

Building a Better World Building a better world One of those megatrends is population growth. As the world’s population continues to explode, more and more energy is needed to fuel modern manufacturing, commercial, transportation and residential activities. As energy needs increase, so do the demands on water and those companies that clean it, distribute it and provide it to those who consume it in their processes. As such, these utility companies and others are looking more closely at their water footprint and ways innovation will help them save money, differentiate and be more sustainable. “MWH is identifying key areas (Global Growth Platforms) where our 200 years of historical knowledge combined with technology and appropriately applied creates a highly differentiated service offering which drives previously untapped efficiency and effectiveness from the existing asset bases of our clients,” said McAulay. “This ‘Return on Asset Base’ methodology is reaching exciting levels, and now we are actually seeing assets which were historically energy consumptive being transformed to energy productive.”

At the highest level, many large waste-water treatment works are becoming effective energy factories, entirely self-sufficient in terms of energy needs through combined heat and

As energy needs increase, so do the demands on water and those companies that clean it, distribute it and provide it to those who consume it in their processes. power (CHP), and in many cases being so efficient in this regard that they are net exporters of electricity and gas. “Helping our clients move from being net consumers to net producers of energy is at the heart of our purpose,” said McAulay.

Along with advancing clients to be more sustainable in their energy usage, MWH has been committed to building a better world through partnerships and projects. Joseph Adams, president of the Energy & Industry operation at MWH is part of the Engineers Without Borders USA Corporate Leadership Council. MWH staff is involved in community-driven development programs worldwide through the implementation of engineering projects that address challenges in water supply, sanitation, energy access, sustainable agriculture and more. Additionally, MWH has a program called the Climate Change Commitment Education program, under which employees educate children around the world on simple ways they can save water and energy to protect the future of the planet. Since 2007, more than 14,500 students from 10 countries have participated in this program. » Continued on next page.

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“Wind and solar both have their place in a national renewable energy generation portfolio, but neither can provide the same benefits and value that hydropower provides.”

- Alan J. Krause

Because of potential adverse impact on grid stability and other factors, the total amount of energy generated by wind and solar is necessarily constrained, whereas hydro has no such constraints and actually enables more wind and solar to be developed by providing benefits to the grid. The Department of Energy assessments indicate that water power can potentially provide 15 percent of our nation’s electricity by 2030, up from about six percent today.

Additionally, both wind and solar are currently not economical options without government subsidies where hydropower has proven to be economical on its own. This can be seen during the recent expiration of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) where new wind and solar development slowed significantly. The plant equipment continues to get cheaper, but it is still not viable, and this gets more complicated by the lack of transmission capacity and who needs to pay for the upgrades. A vast majority of potential utility-grade wind and solar installations are located

far from the load centers in the U.S., and this means major new transmission lines are required to deliver the power. If the wind and solar installations are burdened with the cost of transmission, even with the PTC, many projects become uneconomical.

Hydropower has none of these problems and in fact, in many instances, is part of the solution because hydropower is the most stable and fastest responding type of power plant in the world.

In many regions of the world hydropower is considered almost a transmission asset and is the first responder in the event of any instability in the grid.

ICOSA: How are new technologies moving hydropower projects forward?

KRAUSE: New technologies are moving forward on several fronts, making water-power projects more attractive than in the past.

Already the most efficient and most reliable form of power in the world–the hydropower industry– has turned its energy to improving the long-term sustainability of

Building a Better World Visual Intelligence and Predictive Analytics Another trend has been the explosion in social media accessibility and technology capability. It has had an astonishing impact on many major clients of MWH. It is a phenomenon that will only increase in the future as the velocity and variety of data transfer increases exponentially. Many clients of MWH are seeing “regulation” of their activities being done by customers, consumers and critics in real time on visual media. It is a new currency of communication and one which can have wide-ranging impacts on reputation as well as actual levels of customer service.

“In our utilities business, we are working closely with clients to combine our asset knowledge with new technology to give highly visualized displays of real-time performance and predictive future performance to allow clients to manage for optimal asset effectiveness and efficiency and proactive customer service. We call this visual intelligence and it speaks to the new world of machine-to-machine communication. We seamlessly integrate previously unconnected data drawn from those types of interactions and translating it into real-time screen display of valuable information allowing operators to see a ‘rich picture’ of data and make decisions that significantly benefit their business,” said McAulay.

“We are able to use technology in new and exciting ways to vision and implement outcome-based scenarios that are costeffective and sustainable solutions for our clients.”

- Ian McAulay

For example, if a water main were to burst in the middle of a business district, in the past, the client would check their records, repair the pipe and manage the fix. This is no longer acceptable to regulators and the general public. Now clients must manage the event, and technology is helping them to do so. Utilities can now connect data that can help predict how many people may be affected by the dust kicked up from construction on the street, the changes in pressure on the entire system when a water line is shut down or rerouted, understand the traffic patterns around the construction to plan for the best times for repairs, measure influence circles around the incident–what is the demographic of the populous and are they historically more apt to complain and what is the ethnic makeup of the neighborhoods in order » Continued on next page.

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“DOE has ten projects in the sustainable small hydropower category to research, develop and test hydropower technologies that can be deployed at existing or constructed waterways.”

- Alan J. Krause

both large and small hydropower projects and dams by reducing the environmental impact. For conventional hydroelectric projects, advances in turbine runner designs are leading to “fishfriendly” turbines–those higherefficiency machines that help improve water quality. Moreover, fish-friendly turbines reduce fish injury while maintaining current levels of energy production.

Advances in analysis techniques, such as computational fluid dynamics, have allowed engineers to optimize turbine runner designs to achieve higher efficiency and stability over larger operating ranges, and increasing the amount of energy generated by these plants. These improvements have also led to the design of aerating runners that can improve water quality by enhancing dissolved oxygen downstream of the project.

Many other improvements have been made through enhancements in the civil works that allow for the management of water temperatures and dissolved gases at the dams through multilevel intakes, new gates

and new fish passage facilities while actually reducing spillway releases and using the turbines more often. This can most clearly be seen by all the recent success in the Sockeye Salmon run on the Columbia River. During 2012, records were shattered when more than 400,000 sockeye salmon returned to the Columbia River. The fish passage numbers on the Columbia, including the multiyear trend, are a definite indicator that the industry is moving in the right direction environmentally, and that this has been happening over time because today’s results required successful downstream passage five to seven years ago.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is currently funding 16 research and development projects that will help advance hydropower development in the U.S. The projects cover a wide range of topics, from extracting energy from irrigation canals and low height dams to using reservoirs for energy storage.

The DOE has ten projects in the sustainable small hydropower category to research, develop and

Building a Better World to properly distribute the correct communications. Utilities now manage time to resolution, track the number of complaints in certain areas, comparing historic versus actuals, and some are even looking to engage in sentiment analytics that will probe social media conversations real-time during repairs, allowing for real-time responses and management. The combination of historical knowledge and predictive knowledge allows for clients to manage for outcomes as opposed to outputs.

At MWH, technology is being used to help clients manage big data in order to make informed decisions that drive their business forward. The company is using a system-thinking approach to pull together the whole picture of asset creation, operations and management so that whether the client is: • On the Board and cares about share price.

• In the management office controlling energy and labor costs.

• At the job site taking corrective action to fix or replace a pump, he or she is pulling the right information out of a system that understands time, money and asset-outcome relationships.

McAulay says, “We are able to use technology in new and exciting ways to vision and implement outcome-based scenarios that are cost-effective and sustainable solutions for our clients.”

MWH has flourished since 1820, and will continue to, following the company’s developed GSI, watching the megatrends in the marketplace, incubating research efforts and involving employees in Building a Better World.

test hydropower technologies that can be deployed at existing or constructed waterways.

Advances in pumped-storage technology revolve primarily around adjustable speeds in the pumping mode. The power absorbed can be varied at fixed head, permitting a grid frequency regulation, even in pump mode.

The efficiency and operational flexibility of pumped storage hydro is substantially increased with adjustable speed units.

In addition, there are significant advances being made daily in the areas of kinetic energy machines, wind energy and tidal energy. Marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) technologies, which generate power from waves, tides or currents in ocean waters, are at an early but promising stage of development. Many coastal areas in the U.S. have strong wave and tidal resources close to areas with high-energy demand.

With widespread deployment,

these technologies could make substantial contributions to our nation’s electricity needs.

Two recently released resource assessments show that waves and tidal currents off the nation’s coasts contain enough energy to provide more than one-third of our nation’s total annual electricity usage. To advance the development of these promising technologies, the DOE funds research and development of MHK technologies, including laboratory and field-testing of individual components up to demonstration and deployment of complete, utility-scale systems.

On the cost-reduction side, MWH is using many new advances to speed construction and reduce the cost of large projects while simultaneously improving the safety for flood and earthquake events (with technologies such as “Roller Compacted Concrete Dams” RCC and Hardfill dams). volume 5 issue 1

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Continuous Improvement: Focus on the Future

Continuous Improvement with a Future Focus 25 Years of Focus on the Future

By Diane Irvin

T

his is the 25th year of Strategic Programs, Inc.’s, incorporation. In the field of human capital and organizational assessments, development and solutions, we have outlasted many competitors through major economic upheavals, and as a result, we are stronger and wiser.

Our three-year strategic plan builds on strengths that have helped us survive in lean years and thrive in good ones; add value to the company; and leverage our differentiators to benefit our owners, employees and client partners. So … what foundational strengths have served us well for 25 years and will take us into the future?

Strategic Programs designs client-specific employee and organizational assessments that provide actionable data. Our data-driven solutions are then monitored, measured and adjusted to support the client’s business objectives.

“In God we trust. All others bring data,” said W. Edward Deming. With limited time, financial and human resources, businesses can ill afford to base decisions on anecdotal data. Even if they correctly identify needs and know what to do about issues, a baseline helps to prioritize the issues. It also gives it a foundation against which they can measure the impact of interventions, and tracks the extent to which the interventions are effective or need to be adjusted. If the data show that they have achieved their objective, they can change their focus and reallocate their limited resources on another low score. What could be more cost-effective?

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Research is only as good as the assessment questions it asks, its implementation process, and the way that results are reported. To get actionable, easily understandable quality data, and to optimize the quantity of it, questions must be specific, reliable, valid, aligned with the organization’s culture and easily communicated in their terminology. The process by which research is conducted must also use these guidelines, and respondents must be trained to provide candid, quality answers. Respondent anonymity and confidentiality of the results must be ensured, and options for data collection (i.e., paper, Internet, phone interview) must be provided.

Another foundational strength is the broad range of our flexible human, technology and research capabilities and processes in addressing clients’ needs.

At each point in the Employee Lifecycle–from selection to on-boarding, through engagement and professional development, to disengagement, exiting and re-recruiting top talent–we address people management and leadership issues that are

linked to achieving business objectives, with a measurable return on investment.

Strategic Programs retained 94 percent of its clients through the recent recession. The majority of the 6 percent who did not renew contracts said, “We’ll be back.”

Mid-2012 saw the return of those in industries that are leading economic indicators. Clients tell us that they stay with us for years because we exceed their expectations in being: • Client-centric. Our research department designs each job to provide the highest quality and quantity of data.

• High-touch. Our committed, engaged staff is values-aligned and knows inherently how to meet their needs. They see the impact of their work on organizations, which is the nonfinancial part of

of use.

• Data-driven solution providers.

Our research has no value unless clients understand the data in depth, outline cost-effective solutions–usually, best practices that we provide–and implement them to get measurable results.

• Results-focused. We help clients hold people accountable for following the plan, remind them of the follow-up measurement when the results are reviewed, and expect to see an upward trend.

Our vision statement summarizes the root of our success since 1988: “To improve the human ecosystems of organizations, in which the development of individuals expands to improve their families, their communities … and the world.”

Going forward, how do we plan to leverage our differentiators to grow Strategic Programs?

With limited time, financial and human resources, businesses can ill afford to base decisions on anecdotal data.

Even if they correctly identify needs and know what to do about issues, a baseline helps to prioritize the issues. their compensation. Our service level sets us apart.

• High-tech. Strategic Insight is a web-based portal that allows clients who prefer to be hands-off to see their data in real time, as surveys are completed, while maintaining respondent anonymity. They can produce their own reports. Strategic Insight was developed through client collaboration and is improved with client feedback in order to help us meet their ever-evolving needs. Clients helped us with the competitive analysis to design this dashboard that surpasses what they have seen elsewhere for ease

We plan to listen and deliver. Of our assessments at each point of the Employee Lifecycle, only two existed when Strategic Programs was incorporated–the rest were developed at our clients’ requests.

Our staff will continue to listen for changing needs, as we have for a quarter of a century, to measure new people problems and develop solutions for those challenges.

Doing so in the mid-1990s helped us develop the Strategic TurnOver Program™, which is now just over 72 percent of our business.

When Frito-Lay, a hospital system and one Bureau of Reclamation region were losing good employees,

The Employee Lifecycle • Srategic360®

• PDP Pre-Hire Assessment

• Strategic Engagement Surveys • Stay Interviews

• New Hire Check-in

• Workforce Assessments

• Strategic Contact

• Snapshot

Onboarding

Strategic TurnOver ProgramTM

Actively Engaged Employees

Manage Turnover

Consulting, Coaching, Training

they could not get candid, actionable responses from internal exit interviews to tell them why people were leaving. Nor could they find information on how anyone anywhere was getting good exit data.

At the time, Strategic Programs offered only the Strategic360® assessment for individuals and employee satisfaction surveys. Our CEO, Rim Yurkus, however, knew that, as an external third party, we could collect much higher-quality employee satisfaction survey data than human resources professionals could collect internally. If we could do that with current employees, how could we successfully collect data from former employees?

First, we changed present-tense employee satisfaction survey questions–e.g., I have good friends at work–to the past tense for exit interviews–e.g., I had good friends at work. Next, we developed proprietary processes to engage exited employees to complete surveys or participate in telephone interviews.

The Strategic TurnOver Program™ (STOP) now provides unequalled, high-quality and -quantity of actionable exit data, with proven client-specific reporting

and data-driven retention solutions. We conduct thousands of interviews each month and have graduated decades-long clients from focusing on turnover to strategically managing turnover. By retaining and rewarding high potentials and cycling out disengaged employees, our clients evolve their organizations to higher levels of performance on a continual basis.

This business development strategy has served us well in entering new industries. When we earn a contract with one of the most successful, highly respected businesses in a well-qualified target market, and establish visibility in that industry through marketing, other major players in that market have become interested in what we offer. We have entered at the highest level of those companies, shortened the sales cycle and won significant contracts in such industries as: • Transportation. Our contract for driver exit interviews with Schneider Transportation, an early adopter and one of three top U.S. transportation firms, earned us an audience with Swift Transportation and JB Hunt–both of whom volume 5 issue 1

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soon became clients. Within a year, we were doing driver exit interviews for most of the top ten trucking businesses. Of the current Top 100 from Transport Topics, we have worked with 24.

• Health care. After we won our first health care system in 1997, Catholic Health Initiatives, with some 70 locations, we were led to two additional large Catholic health care systems. Two years later, most of our clients were large Catholic hospital systems. They came to us largely through referrals. Today, we work with 8 percent of all hospitals in the United States.

• Senior Living, Long-Term Care. We recently earned a contract with the largest senior living business in the United States, a company with more than 600 locations. We plan for this magnet to pave the way for other major players in this growing sector.

We have used this strategy for business development in industries that employ specific professions– most notably, engineers and client services personnel. For the latter, we conduct exit interviews in eight languages in some 30 countries and are Safe Harbor Certified. We continue to leverage our foreign language abilities to work with more global companies.

Also, we are expanding into markets where our clients do business. For example, many of our hospital clients have long-term care facilities and can connect us to the sector that is not owned by hospitals. This will also take us into highend continuing care residential

communities that offer the full range of care for the elderly–from independent living, to assisted living, to memory care and hospice.

So, how is our strategic plan adding value to the company for our second quarter-century? Well, it’s really done through eight carefully executed steps.

1. Planning. We build value through scalability and sustainability, knowing that inevitably there will be an unforeseen global, economic or industry crisis.

2. Reviewing business plans.

When annual business plans are retained over the years, they compose a chronicle of annual performance against the plan, how and why plans were adjusted, and to what extent goals and projections were achieved annually.

3. Goal-setting. Our executive-level goals cascade to departments where managers align their own goals for consistent quality performance. Individual goal-setting helps us with career paths and succession planning.

4. Reducing client concentration. Diversifying our client concentration will help us to thrive in challenging economic times. Where we have had less experience outside of our major industries, we will expand in order to acquire specific clients in those sectors. Because most of our business is outside of Colorado, where we are headquartered, we can use Colorado as our laboratory for diversifying our client base.

5. Developing second-level management. Having laid off a level of management in the middle of the recession, we are now replacing them.

Most organizations customize, but within limits. Instead, you … have opened your arms to developing new and continually more creative ways, unique to Johns Manville, to meet our changing product and service needs.”

– Manager, leadership and organization development, Johns Manville

We have recently hired an executive vice president of business development and our CEO and co-founder has stepped back and brought on a new president. This will free up our CEO for more client interface and research and development of new capabilities. Along with these succession planning strategies, we are strengthening our critical functions backup as a safety net in case valuable talent leaves for voluntary or involuntary termination.

6. Maximizing curb appeal. First impressions of individuals and of businesses are important and lasting. They communicate what the owners value, what clients expect, and where the company is going.

Our offices in Cherry Creek are inviting and reflect the West–a trait that is so appealing to our clients in the rainy Northwest or stark Central time zones. They are delighted to be invited to Denver for their quarterly research report deliveries in a

The Real Reasons for Leaving What They Told Employer Personal Different Job

Work environment was not to my liking. The hours were too long and there was no cooperation between regular workers and supervisors.

Laid off before the 4th of July when they really needed help. I was called back two days before I had accepted a different job.

Job Abandonment

The company is falling apart. Morals, ethics, and common sense are nonexistent in upper management. Promotions are few and far between.

Retirement

I took early retirement because I was having conflicts with my supervisor.

Personal

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I saw no future in the position I had. I was hired with the idea that management was a possibility and realized this was not going to happen. They like to hire people right out of college.

conference room with a view of the snow-capped Front Range.

7. Documentation. The important and not-urgent documents that were not updated during the recession are in our sights for editing this year–key documents such as our Employee Handbook, Policies and Procedures manual and Marketing Style Guide. Our legal document templates will also be reviewed for possible updates.

8. Technology upgrades. Across the board, we have improved our CRM for sales and marketing, acquired prospect tracking and lead generation software, and developed our state-of-the-art Strategic Insight client portal for real-time access by clients to their data. Updating our proprietary software for data collection and report generation will continue to reduce labor costs and be cost-effective and time-efficient.

As we begin our second quarter of a century in business, we revisit the inscription below the cowboy boot that is the Still Kickin’ Award given to the owners at the 2009 Annual Holiday Awards Dinner by our loyal, committed employees. The inscription reads, “Awarded to the owners for their dedication, flexibility, and commitment to their employees and to their company, enabling Strategic Programs to persevere through even the greatest of challenges.”

Diane Irvin is the senior vice president and cofounder of Strategic Programs, Inc. For more information, visit www.strategicprogramsinc.com, or call 1.800.800.5476.

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Pythagoras Solar

Pythagoras Solar A New Window of Opportunity B y K e l ly d e l a T o r r e

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indows are arguably one of the most striking assets of building architecture, especially in an urban setting. The question is: what if you could use these assets to improve building efficiency and make the building more comfortable, all while using the asset to create energy? It sounds futuristic. As it turns out, however, the future is now.

This is the idea behind Pythagoras Solar–a solar window company. Pythagoras sandwiches photovoltaic (PV) cells and specially designed optics within a standard double-pane window. The optics collect direct sunlight and concentrate it onto PV cells which convert it into electricity. Light rays coming from other angles are allowed to pass through the window and into the building. The effect creates a window that simultaneously generates electricity while also shading the direct sun from heating up the building and causing disturbing glare.

Its power output is remarkable. The Pythagoras Solar window generates up to 12Wp/f2. In relative terms, this power output is equivalent to that of a standard roof-top panel in the same orientation.

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As such, it represents up to four times higher power density than traditional building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) panels.

The concept was conceived at Precede Technologies, an Israeli incubator. Founders Dr. Itay Baruchi and Gonen Fink identified an opportunity at the intersection of the rising demand for Green Buildings and the declining cost of PV solar power. What’s particularly unique about Pythagoras Solar’s window is that it is the industry’s first to simultaneously deliver energy efficiency, high power density and effective daylighting. The energy efficiency and effective daylighting amount to a significant reduction–up to 40 percent in some cases–of the energy footprint of the building. So now, while the corner office is a symbol of success

it’s also a generating asset. Indeed, the technology could turn large areas of the building facades into generating assets for renewable energy that could potentially supply all the remaining building energy requirements.

The potential for this type of new technology is significant. In America alone the market to address building energy use is huge. According to the American Council for Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), commercial buildings account for 19 percent of the energy consumed in the United States and Pike Research predicts that “between 2011 and 2017, the building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) market is forecast to add 4.6 GW of new capacity, thus making it one of the fastest growing solar industry segments.”

The impact extends beyond economics and job creation. Reduction of building energy use is critical to protecting our resources, primarily water and energy. Water and energy are the lifeblood of industrialization. These resources are inextricably intertwined and work together to quench our thirst for power. Water is integral to resource extraction, refining, processing, transportation and electric power generation. Conversely, significant amounts of energy are needed to extract, transport, treat, and use water in urban areas. The collision of these two resources is often referred to as the energy-water nexus.

Anything that reduces the need for power generation reduces the need for water. In 2006, Sandia National Laboratories reported to Congress that “thermoelectric power generation in the U.S. consumes 3.3 billion gallons of water per day in total.” The report further explained how the extractive industries impact our water resources. For example, “in the mining sector, water is used to cool or lubricate cutting and drilling equipment for dust suppression, fuel processing, and revegetation when mining and extraction

The energy efficiency and effective daylighting amount to a significant reduction–up to 40 percent in some cases–of the energy footprint of the building.

are complete. Estimates of water for coal mining vary from 1 to 6 gallons per million British thermal units (MMBtu), depending on the source of the coal (Gleick, 1994; Lancet, 1993). Combining those figures with 2003 coal production data (EIA, 2006); total water use for coal mining is estimated at 70 to 260 million gallons per day.”

Widespread deployment of renewable energy could have a significant impact on water use. A recent report from the Department of Energy’s (DoE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) looked at a variety of scenarios for the increased use of renewable energy sources to generate electricity. For example, “the laboratory reported that if the country were able to switch to 80 percent renewable electricity by the year 2050, such a switch could reduce the power sector’s annual water use by approximately 50 percent.”

Obviously, not using energy uses no water at all. Businesses and industries can reduce their water footprint by switching to on-site renewables and incentivizing energy efficiency. Both of these strategies reduce the need for power generated by fossil fuel resources.

According to Sandia National Labs in its report entitled U.S. Energy Sustainability: The Missing Piece, “Coal, the most abundant fossil fuel, currently accounts for 52 percent of U.S. electricity generation, and each kWh generated from coal requires withdrawal of 25 gallons of water.

That means U.S. citizens may indirectly depend upon as much water turning on the lights and running appliances as they directly use taking showers and watering lawns.”

Thus, in developed countries, the energy-water nexus could be significantly impacted by targeting building energy use. What is more, the economic case for resource reduction is staggeringly compelling as explained in a recent study entitled, United States Building Energy Efficiency Retrofits, Market Sizing and Financial Models, released in March 2012 (the Retrofit Report). The report indicates, “Upgrading and replacing energy-consuming equipment in buildings offers an important capital investment opportunity, with the potential for significant economic, climate, and employment

impacts. In the United States alone, more than $279 billion could be invested across the residential, commercial, and institutional market segments. This investment could yield more than $1 trillion of energy savings over 10 years, equivalent to savings of approximately 30 percent of the annual electricity spend in the United States. If all of these retrofits were undertaken, more than 3.3 million cumulative job years of employment could be created.”

Pythagoras Solar is just one of the many new and proven critical technologies with real solutions that are currently jockeying for position to strategically target these market opportunities. These technologies offer the opportunity to chip away at building power consumption and according to the Retrofit Report, improved policy could dramatically speed this process. Specifically, “enabling policy and regulation can be broad or targeted to specific market segments or finance models. Mandated efficiency targets, for example, could transform the industry across the board. Legislation that authorizes on-bill recovery for single family retrofits, on the other hand, would enable the development of a particular operational and financial model for a single segment. Both types of policies could play an important role in accelerating market adoption of energy efficiency.”

Our urban environment is rife with the potential to transform the way we use and generate energy.

Initially, skyscrapers transformed urban city centers by enabling upward, rather than sprawling, growth. Now, these hulking buildings could provide the infrastructure to transform urban energy use. So, let the sun shine in. There is a whole new window of opportunity on the way.

Kelly de la Torre has a BS in biochemistry, MS in chemistry and a JD degree from Rutgers School of Law-Camden. Kelly is founder of Rapid Tech Transit, LLC (RTT), a business consulting firm focused on getting technology from innovation to market and de la Torre Law, LLC, a law firm that provides the legal support for technology commercialization and project development efforts. To learn more, visit www.rapidtechtransit.com. volume 5 issue 1

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Patrick Gaston: Western Union Foundation

» Western Union and football star Patrick Vieira unveil PASS around UEFA Europa League to deliver one million school days. (Photo: Business Wire)

Western Union Looks to the Future An Interview with Patrick Gaston, President, Western Union Foundation B y C r i s t i n Ta r r , w i t h A m y F i s c h e r

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s the brilliant blue sky outlined the Rocky Mountains, I eagerly drove to Western Union Headquarters to meet Patrick Gaston, the new leadership of the corporation’s foundation. It was a perfect Colorado day to welcome him to Denver. I was humbled when we met, as he genuinely conveyed true compassion and kindness within moments of our introduction. Western Union philanthropic efforts are extraordinary, and now the foundation executive looks to the future with great aspiration.

Gaston arrived in Denver in December 2012 with a primary goal to build on the Western Union Foundation’s legacy of corporate philanthropy and to help create shared value, elevating the notion that a company can increase economic success while making the world a better place. Under his direction, he will continue the award-winning philanthropic initiatives previously led by past president Luella Chavez D’Angelo, now chief communications officer for Western Union.

Gaston is a visionary with real-world experience. Born and raised in Haiti, he led one of the largest corporate foundations in the United States as president of the Verizon Foundation. He later served as senior adviser to the Clinton-Bush Haiti fund, tying back to his roots. He also started a corporate social responsibility (CSR) consulting

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company, which prepared him for this challenging opportunity. Gaston has a strong respect for the work Western Union Foundation has contributed to our world. He says, “Luella created this foundation, and I am the beneficiary building on her great work.”

D’Angelo and her team supported programs focusing on economic development, education and disaster relief efforts as pathways toward a better future.

Since its inception, the Western Union Foundation has awarded more than $85 million in grants to more than 2,591 nongovernmental organizations in more than 130 countries and territories.

They were a winner of the prestigious Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) Excellence Award in 2009.

Gaston knows he has a great base to build on as he reflects on the past work done by Western Union and its employees, but he believes that the good can

only grow and asks, “Why stop there? The power of CSR is the ability to tap into the human networks within the institutional networks. Bringing likeminded people together for a common cause can inspire positive change.”

Collaboration can help change the outcome of our most pressing issues, such as poverty, access to education and economic sustainability.

Gaston intimately understands the power of Western Union’s core business–elevating communities and changing lives through financial inclusion.

As Gaston describes, “As a youth, although we were not wealthy in terms of income, we were rich in values taught and promoted by our parents and extended family. These values were about education, integrity, family and spirituality.” Growing up in Haiti, this commitment to growth and education led his family to emigrate. His mother was the first to leave Haiti, for Cambridge, Massachusetts. He distinctly remembers when the Western Union envelope with the bright yellow logo, wired from his mother, arrived. As he understands firsthand, Western Union’s services–and the financial inclusion they provide– have lifted families from poverty and helped to strengthen families around the world. Sitting across from Gaston in his new office, his resilience was

“The power of CSR is the ability to tap into the human networks within the institutional networks. Collaboration can help change the outcome of our most pressing issues.”

- Patrick Gaston

» Nicarauguan school children

evident. He was a child of modest financial upbringing, but rich in values and his commitment to others.

His childhood experiences created a natural path to his current position as president of the foundation, and his experience and education certainly add to his credentials. Gaston holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts and an M.B.A. from Northeastern University.

In 2004, he became president of Verizon Foundation, one of the 15 largest corporate foundations in America, where he led and implemented innovative programs that promoted social change in key focus areas of education, literacy, health care and domestic violence prevention. Following the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, under Gaston’s leadership, Verizon instituted donation texts for Haiti victims that resulted in $10 million raised by employees and customers. Following his service as senior adviser to the Clinton-Bush Haiti fund, he continued to move forward with innovative

approaches to solving community problems when he founded Gastal Networks, a management consulting firm assisting organizations with building corporate social responsibility and high-impact philanthropic strategies.

Gaston admits he is a lifelong learner and upholds that, “Education is the change agent to the future for those in need.”

So naturally it is a committed and intentional move to be part of Western Union’s Education for Better initiative. Unveiled during the launch of the United Nations Education First Initiative, Western Union’s Education for Better program will provide an average of up to $10,000 per day for more than 1,000 days in potential Western Union Foundation grant funding for nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in the education space, including support for one million days of school through a new corporate cause-marketing campaign.

Doing this alone is not an option. A collaborative approach to

» Western Union Foundation President Patrick Gaston volume 5 issue 1

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invest in our students today, in a measurable and purposeful way, is mandatory to fill tomorrow’s workforce, he believes.

It was a pleasure meeting a Fortune 500 executive who profoundly believes that corporate engagement in society is essential to economic growth. More of the ICOSA interview with Patrick Gaston follows–in his own words on looking to the future and knowing his next move.

ICOSA: What is the difference between philanthropy and a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy?

Gaston: CSR can encompass a number of disciplines–shared value, cause marketing, governance, compliance and more–which all serve to grow the business. Here at Western Union, we understand that our products and services contribute to our financial strength as a company, as well as the financial strength of the people we serve. A corporate responsibility strategy is about how our business does well by doing good. Corporate philanthropy is what it sounds like–philanthropic giving to programs around the world working to make lives better.

Philanthropy flows from, is part, of corporate responsibility.

Philanthropy has existed for many years–it’s really about good will. Philanthropy, then diversity, environmentalism and so on, inform corporate responsibility. One flows into the other.

ICOSA: You have worked extensively with large corporate foundations, first at Verizon and now at Western Union Foundation. Have you seen changes in the giving strategies over the last few years? If so, what changes?

Gaston: I am pleased to see giving strategies which align with the mission, expertise and consumers of the corporation. By strategically focusing giving, companies are able to leverage their expertise to build meaningful partnerships across the board–with NGOs, with the company’s business partners, consumers, employees, etc. This amplifies the company’s giving impact and makes it possible to make a real difference in people’s lives.

ICOSA: Should all size companies incorporate CSR into their business strategy? Is it a trend or visionary?

Gaston: CSR has no boundaries; we can all do better by doing good. To make an impact, CSR needs to be embedded in every aspect of how the firm does business, and senior leaders need to be fully committed.

ICOSA: In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges nationally and globally going forth? Can the private sector help? Can you please share an example?

Gaston: The big challenges get back to economic opportunity for everyone, which is dependent on having relevant skills for a 21st-century workforce. I think access to education is one of the most basic, fundamental ways the private sector can help.

Look at community colleges from a different framework. These regional colleges are quite diverse in student population, and more than 40 percent of all U.S. college students attend a community college. It is the center of excellence and the very location of economic opportunity. We must build partnerships to get the type of employee we need for the future.

It can’t be just government, NGOs or admissions offices. We need the private sector to invest in the

“By strategically focusing giving, companies are able to leverage their expertise to build meaningful partnerships across the board.”

- Patrick Gaston

» CARE - Sierra Leone

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education goals, we could double, even triple, the effort combining the forces of collaborative partners, from NGOs, governments and the private sector. Using our influence, we can gather momentum through aligned partnerships. It’s not just Western Union–it’s our communities doing good–and we all will prosper. That brings me to shared value. You hear those words a lot.

It is shared value for all partners getting involved to make a real difference in the communities where they operate. This is something that I will be jumping on because I know it will make a real impact.

ICOSA: Do you have any thoughts or advice to those that are thinking about making their next move?

Gaston: From a career standpoint, shared value philanthropy is relatively new. Be flexible–lead with commitment to community. Volunteer for things that you think are important. If you work for a company that doesn’t emphasize corporate responsibility, learn about it and find out what opportunities exist to promote this in your company. Find people who share your commitment. Collectively we can make a significant global change; that’s my passion.

» PASS launch with Patrick Vieira (Photo: Business Wire)

students. We need this now to grow our workforce. This same framework, where the private sector educating assists in developing curriculum directly for workforce needs, can be replicated in other countries to preserve access to education that promotes real income.

ICOSA: What do you personally hope to achieve through Western Union’s Education for Better initiative?

Gaston: Education has always been important to my family. I recognized early that it was my ticket to the better things in life, so I was willing to push hard to get a higher degree. I want to make it possible for others to have access to the same opportunities I had.

With Education for Better, Western Union is leveraging its assets to promote education, the surest path to a better future.

Unveiled during the launch of the United Nations Education First

“Access to education is one of the most basic, fundamental ways the private sector can help.”

- Patrick Gaston Initiative, Western Union’s Education for Better program will provide up to $10,000 per day for more than 1,000 days for nonprofits and NGOs working in the education space. It also includes support for one million days of school through PASS, a cause-marketing program in conjunction with the UEFA Europa League.

ICOSA: How will you measure success?

Gaston: Before a company jumps into measuring, you have to know what you want to measure. Otherwise the matrixes are meaningless and not quantifying an outcome. So setting goals is key, and

collaborating with partners around these goals pushes it forward. For example, on education there are thousands of variables to measure, but identifying goals that result in employment can be measured.

Eventually the economic impact can be realized and measured as well.

ICOSA: How important is a collaborative effort to the Education for Better initiative?

Gaston: Western Union understands the power of the business sector. I have never experienced an organization that is so comprehensively addressing social issues with their partners–in partnership with their partners. For example, with our

On my way home from the meeting with Gaston, I looked up into the vivid blue Colorado sky above the peaks of the foothills and saw an amazing display of Canadian geese.

There must have been thousands making formations that were intricate and inspiring. These birds that we see every day need each other; they work best collaboratively, all working for a common goal of migration. On this extraordinary day, I saw the geese as a symbol of collaborative change for good.

Cristin Tarr is co-founder and managing director, speaker, trainer and corporate social responsibility specialist at Business Service Corps, LLC (BSC). As a transformative social enterprise, BSC assists companies with high-impact community engagement programs. To contact Cristin, visit www.businessservicecorps.com.

Amy Fischer is the director of social ventures for Western Union Foundation. To learn more about the Western Union Foundation, visit, http:// foundation.westernunion.com/. volume 5 issue 1

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Et iquette Vintage Design

Etiquette Vintage Design Leading the Way to a More Thoughtful Fashion Generation A Retrospective of New York Fashion Week’s Newest Designer B y E m i ly H a g g s t r o m

et.i.quette \’etikit\ (n): A code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior.

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ith so many fashion trends abounding in the modern world, it can be quite an uphill climb for designers to gain even slight recognition or at least a mild foothold within their own industry. Eric Renteria, proprietor, at Etiquette Vintage Design, took on such an impassioned challenge in creating a clothing company that has aimed

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to capture some of the most classic eras couture has ever known.

“For me, that’s one of the most important keys to keeping a line going, a focus on timeless, enduring flair,” says Renteria, referring

not only to clothing, but also to attitude. “It’s how Brandyn, my business partner, and I were raised: a good code of morals, amidst a hectic society. We find it strange to see men not opening doors for

women,” he continues, “We’re both Southern gentleman.” That being said, Etiquette Vintage Design was never meant to be just about apparel. It was conceived with an aim to remind people of how there are few things cooler than decorum, politeness and being respectful to one another.

Named for behavior guided by rules of social conduct and refined decorum, the burgeoning company has recently been able to stand out amid many of its peers mainly due to its clean simplicity, its quiet approach and its reflection of a humbler time–namely 1950s America. Because the basic templates are rooted in this era, Etiquette structured a foundation upon which it could easily adapt to each year’s coming trends and colors.

However, keeping up with the ever-evolving face of apparel is not where Etiquette Vintage Design’s main interests lie. “We both decided early on to stay true to our values and to attire people in something we ourselves would wear. Not what we think others will or won’t like,” states Brandyn Balmos, public relations and marketing strategist for Etiquette.

“Eric and I constantly keep our ears to the ground, as far as this business goes. But we’re not swayed by what’s currently hip. Hip came to us, through no premeditated effort on our part.”

The original color-scheme ideas were actually derived from the vivid paints used on classic automobiles of the 1950s and 1960s. Commencing with the desire to use only true vintage materials (even including a particular sweater’s backstory when sent to a buyer), Renteria still enjoys digging for those one-of-a-kind pieces. However, they can become extremely difficult to come by because only so many were made.

“We both decided early on to stay true to our values and to attire people in something we ourselves would wear.”

- Brandyn Balmos

to be invited to something that we’d always heard about, but only dreamed of attending.”

Since its inception two years ago, the Etiquette team has devoted their time to garnering as much press and recognition as possible to attract potential buyers. It’s what has allowed the Texas-based entrepreneurs to more efficiently connect with industry heavy-hitters that would have, otherwise, possibly been out of reach. With new promotional ideas in play, Etiquette is devoted to progression, with a sturdy foot loyally planted in the fashions that have come before it.

Creating practical, functional designs that people can wear for either special occasions, parties and even just out on the town is what Etiquette intends to do. The designs have been in such high demand, not merely because they’re eye-catching and comfortable, but because they are fantastic conversation pieces. “Eric or I won’t go a day without somebody asking about a sweater or blazer either of us have on,” says Balmos.

As with any business venture, there is usually room for growth and change. For the guys at Etiquette, reinvention can occur in

“It’s really about not getting bored with what you’re doing. It’s about maintaining a zest, a passion, for what’s being created or pursued.”

- Brandyn Balmos

many ways, and it doesn’t have to entail a complete overhaul.

Sometimes, something as simple as expanding with new accessories, say, bow ties, can direct a line toward broader horizons. According to Balmos, it’s really about not getting bored with what you’re doing. It’s about maintaining a zest, a passion, for what’s being created or pursued. And, most often, even the smallest amount of headway can help to perpetuate that fire and hopefully to lead people into a new feeling of confidence and charm.

Though Etiquette is proud of the time period of which it currently represents, the startup wants to delve into other fashion eras as well. Nearest the top of the list: the Roaring ’20s. Because Renteria begins his designs with what is often already familiar to the public by simply altering certain pieces, even minimally by adding patches, brightly colored piping and more, there is always an avenue to create something original and to keep moving forward.

The Amarillo-born designer pays impeccable attention to each piece’s fit. He says, “A contoured look, especially in men’s blazers, has always been important to us. It’s how we, ourselves, dress. So, why give anything less than the same to a client? Men can feel great confidence from clothing if they’re paying attention. For women’s attire, namely skirts, it’s about fun.

It’s about a carefree spirit and dancing to Buddy Holly in the springtime.

That sense of unruffled enjoyment is where a self-assured woman is found,” says Renteria. A base tenet of Etiquette is “vintage style with a modern twist and fit.” There is a deep enthusiasm for clothing of great heritage– and for adapting that clothing to exist in the present age of apparel–that makes Etiquette’s endeavor both challenging and exciting.

Aside from being published in several well-known magazines, including Playboy and VOGUE Italia, the line was also invited to take part in New York’s Fashion Week this past February–an opportunity that was simultaneously unexpected and humbling. With Renteria being a new-to-the-scene designer, it allowed him to meet with other like-minded creators who have been in the fashion world for some time. “There’s always something to learn in an environment like that. It opens your eyes to the larger world and allows you to better understand your industry a bit more,” he says. “At the start of this company, we took on any opportunity we could, to gain some ground. We’d even create our own events. It was an absolute honor volume 5 issue 1

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c ommunity | Gun Safety Advocate: Tom Mauser

A Father’s Journey Walking in Daniel’s Shoes B y J u d i t h B . Tay l o r

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any people remember where they were and what they were doing when the first reports came in about a deadly school shooting at Columbine High School located in unincorporated Jefferson County, Colorado on April 20, 1999. So many lives were impacted in monumental ways. Thirteen years later, we are again embroiled in the effort to strengthen our gun safety laws.

For many in Colorado, April 20 began as a “regular” day. The taxes were finished and peo» Mauser with Daniel’s shoes ple knew spring was somewhere in the air. By late morning, however, a horror began to unfold as news reports were filling the airwaves about a school shooting at Columbine High School in a beautiful community on the west side of town.

Tom Mauser was in his office preparing for a trip to Pueblo, Colorado for a transit conference that day. Running on the late side, Mauser was about to leave for his brief trip when a coworker stepped into his office. The coworker asked about Tom living in south Jefferson County and whether he had teenaged children at Columbine? Mauser was urged to go to a conference room. Something was happening at Columbine High School. Mauser knew that employees watching news coverage was unheard of. He stood in disbelief as he saw helicopters and police at the school. Then he saw students fleeing the school and hearing that shots had been fired. Mauser’s first reaction was how could his fifteen-year-old son, a good kid who didn’t get in any trouble, be involved in a shooting? His son Daniel was one of two thousand students. As the school situation worsened, Mauser received a call from his wife, Linda–she had not heard from their son, Daniel.

Mauser began to hear the radio reports. One of the shooting victims, a fifteen–year-old male student had been taken to a local hospital. Tom Mauser felt a deep discomfort. Where was Daniel?

The frantic search included Leawood Elementary School, near Columbine, where updates were posted and there was a special “waiting room” for families looking for information about their children. The group was told that a bus would be coming from Columbine with students but after a painful thirty-minute wait, no bus came. Mauser overheard a teenager tell someone that there could be twenty-five students killed. How could this happen in our high school, Mauser asked himself? How could this be real?

At the Mauser home, concerned calls from family and friends poured in. A family friend who agreed to field law enforcement requests for the Mauser’s called to inform him that police needed a description of what Daniel was wearing. Then another call came asking for their son’s dental records. Mauser’s wife, Linda, took the second call. The anguish began as every bit of hope was disappearing. “We sent our son to school that morning, and here we were facing the prospect of having to identify his body,” Mauser says in his book, Walking in Daniel’s Shoes. “How could this be happening to us? Why couldn’t Daniel just show up and put an end to this horrific nightmare?”

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A sheriff’s deputy came to the Mauser home at 11:00 p.m. the night of the shooting. There was no definitive news. The potential for additional bombs was making it difficult for authorities to do any type of quick building check. The deputy said law enforcement would be going through the school inch-by-inch and would get back to the Mauser’s in the morning. It would be an endless night for the parents wondering where their son was.

Friends gathered early in the Mauser family room the following morning for any word about Daniel. Late in the morning, a sheriff’s deputy and two victims’ advocates came to the house. It had been confirmed that Daniel was dead.

“My son was dead,” Mauser said. “How the hell could he be dead? I just saw him the day before.

All we did was send him to school. He was not a troublemaker or a drug user or a gang member.

He was becoming so ready for the world and I was so unready for this.” The ultimate parental nightmare had begun.

Shock and disbelief marked the memorials and burial of Daniel Conner Mauser and the other Columbine murder victims. In the aftermath, the world and the country reacted. A massive outreach from around the world came in the form of sympathy cards, teddy bears, angels, crucifixes and other objects sent with care and empathy. Memorials sprung up immediately with eight-foot crosses on the crest of a hill in Clement Park, near Columbine High School. The aftershocks were many and often long lasting.

Nagging questions would not go away for Tom Mauser. How were the weapons used accessible to teenaged boys–along with 99 explosives and

The group was told that a bus would be coming from Columbine with students but after a painful thirty-minute wait, no bus came.

» Daniel Mauser

four knives? How could teenagers get their hands on the following weapons which were used in the Columbine massacre: Intratec TEC-DC9, Hi-Point 995 Carbine, Savage 67H pump-action shotgun and a Stevens 311D double-barreled sawed-off shotgun? Mauser learned that the guns were purchased through friends of the two killers. It was an illegal transaction involving a semi-automatic handgun sold to minors through an intermediary.

Three of the guns found their way into the seventeen-year-olds’ hands via a friend and an unlicensed dealer at a local gun show. And, the day before the massacre, one of the shooters picked up 100 rounds of ammunition, which had been purchased by a third-party at a K-Mart store for $25.

Two weeks prior to the shooting, fifteen-yearold Daniel Mauser talked about the loopholes in the Brady Bill with his father. Tom Mauser remembered the conversation well and felt compelled to speak out at a rally during an NRA convention in Denver held not long after the Columbine killings. And, almost overnight, Mauser became a new voice for those seeking reasonable gun laws.

Becoming an advocate over a contentious issue would change his life in profound ways.

There were serious questions and much reflection by Mauser about his involvement in the gun control cause. Mauser knew the difficulty in changing laws and attitudes overnight. The middle manager for a state agency who could deliver entertaining presentations, majored in political science and was an avid follower of current events, stepped into the world of media coverage with its scrutiny and the highly charged issue of gun control.

In 2000, Mauser worked for SAFE Colorado, a group that advocated for increased regulation of firearms, as the director of governmental affairs.

In the early days, many of the pro-gun bills were approved by the NRA-friendly legislature. However, one bill sparked heated debates–the gun show loophole bill.

Gun dealers, manufacturers and those who import firearms are required to obtain a Federal Firearms License (FFL). A dealer is described as anyone who is “engaged in the business of selling firearms at wholesale or retail.” This relates to gun dealers who are considered operating in this field as their livelihood. For those who make only occasional gun sales or may sell from a private collection, FFLs are not required. This loophole means that “prohibited purchasers” are still able to buy a gun from a private seller, and while it is illegal, these “private sales” are tolerated because they do not require background checks and therefore the private seller has no way of knowing whether the buyer is a “prohibited purchaser.”

The effort to close the loophole failed in 2000.

That same year, Mauser and other gun safety advocates turned to another path–the citizens’ initiative. The language and legal guidelines needed to be structured in specific ways and the wording required the approval of a legislative committee.

Following the legislative committee consent, the language would be placed on petitions, which volume 5 issue 1

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needed to be signed by a certain percentage of eligible voters in order for the initiative to be placed on a ballot. The legal team, the SAFE Colorado board and the many volunteers moved ahead with the strategic development of the ballot initiative, known as Amendment 22.

The drafted ballot initiative was similar to the gun show loophole bill that failed in the legislature, but this time the language was slightly stronger. After getting the needed signatures and after tallying the petitions, 110,000 signatures were gathered, more than enough to overcome gun lobby challenges and about 62,000 more than were needed to get onto the ballot. And on August 2, 2000, SAFE members and volunteers gathered on the steps of the state capitol, where Tom Mauser, who at times wore his son’s shoes, spoke to the group before walking to the Secretary of State’s Office to present the signed petitions.

The opposition was fierce! But, Mauser told supporters to remain positive about what could be done to prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands. Wanting to prevent further tragedies was not an “emotional, knee jerk reaction,” Mauser said.

Opponents expressed sympathy to Tom Mauser but would follow up with statements such as “We cannot allow our sympathy for Columbine to guide our public policy. We feel for these victims. We understand Mr. Mauser’s pain. But no law will bring back Mr. Mauser’s son, and no law would have changed what happened that terrible day at Columbine.”

Mauser responded, “I was not engaged in this debate to bring Daniel back. It was too late to undo Columbine. I simply wanted to prevent another tragic shooting by ensuring guns were not easily available to a child or criminal.”

Closing the gun show loophole was now up to the citizens of Colorado. Many major newspapers in the state endorsed Amendment 22, as did four living former governors, including two Democrats and two Republicans. Senator John McCain agreed to tape two television commercials in support of Amendment 22 and Americans for Gun Safety arranged and paid for the commercials. McCain said during the commercials, “I’m John McCain with some straight talk. I believe law-abiding citizens have the right to own guns, but with rights come responsibilities.” Amendment 22 passed with a 70 percent “yes” vote in Colorado and a similar citizens’ initiative to close the gun show loophole passed in Oregon by a margin of 60 percent to 40 percent.

As a speaker at an election night party Mauser summed up his role in passing Amendment 22 by telling the crowd that someone mistakenly

Wanting to prevent further tragedies was not an “emotional, knee jerk reaction.” - Tom Mauser thought he was the founder and brains behind SAFE Colorado. “No, really what I have done is provide a face for this movement, the face of a victim of gun violence. I’ve provided a soft, reasonable voice that matches and complements this common-sense amendment. And I provided a story– it’s Daniel’s story–a story that makes people realize that we are all victims of gun violence,” he said.

“And we are all capable of doing something about it. And we did so tonight.”

Today, Tom Mauser is a national figure on gun safety efforts. He is on the board of SAFE Colorado and a board member of CeaseFire Colorado, the primary gun control lobbying organization in Colorado. He has appeared on many national news programs and was introduced by President Bill Clinton at a State of the Union speech.

Much has happened within our country since the Columbine Massacre more than thirteen years ago. Mauser continues in the effort to promote reasonable gun safety laws. Just after the Aurora shootings Huffington Post asked about the theater massacre that took place only miles from Columbine. Mauser responded, “How many of these do we have to endure before we say this is enough?”

Advocacy, particularly on a public level, brings with it the risk of backlash, and Mauser has certainly been the target of insults, mean-spirited messages, and the dishonoring of his slain son, Daniel. One such message read in part; “Tommy boy; You’d better watch out, you better not cry because the ____is coming for you. Maybe not your house, maybe your office, maybe a smear campaign.”

There were other incidents laced with rudeness and hostility. Some accused Mauser of capitalizing on the Columbine tragedy to promote a personal gun control agenda. He has heard the harsh rhetoric and endured the incivility and taunting from some extreme gun activists.

Mauser, however, is a man with a message consistently reminding his audiences that he speaks for common sense gun laws.

“We’ve seen mass shootings in just about any place you can imagine: movie theaters, bars, nursing homes, schools,” he said to the Huffington Post.

“People see cases like this and say, it’s really terrible but let’s not change our gun laws.”

“I simply wanted to prevent another tragic shooting by ensuring guns were not easily available to a child or criminal.” - Tom Mauser 88

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He recently spent time in Newtown, Connecticut, site of the Sandy Hook massacre of grade school children, teachers, a social worker and the school principal. “I went to Newtown to be there for the kickoff of a new organization, Sandy Hook Promise, which is dedicated to addressing the causes of gun violence, and also to give comfort and support to the parents and families of the victims.” Mauser recently said.

The Sandy Hook school massacre of young first graders and staff members has given rise to more concern about gun safety. What will be the result of gun safety efforts after this tragedy? Is there a cultural shift taking place toward reasonable gun safety efforts?

“I see a cultural shift occurring, particularly among young people and among gun owners, who recognize they have the freedom to get a gun for protection but wonder why there aren’t more steps in place to keep them from dangerous people and why some people feel the need to have assault weapons and huge caches of firearms,” Mauser said.

The journey from grieving parent to an advocate for gun safety laws continues for Tom Mauser and his family. “It’s been an ongoing healing process for us, as it is with any parent who loses a child needlessly, and it’s been made more difficult by being part of such a high profile tragedy, and one that gets aggravated with news stories of other tragic shootings. Our faith in God and our adoption of a baby from China 12 years ago has certainly helped us greatly in our healing process,” he said.

But, Tom Mauser, who still often walks in Daniel’s shoes, will not shrink as the conflict over gun safety in the United States goes on. He proclaims, “We’ve been meeting with our partner organizations in the gun control movement to strategize how we’ll prioritize the gun control bills being introduced in the legislature and fight the many, awful pro-gun bills flooding the legislature.”

Tom Mauser is the author of Walking in Daniel’s Shoes. It is about his journey as an advocate who literally wears the shoes his son had on when he died as he speaks and/or attends special events and anniversaries. The book can be purchased at http:// www.amazon.com/Walking-Daniels-Shoes-Tom-Mauser/ dp/0985302119.

Judith B. (Judy) Taylor is president of Leading Edge Advisers, a consulting company focused on reaching female consumers. She is a former educator, publisher and has been a successful professional practitioner in the women’s market for over twenty-five years. She can be reached at jtaylor@ leadingedgeadvisers.com.

c ommunity | Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico at the Denver Art Museum

Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico Architecture, Katsinam and the Land

By Maria E. Luna

“When I got to New Mexico that was mine. As soon as I saw it that was my country. I’d never seen anything like it before but it fitted to me exactly. It’s something that’s in the air, it’s just different, the sky is different, the stars are different, the wind is different. I shouldn’t say too much about this because other people might get interested and I don’t want them interested.” - Georgia O’Keeffe

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eorgia O’Keeffe, among the great American artists of the 20th century, was drawn to the New Mexico landscape and culture in a way many people could only imagine. She was captivated by the culture and colorful landscapes of New Mexico, which served as inspiration for some of her most interesting Western works.

The traveling exhibition, Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico: Architecture, Katsinam and the Land, will be at the Denver Art Museum from Feb. 10, through April 28, 2013, and brings to light O’Keeffe’s interest in northern New Mexico. » Continued on next page.

“The expression of the artist’s personal ideas and feelings and that such subject matter was best realized through harmonious arrangements of line, color and notan.”

- Arthur Wesley Dow

» (left) Georgia O’Keeffe, Ram’s Head, Blue Morning Glory, 1938.

Oil on canvas; 20 x 30 in. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum; Gift of The Burnett Foundation. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. » (bottom-right) Georgia O’Keeffe, Chama River, Ghost Ranch, 1937. Oil on canvas; 30-1/4 x 16 in. New Mexico Museum of Art; Gift of the Estate of Georgia O’Keeffe, 1987 (1987.312.1). © New Mexico Museum of Art.

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» Georgia O’Keeffe, Rust Red Hills, 1930. Oil on canvas; 16 x 30 in. Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso University, Indiana; Sloan Fund Purchase, 62.02. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

The exhibition includes 53 works, ranging from Hopi katsina tithu to Hispanic and Native American architecture. Visitors will have the chance to experience this part of the country–its culture, people and landscapes–through the eyes of the artist.

From 1931 to 1945, Georgia O’Keeffe created numerous drawings, watercolors and paintings of katsina tithu, described as carved and painted representations of Hopi spirits. This new exhibit at the Denver Art Museum describes O’Keeffe’s artwork showing as an opportunity to experience seldom-exhibited paintings that remain generally unknown to the public. The exhibit includes 15 rarely seen O’Keeffe pictures of nine different Hopi katsina tithu, along with examples of these types of figures or photographs of them.

The O’Keeffe exhibition also includes examples of her paintings of New Mexico’s Hispanic and Native American architecture, cultural objects and New Mexico landscapes, as well as additional works from American Indian artists who also draw upon katsina tithu and the New Mexico landscape for artistic inspiration. “Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico brings to light a relatively unknown component of O’Keeffe’s art and thinking–her awareness of, keen sensitivity toward and deep respect for the diverse and distinctive cultures of Northern New Mexico,” says the Denver Art Museum.

Georgia O’Keeffe was born on November 15, 1887, the second of seven children, and she grew up on a farm in Sun Prairie, Wis. As a child she received art lessons at home, where her talents were noticed by many. And by the time she graduated from high school in 1905, she had determined to become an artist.

O’Keeffe studied at the Art Institute of Chicago (1905–1906) and at the Art Students volume 5 issue 1

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League in New York (1907–1908), where she was quick to master the principles of the approach to art-making that then formed the basis of the curriculum–imitative realism. In 1908, she won the League’s William Merritt Chase still-life prize for her oil painting Untitled (Dead Rabbit with Copper Pot). Shortly thereafter, however, O’Keeffe quit making art, saying later that she had known then that she could never achieve distinction working within this tradition.

In 1912, her interest in art was rekindled when she took a summer course for art teachers at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, taught by Alon

(O’Keeffe) captured the essence of the natural beauty of the “Northern New Mexico desert, its vast skies, richly colored landscape configurations and unusual architectural forms.

Bement of Teachers College at Columbia University. Bement introduced O’Keeffe to the ideas of his colleague Arthur Wesley Dow. Dow, an artist and art educator at Teachers College, believed that the goal of art was “the expression of the artist’s personal ideas and feelings and that such subject matter was best realized through harmonious arrangements of line, color and notan (the Japanese system of lights and darks).”

Dow’s perspectives offered O’Keeffe an alternative to imitative realism, and she began experimenting with them while she was teaching art in the Amarillo, Texas, public schools or working summers as Bement’s assistant.

By the fall of 1915, while teaching art at Columbia College in South

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» Georgia O’Keeffe, Blue-Headed Indian Doll, 1935. Watercolor and graphite; 21 x 12-1/8 in. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum; Gift of The Burnett Foundation (1997.06.009). © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

» Georgia O’Keeffe, Ranchos Church No. 1, 1929. Oil on canvas; 18-3/4 x 24 in. Collection of the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida; Purchase the R.H. Norton Trust. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

Carolina, she decided to put Dow’s theories to the test. In an attempt to discover her own personal language, she began a series of abstract charcoal drawings that are now recognized as “among the most innovative in all of American art of the period.”

She mailed some of these drawings to a former Columbia classmate, who showed them to the internationally known photographer and art impresario, Alfred Stieglitz, in 1916.

Stieglitz exhibited 10 of her charcoal abstractions at his famous avantgarde gallery, 291, in New York City. A year later, he supported a one-person exhibition at 291 of O’Keeffe’s work. In the spring of 1918 he offered O’Keeffe financial support to paint for a year in New York. Married in 1924, she and Stieglitz lived and worked together in New York City during the winter and spring and at the Stieglitz family estate at Lake George, New York, during the summer and fall. But in 1929, O’Keeffe began to spend the first of many summers painting in New Mexico.

As early as the mid-1920s, when O’Keeffe first began painting New York skyscrapers as well as large-scale close-up depictions of flowers–which are among her best-known pictures– she had become one of America’s most important and successful artists, displaying her art in the Anderson Galleries, the Intimate Gallery and An American Place.

In 1949, three years after Stieglitz’s death, O’Keeffe moved from New York to her beloved New Mexico, “whose stunning vistas and stark landscape configurations had inspired her work since 1929.” Many of the pictures she painted in New Mexico have become as well known as the works she had completed earlier in New York. She captured the essence of the natural beauty of the “Northern New Mexico desert, its vast skies, richly colored landscape configurations and unusual architectural forms.” O’Keeffe lived and painted in the area until 1984, when failing eyesight forced her into retirement. She died in her beloved New Mexico in 1986 at the age of 98.

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum organized Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico: Architecture, Katsinam and the Land. Exhibit dates and locations also include the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, May 17 through Sept. 8, 2013, and the Heard Museum, Sept. 27, 2013 through Jan. 12, 2014.

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c ommunity | Peace Corps: Friends of ENCA Farms

They have spent their lives tilling the fields, growing fruit and vegetables, raising animals, and educating their 11 children about sustainable organic farming practices and the history of their Ibaloi culture.

Peace Corp A Lifetime of Service

By Sherry Manning

L

ike many Peace Corps volunteers, when I boarded the airplane heading to the Philippines in March 2006, I was young, enthusiastic and eager to make a sustainable impact. I was fortunate enough to have an incredible host family, the Cosalans, who made my time in the Benguet Province a memorable and successful journey. The Cosalans are humble stewards of ENCA Farm, a beautiful piece of land that has come to define a large component of who I am as a returned Peace Corps volunteer.

Located in the northern region of the Philippines, ENCA Farm has been in the Acop and Cosalan family since the 1800s. It is named after Enrique and Carmen Cosalan, the third generation to operate the farm. They have spent their lives tilling the fields, growing fruit and vegetables, raising animals, and educating their 11 children about sustainable organic farming practices and the history of their Ibaloi culture.

In the 1970s, not only did the Santo Nino Mines open upstream from the farm and contaminate its irrigation source, but the Philippine government also tried to take away the Cosalans ancestral land. After 30 years of legal battles, the Philippine Supreme Court restored the farm to Cosalan ownership in 2001, and the case set great precedent for indigenous peoples’ land rights throughout the Philippines. In 2006, the farm opened to the public as an ecotourism space, as a community and environmental education venue, and as an exemplary model of a sustainable organic farm. More than 1,500 people have visited and volunteered at ENCA Farm during this incredible rejuvenation period.

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I dedicated my Peace Corps Service to helping ENCA Farm develop, and this service continues today, nearly four years after my return.

I founded a U.S.-based nonprofit organization, Friends of ENCA Farm, which serves as the primary educational and advocacy entity supporting the work of ENCA Farm in the Philippines. The programs of Friends of ENCA Farm help local Filipino youth attend environmental education camps and support infrastructure improvements such as new irrigation systems at ENCA Farm.

Soon, Friends of ENCA Farm will join a shared office space and center for collaboration–the Greenhouse Project in Denver–that focuses on international development and ending global poverty. This innovative center will connect our work in the Philippines with wonderful partners that do similar development work around the globe. The Greenhouse Project will also offer virtual educational sessions allowing our Filipino partners, farmers and community members throughout the Benguet Province to access trainings that will benefit their organic farming and environmental sustainability initiatives.

I am blessed to be a small part of the story of ENCA Farm and to have found a second home with the warm and open hearts of the Cosalan Family. My 27 months of Peace Corps Service, a journey that began six years ago, has led me to a lifetime of service working to improve the lives of Filipinos.

To learn more about our programs and ways to support this critically important work in the Philippines, visit our website at www.encaorganicfarm.com. Sherry Manning is the founder and executive director of Friends of ENCA Farm, a small, Denverbased nonprofit that supports environmental sustainability and organic farming in the Philippines. She holds a master’s degree in resource law studies from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and serves as the president of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Colorado (www.rpcvcolorado.org). To learn more about the Greenhouse Project and its 27 partners, visit www.d90network.org.

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c ommunity | Milestones Project

Milestones Project A Snapshot of Inclusion and Capturing What Is In Common B y C r i s t i n C o r n e l l Ta r r

“A

picture is worth a thousand words” is an old cliché, but to Dr. Richard Steckel a click of his camera portrays our human commonality. The Milestones Project was founded in 1998 by Dr. Steckel and his wife Michele. They conceived the idea to capture images of children and stories from around the world. With their art, they celebrate humankind’s most basic common links as we inhabit this planet. And now, after 15 years of traveling the globe, their portfolio includes images of more than 70,000 children from 30 countries. To understand the compassion behind the lens, you must meet the man with the heart for a more peaceful world.

Dr. Steckel is still writing the book of his life and living each chapter. His passion for a better world and social entrepreneurship began as a child with National Geographic magazines spread upon his lap, looking at pictures of people from other cultures and wondering what their lives must be like. Today he still holds that youthful eagerness to explore and learn from others. This inner vision of promoting mutual respect, understanding, empathy and inclusion has never left his core.

He often says his life story would not be complete without his constant companion and confidant, Michele, “Shelli.” Both have dedicated their lives to the greater good, and after fifty years of marriage, Shelli says “he keeps me on my toes” not knowing his next move. At age 70, Dr. Steckel is enthusiastically optimistic about the future as he clearly knows his past experiences got him where he is today.

He says, “I operate comfortably in a high-risk environment and with a tolerance for ambiguity.” These are words that are in the DNA of many entrepreneurs, but Dr. Steckel takes it to the extreme. For example, he began work in Kenya in 1969 on a humanitarian effort during the Civil War. He strapped $20,000 to his waist to bring agricultural seeds to the people for growing crops in this starving worn-torn country.

Ironically, his love of children brought him to the next risky move–save the Denver Children’s Museum. In 1976, he was asked to be the director of the ailing museum that only had five weeks before it would close due to bankruptcy. Through a change in strategy, Dr. Steckel and his colleagues rescued the museum through social enterprise, or earned income strategy, and now the Denver Children’s Museum is the sixth most popular in the United States. He took several shots at entrepreneurship quite successfully and founded the consulting firm AddVenture Network and is co-author of many books including the best-selling book Filthy Rich: Turning Nonprofit Fantasies Into Cold, Hard Cash.

Dr. Steckel and Shelli ignored traditional retirement to seek out other ways to help connect our communities. Combining their humanitarian work, compassion and the love of travel, the Milestones Project was conceived. At an overwhelming risk of taking a small idea with a potential big impact, the couple refinanced their home. Using the equity, they began their new social

enterprise with a focus on photography to capture common milestones connecting the human race. They have never looked back. The Milestones Project origin was sparked by injustice.

The Steckels were appalled by an uptick in hate crimes in the late 1990s. Weekly news stories appeared describing violence against others in horrific detail–vicious acts committed against one group or another, usually based on a de-humanizing of the other person or group on superficial differences like skin color, eye shape, ethnicity or religious beliefs. Being an uninvolved bystander to unfairness, they asked themselves a simple question: “What are we going to do?” More questions followed. “What is the best way we can help to demonstrate our shared humanity?”

They surrounded themselves with a network of friends and confidants with the common passion and focused their effort on exploring diversity and commonality. The group identified life milestones shared by us all. They discovered that in childhood “we” all lose a tooth, celebrate first birthdays, and cut our hair–that we as human beings have a lot in common. Armed with enthusiasm, no skills or training in photography, no funds to get anywhere, they said, “why not?” and began their journey.

Eventually, the discovery of photography was the perfect mechanism to show the world “we” humans are all the same. “We” can celebrate our diversity but unite our commonality. The Steckels learned the art of photography to perfection and were embraced while they traveled the globe. Today, The Milestones Project’s 35,000plus photographs, eight children’s books and a variety of teaching tools to celebrate childhood around the world all clearly tell the same story and confirm a universal truth: We are all connected.

This connection is where true and believable healing begins.

Results followed … fast.

The Milestones Project was published in 2004, collecting notable people like Walter Cronkite, JK Rowling, Jane Goodall, Eric Carle and others, to compare personal milestones with children the Steckels had met throughout their travels around the world. For example, JK Rowling talked about her first experience loving and hating glasses.

Early on, Littleton Public Schools in Colorado bought 4,300 copies of the first edition book for its students’ families. The Steckels also donated 15 photographs of corresponding milestones in the school system’s 15 elementary schools, and held community dialogues with parents, students and faculty about diversity and inclusion.

The book went on to receive the Notable Book Award from the Children’s Book Council, and has sold nearly 25,000 copies. » Continued on next page.

“This inner vision of promoting mutual respect, understanding, empathy and inclusion has never left his core.”

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In 2006, another drama involving labeling caught their attention: violence against others whose faith was different to us. They heard a Muslim man lament over the fact that people don’t know him, they just see his clothing and make so many judgments about him. He was dehumanized, and subject to suspicion, feared by some and misunderstood by many. “You don’t know that I love cream soda,” he says. “And,” he went on, “equally sad is that I don’t know you.”

That prompted them to ask, what does faith have in common? And again, the Steckels–not uninvolved bystanders– took action and used photography for their third themed book, Faith, describing religious commonalities.

More hardships drove the couple to make their next move. The issue of immigration was a hot topic in 2007. Once again the rhetoric was heated, clumsily racist and somewhat ignorant and judgmental. Stereotypes were tossed around like darts. Commonality of human needs and hope were hardly part of the conversation. So, unable to contain themselves, they acted, and refinanced their home for the second time.

In collaboration with the City of Littleton and educators at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colorado, they created an innovative graphical look of immigrants and their positive impact on our society. The project called Littleton: My International Home Sweet Home is a permanent sto-

Social enterprise is not for the next generation; it’s embraced by those trying to move forward and look to the future for a better world. ry-telling exhibit throughout the great halls of the college. It features 27 men and women who live, work or study in the area, but who were all born in other countries. A total of eighteen countries were represented through pictures showing a wealth of talent, entrepreneurial spirit, and contributions to a small town in America, the home of the free.

You would think the next move for Dr. Steckel would be to sit back and enjoy a risk-free life. But no, making the next move is what he is all about.

So in December 2012, the Steckels launched their next social venture In Common Images, a website dedicated to two things–to demonstrate that people, worldwide, generally underestimate their talents and creativity in photography, and as a means to use photography as a vehicle to raise money for worthwhile charities worldwide. Inspired by Tom’s Shoes and Newman’s

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Own, In Common fused together photography and philanthropy in an unprecedented way. Dr. Steckel says, “We have incontrovertible evidence that after 70,000 photographs, 13 educational resources, 37 permanent installations of Milestones Project photographs, and over 200,000,000 eyes peering at our work, we need to keep on moving.”

Incommonimages.org gives graphic artists, nonprofits, governmental agencies, corporations and individuals, quality and unique photos they can purchase over the internet and use for non-commercial purposes. And with every online image sold, 10 percent goes back to a selected charity.

Social enterprise is not for the next generation; it’s embraced by those trying to move forward and look to the future for a better world. As Dr

Steckel sums it up, “May we live in a world where our souls, our character and our actions demonstrate a mutual reach for shared respect, understanding, inclusion and acceptance.”

To learn more about the Milestones Project visit, www.milestonesproject.com. To learn more about In Common Images visit, www.incommonimages.org.

Cristin Tarr is co-founder and managing partner of Business Service Corps, LLC (BSC); a social enterprise helping companies with high impact employee and community engagement programs. The company has developed executive overviews and employee workshops to educate and enhance corporate social responsibility initiatives. To contact Cristin visit, www.businessservicecorps.com.

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c ommunity | Consumer Energy Alliance

Leadership in Communication A Guiding Principle at CEA and Benchmark of Successful Organizations

By John Krohn

on energy development. Appropriately titled Energy Day, the annual event provides citizens an opportunity to learn about various forms of energy and cutting-edge technologies that are shifting the industry landscape and advancing our economy. By any measure, this event has been a tremendous success, drawing nearly 30,000 attendees over two years. However, more than raising awareness, the event also encourages youth participation in the energy sector through the associated Energy Day Academic Program. This program includes a series of six unique, city-wide, energy-related competitions aimed to motivate, challenge and inspire young minds to seek careers in science and technology.

Thus far it has also been an outstanding success, awarding 59 Houston area students a total of $12,000 in academic awards.

E

ffective communication is the benchmark of any successful endeavor. The ability to express key messages is a significant underlying principle that can determine an effort’s fate before it even begins. Looking for a job? Better be able to articulate your value in a concise and convincing manner. Seeking to advance a public project? Hope that you have already secured commitments from key allies and have an effective outreach campaign to convey the project’s importance to the public.

Since its founding in 2006, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) has placed an emphasis on developing an effective communication strategy designed to increase the understanding of domestic energy issues and their importance to the U.S. economy and to broaden the debate over energy to include both large and small energy consumers. Separating us from other organizations, CEA has created and used a proprietary blend of traditional communication outreach activities with a focus on building relationships through stakeholder relations. This involves cultivating relationships between seemingly disparate industries and organizations in order to help solve problems and achieve the larger goal of broadening the debate on U.S. energy policy. CEA has successfully developed and facilitated relationships among organizations such as the Union of Operating Engineers, Nucor Steel, the University of Nordland (Norway), National Tank Truck Carriers, ExxonMobil, various chambers of commerce, Airlines for America, National Small Business Association and so on. This guiding principle has resulted in tremendous growth over a very short time period. In fact, CEA has grown from a single entity with a handful of supporters to an entity operating out of seven U.S. regions and enjoying the support of more than 200 affiliate members.

At its core, CEA seeks to engage new audiences and entities and encourage their involvement in supporting responsible energy policies that will advance the U.S. economy and empower the U.S. consumer. Given that few entities exist to achieve this goal, CEA first had to overcome a handful of obstacles–chief among them, the fact that energy issues, with their complexities and nuance, are typically left to energy producers and policymakers to debate and discuss. But we feel both energy-consuming entities and individuals have a major stake in the energy debate and should take a larger role in discussing and engaging in our nation’s energy opportunities. CEA worked to build a broader understanding of energy’s importance among individual and corporate citizens throughout the United States.

To that end, with support from the City of Houston and other sponsors, CEA organized the nation’s first major gathering focused exclusively

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» CEA Energy Days

Leveraging regional chapters, CEA has also engaged in extensive community outreach at events across the United States, from NFL football games, to state fairs and NASCAR races. The purpose in attending these events was simple: Identify potential supporters–individuals who understand the importance of energy to our economy and way of life–and to increase identification of the CEA brand and create action on public issues of importance to energy consumers. As a result, today CEA enjoys an expansive list of supporters that exceeds 300,000 individuals, a majority of whom have been active on at least one critical energy issue in recent years.

Of course, while local outreach is critical, national engagement across traditional and developing communication platforms is equally important. For this reason, CEA has placed great

Governor Romney and President Obama talked about energy policy for the balance of several minutes. We think this is in no small part a result of our efforts to bring energy issues into the national campaign.

While traditional media attention is a critical element in any outreach strategy, no communications picture is complete without paying close attention to social media and online communications. In that vein, CEA maintains an active presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. On Facebook, in particular, we have strived to make this a useful resource that provides a truly interactive experience to visitors. Upon landing on our page, a user is connected with information on a variety of energy topics through the sharing of relevant news items and graphics that provide information in an easily digestible format. The medium has

CEA was referenced by the media in more than 15 U.S. states, resulting in just shy of 100 earned media hits that reached nearly 79 million Americans.

focus on aggressively pursuing earned media opportunities. In fact, in 2011 CEA was referenced by the media in more than 15 U.S. states, resulting in just shy of 100 earned media hits that reached nearly 79 million Americans. This resulted in CEA being featured in such well-known outlets as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, Politico, The Hill, Human Events, Fox News, Fox Business News, CNN and C-SPAN, to name just a few. A significant part of this success centered on CEA’s effort to anchor U.S. energy policy as a key issue in the 2012 presidential election. As part of this effort, CEA, in conjunction with additional stakeholders, hosted a series of energy summits across the United States where Republican candidates and representatives of the Obama administration highlighted their views on needed U.S. energy policies. These summits drew into clear focus the respective candidates’ views on energy issues, ensuring that the topic remained at the center of the election.

In fact, during the second presidential debate,

helped amplify CEA messages, and we reached more than 3 million people in 2012 through social media alone, with a large percentage of those community members taking an active role to support affordable energy through public comment periods on various federal initiatives.

CEA has also made significant efforts in reaching online outlets, blogs and other new media sources with information relevant to the national discussion on energy. In 2012, our efforts resulted in coverage in more than 170 different blogs with a collective viewership of 455,000,000 people on such topics as the Keystone XL pipeline, shale gas development and nuclear energy. This effort was also a large driver in CEA’s efforts in the 2012 campaign cycle.

All of these efforts, when taken together, have resulted in an increased level of awareness and activity on key energy issues by members of the public. An example of this can be seen in the ongoing consideration of the Keystone XL pipeline. Given the project’s importance to the U.S.

economy, and recognizing it would face significant opposition, CEA used the support network we built through these communication platforms, and in conjunction with other partners, rallied supporters to take part in the public hearings and file comments in support of the project’s approval and construction. As a result, citizens filed more than 600,000 comments in support of the project, providing needed balance to a contentious comment period on a project that is critical to North America’s new energy future. CEA pursued and achieved similar success in conjunction with the public comment process on needless endangered species listings in Texas and other regulatory issues across the country.

In an effort to further develop relationship capital among CEA and its affiliate members, we have also helped to launch and grow the Energy Producing States Coalition. This coalition brings together state legislators from energy producing states across the nation to discuss shared issues, challenges and concerns associated with energy development. Launched in 2012 and already boasting 41 members from 9 states, the coalition is proving to be a useful forum that will be critical in providing needed advice and perspective to multiple parties, including lawmakers and regulators in Washington, D.C. It also provides a laboratory for idea sharing and coordination between policymakers, regulators and the organizations they impact.

While much has been achieved, much more remains to be done. Keeping effective communications at the forefront, CEA is pursuing an aggressive agenda in 2013. We will release our biennial report to Congress, outlining policy recommendations that will show policymakers how to implement a balanced energy policy that expands development of all domestic resources and furthers efforts to conserve energy. We will host more than 20 forums across the United States that will focus on energy development and its impact on the economy to keep energy issues out front in the public dialogue. And we will continue to expand the already diverse list of energy-consuming organizations that count themselves as members of Consumer Energy Alliance.

After six years, CEA stands tall and proud in recognition of its accomplishments, and we look forward to the future with optimism for the continued success we expect to achieve. To date, our efforts have established a first-of-its-kind coalition that provides a unique and previously absent voice to the American consumer, while also raising awareness among the public about actions they can take in Washington, D.C., and in their respective state capitals to make energy more efficient and affordable for all.

John Krohn is the communications director for Energy In Depth, a national research and education campaign focused on getting information out regarding America’s onshore energy resource base. volume 5 issue 1

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c ommunity | Colorado Et hics in Business Association

Ethical Infrastructure and Organizational Culture Colorado Ethics in Business Association B y J e ff R u n d l e s a n d P e t e r F e a t h e r

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ay back in the late 1980s, the country was in the midst of what would come to be called the Savings and Loan (S&Ls) Crisis where eventually nearly 750 of the country’s 3,234 S&Ls would fail and cost the nation’s taxpayers some $88 billion.

It was a particularly ominous scandal for Colorado as one of the more prominent failures in that crisis was that of Colorado’s own Silverado Savings and Loan, which collapsed in 1988 and cost taxpayers $1.3 billion. Among the more notable businesspeople embroiled in the scandal was Neil Bush, a Silverado director and son of then–vice president of the United States, George H. W. Bush.

At about the same time, 1989, the “Father of Cable Television,” entrepreneurial Denver millionaire Bill Daniels, donated some $11 million to the business school at the University of Denver (DU) to create an ethics boot camp and ethics curriculum that set the school on a leadership path for corporate social responsibility throughout the nation. A few years later, DU would name its business school the Daniels College of Business, bestowing on itself a moniker that had for years stood for the highest level of integrity in business and philanthropy.

That these two events, both of which rocked the Colorado business community, happened virtually simultaneously was more than a mere coin-

that is built up as a result of treating clients, employees, and fellow professionals ethically, is the key component in our ability to start, maintain, and grow a thriving, sustainable financial services practice. On the other hand, we have all seen and experienced, over and over again within the past decade, the devastating consequences of failures to act ethically,” says Greg C. Anderson, CLU, ChFC, CFP, CASL, a financial adviser with the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and the Colorado Ethics in Business Alliance (CEBA) board immediate past president and assistant secretary.

“Tough times reveal the strength of the ethical infrastructure and organizational culture built by the founders and maintained by the keepers of the flame.” - Ron Ausmus cidence for what was to come. One spoke directly to the need for elevating the discussion and education of business ethics, while the other was a pure example of business ethics in practice.

“Ethical business practices are essential in the financial services industry. The trust and credibility

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It was in this atmosphere, one clouded by scandal with a ray of hope shining through, that CEBA was started in 1990. Originally called “Ethics and Business–The Colorado Corporate Responsibility Awards,” the initial goal was to establish an annual nomination, investigation, selection and awards program to honor Colorado companies, businesspeople and nonprofit organizations for the highest standards of ethical conduct in business. Right from the start, the aim was to show that businesses and businesspeople could do well by doing good, that ethical business practices,

rather than being anathema to profit, were part and parcel of the success of Colorado business.

In the early 1990s, there was only one similar program in the country, the national American Business Ethics Award, founded in 1982 by the Foundation for Financial Service Professionals.

“Ethics in Business–The Colorado Corporate Responsibility Awards” was the second business ethics recognition process in the country and the first on a regional or statewide basis. Since then, CEBA has been joined by hundreds of other such awards given annually by local chambers of commerce, Better Business Bureaus, as well as local and national business and professional organizations and societies all across the nation. The Colorado effort, kicked off with the first awards given in spring 1991, remains the largest business ethics awards program in the country.

Carrie Rossman, foundation director at the Better Business Bureau serving northern Colorado and Wyoming and CEBA director, says, “Making ethical choices in any business situation is the major step in pursuing excellence both as an enterprise and personally.”

And, none of this would have happened in Colorado without Bill Daniels. Daniels was one of the chief proponents and practitioners of ethical business practices at the time–at any time. His varied business career made him an extremely wealthy man, and his business and philanthropic endeavors set a high mark for corporate social responsibility activities.

So, in 1989, three men–Rev. R. J. Ross, the founder of the Samaritan Institute, an international network of faith-based counseling centers enabling an approach that combines “mind, body, spirit and community”; Dr. Bruce Hutton, a longtime professor at the Daniels College of Business who was the school’s dean in 1989; and Jeff Rundles, a veteran Colorado business journalist who was editor of Colorado Business Magazine (now ColoradoBIZ) at the founding–decided that honoring the DU-Daniels connection, and giving the Silverado debacle some distance and perspective by creating an awards program to spotlight the ethical business behavior among Colorado businesses and business people was a meaningful endeavor.

The three founders conceived the idea of an Ethics in Business awards program and sought out the guidance of Daniels before moving forward. Not only was the ethical icon enthusiastic about the concept, on the spot he wrote the first check to get it started. He then directed his staff at Daniels & Associates to take part in the process and to offer as much help as needed.

Now, more than 20 years and many awards programs later, CEBA has grown into a powerful alliance of business, nonprofit and educational interests dedicated “to advance ethics in business through conversation, practice, and understanding for the benefit of the workplace, the marketplace and our community.” Says Alex Chernushin, director of programs at Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation and CEBA director, “Surrounding yourself with those who support your ethical choices

professionally leads to easier decisions and newfound support in difficult choices.”

CEBA’s board of directors is 20 strong, drawing its leadership from every walk of professional and business life, as well as key people from nonprofit groups, professional and business trade associations, colleges and universities, and the media. In addition, the CEBA Leadership Council has another 20 Denver and Colorado business and community leaders drawn from every discipline who meet regularly to discuss ethics and to offer advice and counsel to the CEBA board and community.

In 1996, CEBA was strengthened and its mission expanded when the Rotary Clubs of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Financial Planners became long-term

At its founding more than 20 years ago, one of the goals established for CEBA was to provide a forum for the discussion of ethics and ethical business and civic practices, and to embrace young people studying for their careers in business in the discussion. The broad cross-section of award winners over the years from every type of business and enterprise, and from every corner of the state, stand as testament to the promise of “doing well by doing good.” Jim Nottingham, an attorney with Berenbaum Weinshienk PC and a CEBA director, declares, “Ethical conduct is an investment that pays dividends by way of satisfied customers, fulfilled employees, improved bottom lines and personal happiness. Doing the ‘right’ thing has a profound ripple effect that

“Ethics encompasses truth, integrity and virtue necessary to maintain a civilized society.” - David Goldberg sustaining sponsors in the organization–relationships that remain today. With their help and guidance, CEBA has expanded its original mission of recognizing businesses and businesspeople at an annual awards banquet to now conducting an Ethics in Leadership Series, an offering of some seven events throughout the year with notable speakers, with many of the sessions featuring continuing education credits to such professions as law, accounting and financial planning.

Many great professional organizations emphasize ethics and character in conducting the business of their professions, and CEBA has always aimed to elevate that emphasis to an interdisciplinary discussion with and to the business and civic communities at large. “Ethics is the embodiment of everything that is good and right in life,” argues David Goldberg, an attorney at Greenberg Traurig and CEBA leadership council member. He goes on: “Ethics encompasses truth, integrity and virtue necessary to maintain a civilized society.”

During the past 25 years, CEBA has grown to become the principal “backbone” of a broad alliance of collaborators, to recognize and promote ethical business throughout the state. CEBA provides the essential infrastructure to bridge, if you will, Wall Street, main street and academia.

CEBA’s three major constituencies include: • Business–help grow a company’s revenue and its community engagement through ethical programs.

• Civic and nonprofit organizations–help civic and nonprofit organizations deliver ethical service programs that raise the quality of life in communities.

• Educational institutions–help educational institutions develop future leaders through collaboration and learning in business and personal life.

transcends and transforms.”

But obviously, much work still needs to be done. Following the Silverado Savings debacle, people were fined and/or went to prison, commissions were formed, congressional investigations ensued, laws were changed, and everyone from every corner of the country decried the obvious ethical breaches and vowed to stop them from ever occurring again.

Since then, we have had Phar-Mor, Enron, Bernard Madoff and numerous national and local Ponzi schemes, the Dot-Com bubble, Qwest, Tyco, and the Subprime Mortgage Crisis–the list is nearly endless, and with each new case, the audacity threshold is raised a few bars.

The Colorado Ethics in Business Alliance–conceived in the crucible of ethical breaches and inspired by Bill Daniels, a true gentleman who defined integrity–is poised to carry on the important work ahead.

“Without fail, the local and national companies I have worked with over the years who strive to treat their employees, their customers and all their stakeholders with the highest levels of integrity, respect and proactive consideration, are the ones who weather the bad times and have the higher levels of financial success and employee retention when good times return,” said Ron Ausmus, principal and founder of Integrity Associates, the CEBA board director and speakers’ bureau chair.

“Tough times reveal the strength of the ethical infrastructure and organizational culture built by the founders and maintained by the keepers of the flame.”

Jeff Rundles is a former editor of ColoradoBiz and works with the Unleaded Group. Peter Feather is the executive director at CEBA. To learn more, visit www.ceba.org. volume 5 issue 1

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Collaboration Close Up

Vail Veterans Program Holds Another Successful Ski Program

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ince, 2004, the Vail Veterans Program has been transforming military injured and their families through individualized, world-class outdoor programs building confidence and life-long relationships. In January 2013, the Vail Veterans Program hosted 28 veterans, 28 guests and five staff from the three major military hospitals. In fact, 14 of the 28 veterans who attended have suffered multiple-limb loss. “That family experience is essential to getting wounded vets back on their feet,” said Tiffany Smith, a therapeutic recreation specialist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

The Vail Veterans Program participants include United States military personnel who have been severely injured while serving our country. Most veterans who participate in the programs come directly from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland; Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas; and the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, California.

The program hosts two winter events that include downhill skiing, snowboarding and cross-country skiing for wounded warriors and their families. Staff Sergeant (SSG) Matt Keil says, “I was shot in the neck by a sniper in Iraq. I am now a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair. I attended the Vail Veterans Program with other disabled veterans. For a brief time, we felt free from our injuries and were able to heal by sharing stories. The program showed us

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that no matter what happened in our lives, we could tackle anything we wanted and that our personal sacrifices will never go unnoticed and are deeply appreciated.”

“The Vail Veterans Program helped my whole family. I can’t put it in words to explain how good it felt to see my family enjoying life after I almost lost mine,” declared SSG Robert Henline.

Since its inception, the Vail Veterans Program has hosted more than 1,000 soldiers and their families in their program entirely free of charge thanks to donors, volunteers and the Vail community. “Even though I don’t participate on the mountain, working with our vets at Denver International Airport are some of the most inspiring days of my year. They remind me how very blessed I am to live in this country,” said Jan Mazotti, president and editor-in-chief of ICOSA. Corporal Mark Litynski believes, “The week in January was life changing for me and for so many others!”

To learn more about The Vail Veterans Program, visit http://vailveteransprogram.org/.

Collaboration Close Up

Colorado Gives Day Raises a Record $15.7 Million

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n December 4, 2012, Colorado Gives Day, presented

by Community First Foundation and FirstBank, broke a oneday giving record with $15.7 million in donations pledged to 1,240 Colorado nonprofit organizations.

This special day of giving allowed more than 69,000 donations to be made. Donations ranged from $10 to $200,000, with one donor giving $44,000 to 96 different charities.

Colorado Gives Day is an initiative to increase philanthropy in Colorado through online giving.

GivingFirst.org, an online portal created by Community First Foundation, accepted all donations.

ICOSA media also did its best to support the nonprofit community that day by hosting its live radio program from Pizza Fusion, a social enterprise operated by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. During the live two-hour show, ICOSA’s Driving Force Radio partnered with Angel Tuccy and Eric Reamer of the Experience Pros Radio Show to share the stories of 14 organizations making a significant difference in our communities.

What’s more, ICOSA media live-streamed interviews with 27 additional nonprofit organizations throughout the day at its production studios in Denver. The interviews–held with donors, executive directors and program recipients– showcased the work being done in

Colorado Gives Day is an initiative to increase philanthropy in Colorado through online giving. these various organizations to give viewers and donors a more in-depth and personal view of each.

“It was a great day of giving and learning. For nonprofits to raise awareness of social value is imperative,” said Maria Luna, the chairwoman for Good Ideas for Cities, a program of AIGA Colorado.

ARZU Studio Hope’s Masters Collection Unveiled

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RZU Studio Hope’s Masters Collection features rugs designed by six influential and prominent architects: Frank Gehry, Michael Graves, Zaha Hadid, Margaret McCurry, Robert A.M. Stern and Stanley Tigerman.

Each custom rug is handwoven by teams of highly skilled artisan weavers.

This unique collaboration between iconic modern architects and rural Afghan weavers elegantly embodies the marriage of high design and traditional techniques. The Masters Collection consists of 10 modern rugs in varying sizes and color schemes, and each piece will is a custom, limited-edition, numbered piece.

The collection of beautiful rugs was unveiled in a special public exhibition and private event at the Bank of America Center in Houston, Texas. To further promote the sale of these handcrafted pieces, ARZU has partnered with Coalesse, a premium-furnishings brand that delivers progressive home and work solutions.

With its belief in a holistic approach to sustainable poverty alleviation achieved through artisan-based employment that empowers women, ARZU is helping women

earn fair labor wages by weaving exquisite hand-knotted rugs at home Social benefit and change is created by providing grassroots access to vital education, health care, clean water and sustainable community-development programs.

Central to ARZU’s approach is the social contract with weaver families. To be a registered ARZU weaver and receive fair labor wages and bonus payments, families must agree to send all of their children under age 15 to school full time and to have women in the household attend literacy classes.

When ARZU first began its literacy classes, most attendees could not even sign their names. Seven years later, women have progressed at a remarkable rate. ARZU now teaches grades 1–4 and received approval from the Ministry of Education to include fifth grade, the only non-governmental organization in Bamyan Province to receive this approval. Now, women can gain confidence by learning to read and by becoming financially self-sufficient.

To order one of the striking rugs or to learn more about the work of ARZU Studio Hope, visit http://arzustudiohope.org.

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Collaboration Close Up

Senator Alan Simpson Urging Us To Fix the National Debt Simpson Visits the South Metro Denver Chamber

» Senator Simpson and Jan Mazotti

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he July-September 2012 issue of ICOSA addressed the criticality of passing a national budget and addressed a major crisis–the budget crisis. We argued that little else defines the current generation of politicians except partisanship and bickering sound bites. As we witnessed in the recent Republican and Democratic National Conventions, the air was filled with animosity, anger and backstabbing. It was an “us versus them” mentality–focused squarely on that which divides rather than that which unites.

In late January 2013, former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson met with business and community leaders in Centennial, Colorado, to urge citizens to use their skills to pressure

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“Our defense budget is $740 billion. The defense budget of the top 17 countries on earth, including Russia and China, combined is only $540 billion.”

- Alan Simpson

elected officials to pass a bold, balanced and bipartisan deficit-reduction plan and to mobilize support for the Fix the Debt campaign.

Simpson, along with Erskine Bowles, chaired the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform whereby members crafted a plan to reduce the federal deficit by $4 trillion, stabilize public debt by 2014 and reduce the nation’s debt by 60 percent by 2023. Though holding much promise, the Simpson-Bowles plan, called The Moment of Truth, did not get congressional approval, yet has been the foundation for the majority of national budget strategies since it was presented in December 2010.

Senator Simpson started with a few jokes but then jumped right into the heart of the problem. He reminded the crowd that the national debt currently exceeds $16 trillion and continues to climb every day. He said that the Social Security program carries a $900-billion annual negative cash flow, and Social Security disability insurance as it stands will be gone because of overuse.

Next, he switched to defense spending and stated, “Our defense budget is $740 billion. The defense budget of the top 17 countries on earth, including Russia and China, combined is only $540 billion.”

During his talk, he reminded the group, “It’s not an issue of how we got here; it’s what do we do about it now.”

Said Simpson, a Republican, “You sent guys like me “You sent guys like me to Washington to bring home the bacon, and if we didn’t, we didn’t get reelected... and we all made promises we couldn’t keep, and that’s pretty much where we are today.”

Speaking to the younger crowd about the upcoming vote by Congress to raise the debt ceiling, he said, “Hang on, because when March comes, we’re just gonna kick the can down the road.” He then warned, “If any 30-year-old can’t figure out what’s gonna happen to them when they turn 65, they don’t need any help from me.

They are gonna get creamed.” Inaction is not an option.

To learn more about these issues or to get engaged, visit www.fixthedebt.org or www.thecankicksback.org.

Collaboration Close Up

Operation Respect’s Peter Yarrow Holds Free Concert to Help Newtown Move Forward

Relief For Sandy’s Furry Friends

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he impact of Superstorm Sandy isn’t over. Not by any stretch. Thousands of people are still without homes, trying to recover from losing everything.

When people are displaced, they don’t get much say in what they get to bring with them … or leave behind. In many cases, families had to leave their pets behind. Now, months later, their pets are still waiting.

Nassau County put together a shelter in an old gymnasium in response to the emergency. More than 500 animals have passed through the doors. Today, they’re down to 125. Some animals were

I

n a free concert to uplift this town scarred by a December 14 shooting rampage, Francine and David Wheeler, whose son, Ben, was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, performed Sunday, February 10, with Peter Yarrow. Yarrow, a member of the renowned Peter, Paul and Mary trio and founder of Operation Respect, performed with other notable musicians including Dar Williams and Guy Davis and his daughter, Bethany, who is half of the group Bethany & Rufus.

The concert, held at Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, Connecticut, was attended by first responders, local residents and families who lost loved ones in the shootings. It was about “restoring the heart and soul of a caring community,” said Yarrow, who lives in Manhattan and formulated the idea for the concert with Newtown resident Rick Brodsky, a psychologist and music producer. “The concert should give the community a sense of comfort and solidarity,” Yarrow said.

Newtown is still struggling to move forward nearly two months after gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their Sandy Hook home and 20 children and six adults at the school before committing suicide there.

Yarrow says the concert and the calls for societal change after the shootings

reunited with their owners, when their owners were able to find pet-friendly living situations.

Other pets transferred to foster care, with hopes of returning to their forever families. Most situations are still temporary. The shelters were underfunded to begin with and certainly unprepared for the influx of displaced animals.

While this situation is truly heartwrenching, there are some amazing ICOSA friends whose hearts are bigger than we could imagine. JAKKS Pacific, a Los Angeles toy company, through its JAKKS™ Cares program, donated four pallets of pet supplies to go to the shelter in Long Beach, Long Island, New York. Often, donations like these are faced with prohibitive transportation costs–but big hearts intervened.

CAP Logistics, ICOSA’s sister

are akin to civil rights marches in the 1960s. “We don’t want Newtown to be remembered as a place where tragedy occurred, but the place that is the genesis of real change in America,” says Yarrow, whose nonprofit group, Operation Respect, promotes child development free of bullying, ridicule and violence.

At the concert, Yarrow introduced Guy Davis, whose parents, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, were actors, civil rights activists and close friends of Martin Luther King Jr. Davis is a blues musician dedicated to reviving the traditions of acoustic blues with original songs and stories, songs of former blues musicians and African American stories. “Having Guy appear at this concert is a closing of the circle,” said Brodsky. “At the (civil rights) March on Washington in 1963, Peter, Paul and Mary were there on the Mall with Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee.” Yarrow says he was at the concert “to help–not to lead.” He said the concert and many Americans’ movement for change since the December 14 tragedy “could be the ignition of the commitment to really look at ourselves and see we’ve become heartless and greedy. We have to reclaim our humanity, because that’s what the nation desperately needs.”

company, arranged the transportation of this 1,700-pound donation through Land Air Express.

Land Air offered to move the shipment from LAX to JFK at no cost, doubling the generosity of JAKKS Cares.

CAP operations specialist, Lori Mantia, says, “We have an innate responsibility to help people.

Many there have lost everything– their homes and the personal effects of their entire lives.”

This isn’t the first donation CAP has helped deliver to the hurricane victims. Mantia, a native New Yorker, headed a donation drive that resulted in a truckload of cleaning supplies, food, tools, clothing and toys that arrived in Long Beach in time for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The team at CAP Logistics also helped coordinate another

shipment of toys from JAKKS Pacific to Long Beach, so parents would have a chance to “shop” for free before Christmas. Each of those shipments was moved at a greatly reduced cost or gratis.

There are more ways to help.

The Nassau County Emergency Pet Shelter is looking for more volunteers to foster pets until their owners can take them back; especially cats. If you can help by sending gift cards for pet-supply stores or a donation of any kind, contact emergencypetshelter@gmail.com.

Any support is welcome.

We would like to express profound thanks to JAKKS Cares for the pet supplies and to Land Air Express for their part in transporting the latest donation. Your kindness is changing lives and CAP Logistics and ICOSA are proud to partner with you. volume 5 issue 1

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thank you

Would Like To Thank The Following Friends For Their Inspiration

Looking to the FutuRe

buSineSS in RuSSia A Guide for Planning Ahead

a FatheR’S JouRneY Walking in Daniel’s Shoes

education R eFoRm The Best Bang for Our Buck

FRom tHE BAttLEFIELD to BuSInESS

KnOw YOUr neXt MOve

GEoRGIA o’KEEFFE – PG 90 –

RichaRd “dick” Young

(left) Rear Admiral (Ret.) and Chairman of the Colorado Committee of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR)

Shane Schmutz

(middle) Army veteran, Bronze Star recipient, West Point graduate and founder of Veteran’s Passport to Hope

Deborah A. Palmieri

AlloSource

Dick Fleming

Chris Pelley

Colin Angle

Gail Frances

Pizza Fusion

ARZU Studio Hope

Patrick Gaston

Suzanne Pletcher

John Boner

Stephanie Guthrie Boilini

Pythagoras Solar

Howard J. Brown

John Hofmeister

Maureen Quaid

Ben Bryan

Lida citRoën

Eric Reamer

Martha Butwin

Honorary Consul General of Russia in Colorado

JD Chesloff

Kim Huntley

Jeff Rundles

Lida Citroën

Polina Hryn

Shane Schmutz

City of Fort Collins

iRobot

Senator Alan Simpson

Adam Cohen

Diane Irvin

Steve Sorensen

Colorado Ethics in Business Alliance

JAKKS Pacific

Colorado Gives Day

Cheryl Jensen

South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce

Community First Foundation

Elizabeth Kolodny

Michele Steckel

Anna Conrad

Alan J. Krause

Dr. Richard Steckel

Consumer Energy Alliance

John Krohn

Jason Stephens

Jennifer Cook

Vladimir Kush

Cristin Tarr

Jim Czepiel

Larry Langley

Judith Taylor

Kelly de la Torre

Sherry Manning

Angel Tuccy

Denver Art Museum

Lori Mantia

Gary Uba

Keith Detweiler

Tom Mauser

Connie Duckworth

Mona McConnell

University of Colorado at Denver Domestic Violence Center at the Schools of Public Affairs

Enca Farms

Milestones Project

Vail Veterans Program

Etiquette Vintage Design

MWH Global

Jennifer Van Fleet

Experience Pros Radio Show

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Western Union Foundation

Peter Feather

New Mexico Business Roundtable

Peter Yarrow

FirstBank

Operation Respect

Richard Young

(right) Principal LIDA360

Pa An tR Int ic erv k Ie g ww a It St h o n

robots as Solutions

Amy Fischer

AmeriCAn ArTiST

Lida Citroën helps veterans transition to the civilian workforce by refining their personal brand – PG 40

BEyonD SCIEnCE FICtIon

Adams Industries

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE KNOWING YOUR NEXT MOVE Volume 5 Number 1

4120 Jackson Street | Denver Colorado 80216 | www.icosamag.com

108

volume 5 issue 1

Candace Ruiz

CAPITAL INTELLIGENCE. CAPITOL INSIGHTS. Patton Boggs’ Energy and Natural Resources Group A proud supporter of ICOSA

Eric Drummond 1801 California Steet Suite 4900 Denver, CO 80202 303.894.6131 edrummond@pattonboggs.com

Water is

LIFE!

Dedicated to providing CLEAN WATER and sanitation to the people of Malawi, Africa freshwaterintl.org

FRESHWATER Project International