NEWSRELEASE
For Release: April 20, 2005 “Green” Ice Cream Helps Celebrate Earth Day Every Day Is Earth Day For Small Business WASHINGTON, D.C. - Quietly and with little fanfare, small businesses across
America are celebrating Earth Day in their own unique way. For Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream of Lynnwood, Wash., this year’s celebration
includes the manufacturing of “green” ice cream. The firm joins thousands of
small businesses who make every day Earth Day by consciously bringing
environmentally friendly techniques to the manufacturing of their signature
products. Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream brings environmentally friendly practices to its
manufacturing of super-premium ice cream. Its new manufacturing plant is
partially heated by freezers that recycle the heat they generate. In addition,
landscaping around the building allows Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream to reduce
both its water runoff and potential noise pollution. Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Thomas M. Sullivan thinks that Snoqualmie Gourmet
Ice Cream is a classic case of environmental thinking among small businesses.
“Snoqualmie shows that nobody cares more for the environment than small business
owners and their employees. They are good stewards because they live, work, and
play in the same community where their business is located. They know their
neighbors hold them accountable for keeping the community healthy and clean,” he
said. Sullivan also stresses that small business innovation helps to protect the
environment. “Office of Advocacy economic research indicates that small
businesses innovate at twice the rate of large businesses. Their innovative
practices often yield environmentally friendly products and technologies,” he
said. A growing number of these environmentally innovative small businesses,
nicknamed green gazelles, are creating products that are both efficient and
environmentally sound. Some examples of their innovative products are found at
Contact: John McDowell, (202) 205-6941
john.mcdowell@sba.gov
SBA Number: 05-19 ADVO
Press Kit
Advocacy’s economic research also shows that the majority of homebased businesses -- which are 53 percent of all small businesses --are sales and service-oriented, with little potential for environmental harm. Small businesses rely increasingly on computers and the Internet to reach their markets as well, thus reducing their neighborhood impacts.
When these businesses grow and create jobs, they remain environmentally friendly. Just ask Carlos Herrera, president of Herrera Environmental Consultants of Seattle, Wash. Started in Herrera’s small apartment in Seattle, the firm now has over 80 employees and $10 million in revenue. The firm works on cutting-edge environmental solutions to engineering design problems.
One challenge faced by the firm was on a U.S. 101 highway crossing over the Hoh River in Olympic National Park. Herrera’s firm designed barriers that not only protected the highway, but also protected fish habitat.
“Small businesses are the leaders in environmental stewardship,” said Sullivan. “The efforts of Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream and Herrera Environmental Consultants are examples of small businesses leading the way in environmental stewardship.”
Sullivan continued, “As spring brings us to another Earth Day, it is worth reflecting on the many contributions that small businesses make to a healthy environment. It’s time that we celebrate their success, and I can’t think of a better way of doing that than with a dish of ‘green’ ice cream.”
The Office of Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats and it funds research into small business issues.
For more information, visit the Office of Advocacy web site at www.sba.gov/advo, Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream at www.snoqicecream.com, and Herrera Environmental Consultants at www.herrerainc.com.
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The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent voice for small business within the federal government. The presidentially appointed Chief Counsel for Advocacy advances the views, concerns, interests of small business before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, federal courts, and state policy makers. For more information, visit
www.sba.gov/advo, or call (202) 205-6533.