More Breakout Sessions
The 10th Annual Wisconsin Sustainable Business Conference will present a variety of breakout sessions in both the morning and afternoon. These breakout sessions give attendees the opportunity to get detailed information from experts in the state. Each session will start with no more than 30 minutes of presentation from a panel, and then the moderator will open the session up to questions from the audience. It is generally during this open part of the session that really timely and valuable information is shared. This year, we are fortunate to be able to offer at least 5 breakout options in both the morning and afternoon, making for difficult choices for the attendees.
This session will feature speakers from Whole Trees Architecture and Structure, Alliant Energy and Essity discussing and explaining the process of different sustainability certification schemes available today. Businesses often hear about becoming LEED certified or how to go about becoming a B Corp and this session is aimed at answering these questions. The speakers all have experience undergoing a sustainability certification scheme and are here to offer their experience and advice. If your business has ever considered undergoing one of these certification, then this session is perfect for you.
Carrie Schuster Carrie Schuster currently serves as the Marketing Manager - Sustainability and Hygiene, for Essity. Her position is focused on promoting the company’s sustainability and hygiene messaging for the Tork products in North America. She offesr customers a consultative approach to develop programs to partner with them in achieving their own sustainability goals through zero waste, closed loop recycling and composting.
Amelia Baxter Amelia Baxter co-founded Whole Trees with Roald Gundersen in 2007, as a response to the national attention received by Gundersen’s use of un-milled timber as a structural resource. Baxter leads her executive team toward both scale and innovation. Baxter has over a decade’s experience in market development, HR, and operations in numerous agricultural and land management projects. Throughout her career, Baxter has specialized in managing short and mid-term systems to reach long term goals, while attracting talented teams that build organizational capacity and successful momentum. She has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, speaks fluent Spanish, and has worked internationally with thought leaders in the Responsible Business movement. When left to her own fancies, she can be found gardening, biking, and mushroom hunting.
Lindsay Motl Lindsay Motl is the Fuels Optimization Manager at Alliant Energy. Alliant Energy was recognized in 2016 as a “Green Master,” the highest level in the Green Masters Program, established by the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council. Motl will discuss her experience undergoing the Green Masters certification. She received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire.
Project Nutmeg: a Kohler Design for Environment Exercise A Design for Environment Exercise, teaches the basic principles of sustainable design and how to integrate Design for Environment (DfE) into your day job to make products and processes better- even if “sustainability” isn’t in your job title. Participants are grouped in teams and asked to consider what sustainability (people, planet, profit) improvements they can make at each phase of a nutmeg grinder’s product life cycle. Once the product or its function is redesigned, teams present their solution and justification for the choices they made in an eloquent elevator speech to the “client.” Whether you are an engineer, designer, supply chain manager or operations professional, Project Nutmeg will demonstrate how DfE can improve the sustainability position of any product or process you design.
Industrial Energy Efficiency
The session will explore how to discover and accelerate your energy savings by using other cost factors other than energy (for example materials and labor) to gain collateral energy savings. We will explore the relationship between productivity, throughput, material yields, scrap and rework and improved energy intensity. The participating panel members from small and mid-sized manufacturing companies will present their case studies that including solar installation, operation and maintenance along with their daily monitoring and measurement.
Ben Perreault
Ben has been a Sustainability Specialist for the Wagner Companies since January of 2015 following his graduation from UW-Oshkosh, majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Sustainability Management. He has worked on many environmental improvement, waste reduction, and energy efficiency projects since starting at Wagner, most with ROI’s of two years or less. He actively manages the chemical inventory and SDS library to ensure compliance with the EPA, City of Milwaukee, and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. Ben also responds to all customer information requests involving Conflict Minerals, RoHS, LEED, REACH, California Prop 65, etc. Most recently, Ben lead the project to develop a functionally equivalent ISO 14001 Environmental Management System.
John M. Davis John Davis is the Continuous Improvement Manager for Letterhead Press in New Berlin, Wisconsin. He has been with Letterhead Press for 12 years. John graduated with a BA from Cardinal Stritch University and received a JD from John Marshall Law School. His current areas of responsibility include lean manufacturing, energy and sustainability.
A. J. Gordon
A. J. Gordon is CEO of Gordon Aluminum Industries, Inc., a third-generation producer of extruded and fabricated aluminum parts with about 150 employees located in Schofield, Wisconsin. Gordon Aluminum was founded in Hudson, Michigan in 1958 by A. J.’s grandfather, Alexander Gordon, and was moved to Central Wisconsin by A. J.’s father, Jack, in 1970. A. J. returned to the business in 1999, after graduating from St. Olaf College and University of Minnesota Law School. In 2004 he took over as president of the company and led Gordon Aluminum through a number of large strategic changes in the company’s business. He has steered the company successfully through a series of challenges including a major fire in 2008, the “Great Recession”, the death of A. J.’s father in 2011 (when A. J. assumed the role of CEO), and the largest capital project in the company’s history in 2014/2015. He offers a unique perspective on the obstacles that small to medium sized businesses face, and the resources available to overcome them.
We hope to see you in December!
