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Awards given to top 27 businesses, organizations that saved money
and cut carbon emissions. 

California Air Resources Board

Release 09-108
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2009
	  	  	
Stanley Young
916-322-1309
cell 916-956-9409
www.arb.ca.gov

California's best climate-smart small businesses recognized
Awards given to top 27 businesses, organizations that saved
money and cut carbon emissions

SACRAMENTO-The California Air Resources Board announced the
winners today of the state's first program to recognize small
businesses that have demonstrated exceptional success in saving
money while cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.

ARB Chairman Mary Nichols, ARB Small Business Ombudsman La Ronda
Bowen, and President of the California Small Business Association
Betty Jo Toccoli recognized 21 recipients of the Small Business
of the Year award, and six recipients of the Small Organization
of the Year award at a public ceremony held at 3 PM in the Byron
Sher Auditorium at the Cal/EPA building in Sacramento.

"California's three million small businesses are not only the
backbone of California's economy, they are a crucial part of the
state's efforts to fight climate change," said Nichols. "We are
proud to partner with them to work together for a healthier
environment and help improve their bottom line."

"These winners show how every small business can use
common-sense solutions that reduce waste, use less energy and
save money," said Betty Jo Toccoli. "I look forward to working
with the Air Resources Board to help other small businesses fight
climate change and improve their bottom line."

The CoolCalifornia Small Business awards program was established
to recognize small California businesses (with less than 100
employees) and organizations that have demonstrated leadership
and made notable, voluntary achievements towards reducing their
climate impact.

The CoolCalifornia Small Business of the Year awards recognize
businesses and organizations that have demonstrated exceptional
climate change management practices and climate change
communication. The Excellence awards recognize businesses and
organizations that have made significant efforts to reduce their
impact on the climate.

Recipients come from 23 separate cities. The award winners were
selected by judges from the state administration and small
business community from a competitive pool of over 100 applicants
from across the state.

Applicants took a variety of actions to save money while
reducing greenhouse gas emissions including installing compact
fluorescent lights or solar panels; supporting car pooling;
reducing waste and water consumption; telecommuting and moving
office locations to reduce transportation emissions; developing
business-specific climate action plans; and incentivizing
climate-friendly behavior with employee award programs.

The award program was created to help small businesses
participate in the implementation of AB 32, California's Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006, and the AB 32 Scoping Plan adopted
by the ARB in December 2008. AB 32 was signed into law by
Governor Schwarzenegger in September 2006 and calls on California
to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

More information on the awards program and the winners can be
found at www.coolcalifornia.org

LIST OF AWARD WINNERS

SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD

Bowman Design Group, Signal Hill * bowmandesigngroup.com *
Employees: 7
Bowman Design Group conducted a greenhouse gas inventory through
membership in The Climate Registry, developed a company-wide
sustainability plan, and reduced total greenhouse gas emissions
by 65%, with a corresponding cost savings of 30%.
.
Diamond D General Engineering, Woodland * ddge.net *
Employees:18
Diamond D General Engineering, Inc. went paperless for all
project documents, and purchased or rented energy efficient
equipment reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 350 tons per
year.

Numi Organic Tea, Oakland * numitea.com * Employees: 30
Numi Organic Tea uses ecological packaging, waste reduction
efforts; and an "eco-audit" printed on all cardboard tea boxes,
reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 235 tons per year.

Rent a Green Box , Costa Mesa * rentagreenbox.com * Employees:
17
The company's fleet is 100% bio-fueled trucks and it promoted
green employee practices and engaged in impressive outreach.
Reductions in 2008 reduced its carbon footprint by 160 tons.

Spirit Graphics, Chula Vista, * sgink.net * Employees: 12
Spirit Graphics relocated their facility closer to employees'
homes, and recycles 100% of their press plates and 90% of their
paper waste, saving 40 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per
year.

ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR AWARD

Ecology Action, Santa Cruz * ecoact.org * Employees: 55
Ecology Action, a nonprofit environmental consultancy developed
an internal Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and internal waste, increase energy efficiency and
develop employee education programs, reducing its carbon
footprint by 12.5 tons in 2008.

High Tech High Chula Vista, Chula Vista * hightechhigh.org *
Employees: 62
A new charter high school, HTHCV installed a 101 kilowatt solar
array that offsets 64% of the building's energy use, provides
parking spaces for fuel-efficient vehicles, and encourages
carpooling for students.

Irwindale Chamber of Commerce, Irwindale * irwindalechamber.org
* Employees: 3
The Irwindale Chamber of Commerce employed a variety of
innovations to significantly reduce paper use, and purchased a
range of energy efficient EnergyStar office appliances.

SMALL BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARD

Arya Cleaners, Chula Vista * aryacleaners.com * Employees: 23
Sustainable award-winning dry cleaner with numerous green
internal practices instituted staff education and training, and
customer services that benefit the community.

BlueStar Refreshment Services, San Jose *
bluestarrefreshments.com * Employees: 12
Refrigeration company that has made great strides to reduce its
environmental impact through recycling, re-use and energy
efficient cooling technology.

Blue Oak Energy, Davis * blueoakenergy.com * Employees: 26
Renewable energy provider that reduces greenhouse gas emissions
through a variety of practices including product choice,
renewable energy use and contributing to community outreach.

CenterStone Communities, Santa Ana * centerstone.com *
Employees: 12
Real estate development company committed to designing homes
that are more
efficient and gentler on the environment.

El Primero Boutique B&B Hotel, Chula Vista * elprimerohotel.com
* Employees: 3
Award-winning hotel that instituted a policy for wide-ranging
internal initiatives
and practices.

Hesperian Cleaners, San Lorenzo * hesperiancleaners.com *
Employees: 3
Dry cleaner that converted to a wet cleaning system and educates
others on the same
technology.

Lafitte Cork and Capsule, Napa * lafitte-usa.com * Employees:
17
Production facility that went solar, adopted energy efficiency
and sustainability practices and promotes
environmentally-friendly purchasing practices.

The Living Christmas Co., Redondo Beach * livingchristmas.com *
Employees: 20
Rents and delivers living trees to keep the holiday green and
environmental.

Meridian Pacific, Inc., Sacramento * meridianhq.com * Employees:
20
Campaign management firm that employs policies, practices and
management decisions to address climate change and environmental
responsibility.

Old Town Trolley Tours, San Diego * trolleytours.com/san-diego *
Employees: 75
Tour operator uses vehicles powered by alternative fuels for
tours, finished a complete lighting retrofit of their facility
(using on-bill financing) and promotes green employee practices.

Puroast Low Acid Coffee, Woodland * puroast.com * Employees: 17
Energy efficient coffee roaster that uses renewable walnut
shells as the roasting fuel.

Premier Auto Tops and Interiors, Santa Clara *
premierupholstery.com * Employees: 5
Upholstery company that reduced its environmental impact through
increased insulation, energy efficiency, recycling and product
re-use.

Resource Solutions Group, Half Moon Bay * rsgrp.com * Employees:
21
Consulting firm that adopted a suite of sustainability practices
for office operations and promotes environmentally-friendly
practices to customers.

San Diego Office Interiors, San Diego * sdoi.com * Employees:
36
Full-service firm that designs and builds commercial office
interiors committed to sustainable design and construction
practices and conducts outreach to customers.

Savory & Sweet Catering, Sunnyvale * savoryandsweet.com *
Employees: 13
Catering firm that implemented energy efficiency practices, as
well as recycling and transportation policies to reduce its
climate impact.

Waldeck's Office Supplies, San Francisco * waldecks.com *
Employees: 4
Green office supply firm that adopted sustainability practices
such as using wind power to offset electricity use, and set up a
community recycling center on-site for used batteries,
fluorescents, obsolete computer parts, and similar items.

ORGANIZATION EXCELLENCE AWARD

Cool the Earth, Kentfield * cooltheearth.org * Employees: 8
Organization whose mission is to educate children and families
about climate change and motivate them to take simple, measurable
actions to reduce carbon emissions at home.

Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco * ppic.org
* Employees: 65
The PPIC built their business to be LEED/Energy Star, adopted
sustainability business practices for office operations and
promotes alternative transportation.

Sustainable Silicon Valley, San Jose *
sustainablesiliconvalley.org * Employees: 2
This organization initiated a multi-stakeholder initiative to
improve Silicon Valley's environment and resource conservation
through the development of a regional environmental management
program.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and
protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through
effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and
considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air
pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain
health based air quality standards.

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