Why A Green Business District?

The combined effects of the current economic crisis and the global warming crisis dictate that we look to innovative ways of behaving and thinking that will solve or alleviate the effects of both problems while preserving our planet, our communities and our families. Developing a Green Business District in Germantown is a bold, innovative step in that direction.

What is a Green Business District?

A Green Business District is a designated urban area set aside for Green businesses i.e., businesses that are energy efficient, have a minimal carbon footprint, produce and/or sell products and services that are consumersafe and environmentally friendly, and provide Green Collar Jobs accessible to neighborhood residents.

What are Green Collar Jobs?

Green Collar Jobs are blue collar jobs in green businessesthat is, manual labor jobs in businesses whose products and services directly improve environmental quality. The term was created by Raquel Rivera Pinderhughes, Ph.D., a professor at San Francisco State University. Green collar jobs are located in large and small for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, social enterprises, and public sector institutions. What unites these jobs is that all of them are associated with manual labor work that directly improves environmental quality.

Examples of Green Collar Jobs

1. Bicycle repair and bike delivery services 2. Car and truck mechanic jobs, production jobs, and gas-station jobs related to bio-diesel, vegetable oil and other alternative fuels 3. Energy retrofits to increase energy efficiency and conservation 4. Food production using organic and/or sustainability grown agricultural products 5. Furniture making from environmentally certified and recycled wood 6. Green building 7. Green waste composting on a large scale 8. Hauling and reuse of construction and demolition materials and debris ( C&D) 9. Hazardous materials clean-up 10. Green (sustainable) landscaping

Examples of Green Collar Jobs

11. Manufacturing jobs related to large scale production of a wide range of appropriate technologies (i.e. solar panels, bike cargo systems, green waste bins, etc.) 12. Materials reuse/producing products made from recycled, non-toxic materials 13. Non-toxic household cleaning in residential and commercial buildings 14. Parks and open space maintenance and expansion 15. Printing with non-toxic inks and dyes and recycled papers 16. Public transit jobs 17. Recycling 18. Solar installation and maintenance 19. Tree cutting and pruning 20. Peri-urban agriculture 21. Water retrofits to increase water efficiency and conservation

Initial Steps Toward Creating a Green Business District

Beginning in mid-November, students and faculty from the School of Architecture at Philadelphia University will begin work on concept designs related to Town Hall and the surrounding community. This work will be followed up in January, 2010, and through the summer of 2010 by other School of Architecture students and the same faculty members.

Plans for a Statewide Green Business District Network

The GGBA has engaged in a process to join with other small historic communities (The Germantown Avenue Business Corridor is a National Historic Landmark) around the state to form the Urban Ecology Communities Network (UECN). GGBAs strategic partners in this endeavor are the School of Architecture of Philadelphia University, along with Lafayette College, and the West Ward Ecology Project in Easton, PA.

Plans for a Statewide Green Business District Network

Network Participants will include Germantown, East Falls, the West Ward Urban Ecology Project of Easton, PA, the five Upper Schuylkill Historic Main Street towns, Ridgeway, and the Uptown section of Harrisburg, PA. The Networks goal is to create green collar jobs, unique Green Businesses as models for economic development, and the development of urban housing rehabilitation and weatherization projects that integrate Green building and historic preservation standards that are both practical and affordable to low and moderate income homeowners within the ambit of the Network.

Next Steps
Assist our members to Go Green Recruit national Green Business chains to locate in Germantown Encourage local and regional Green Businesses to relocate or place store branches in Germantown Play an active role in developing the Urban Ecology Communities Network.

Gre a te r Germ a nto wn Gre e n Busine ss Distric t