Announcements

September 30, 2008

Co-op America Soon to be renamed
GREEN AMERICA!

Green America - members chose it!

Last year, the Co-op America Business Network became the Green Business Network , laying the foundation for the new organizational name, Green America.

A new name but the same mission
Our name will change, but our mission will remain unchanged: to harness economic power – the strength of businesses, consumers and investors – to create a just and sustainable world.

Let's Talk About it
You're invited to join Alisa Gravitz, Co-op America’s Executive Director, and Denise Hamler, Business Network Director, for an online chat about the name change:

October 3, 2008:

1:00 p.m. Eastern
12:00 p.m. Central
11:00 a.m. Mountain
10:00 a.m. Pacific

The link for the online chat is: http://www.coopamerica.org/tools/chatroom.cfm

Password: gbnuser

You will need to enter a screen name of your choice.

Please read more about the new name at:

Read more »

Green Business Conference: Register Now and Save $200!

This gathering of Green Business Network members and progressive business leaders couldn't be more timely. With an economy in crisis, business owners need tools to not only survive, but thrive.

Join us November 12-13, at the 7th annual Green Business Conference at The Hotel Whitcomb in downtown San Francisco (prior to the Green Festival.)

Topics include:

The State of the Green Economy
Raising capital
Effective marketing
Responsible sourcing
Much more

Featuring Burt’s Bees founder Roxanne Quimby; Joel Maokower, Author, Strategies for the Green Economy, GreenerWorld Media and GreenBiz.com; Tom Szaky founder and CEO of TerraCycle; Seth Goldman TeaEO of Honest Tea; and eBay’s MicroPlace founder Tracy Pettergill Turner.

Read the Full Program and Register »

With the economy in trouble, can you afford NOT to learn from successful fellow business owners?

Amelia Royko Maurer told us, “I came to learn how to take my business to the next level in management and innovation…" and "a group of experienced business people gave me about $5,000 worth of info in just 15 minutes.”

Lara Pearson who runs her own law practice told us, “It was the best conference I’ve ever attended!”

Read about past conferences »
Register now! »

Welcome Amy Belanger as the new GBN Deputy Director

As the Green Business Network continues to grow, so does the team that supports its members.

Join me in welcoming Amy Belanger as Co-op America’s Green Business Network Deputy Director.

Amy is a social entrepreneur with 20 years' nonprofit leadership experience and five years’ experience as a socially responsible business owner.

The company she retired to join us, Idealist Communications, provided public relations, marketing, web development, and events management to progressive organizations.

Her management and consulting experience is diverse: Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour, Gentle Strength Co-op, Earth Day Network, The Green Party USA, Student Environmental Action Coalition, Gulf Coast Environmental Defense, and Nader for President 2004, among others.

Amy is also owner of a socially responsible shopping site, www.idealistgifts.com. She is an award-winning journalist and fiction writer, and contributed to the newly released book, Guerrilla Marketing on the Front
Lines, by Jay Conrad Levinson and Mitch Meyerson.

Amy can be reached by e-mail or phone: (202) 872-5317.

Talk to Amy and other staff and business members in the Lounge»

Green Festival Goes to Denver

This month Co-op America held the Denver Green Festival KICK-OFF event that drew over 125 city officials, progressive business leaders, the non-profit community and activists.

Mayor John Hickenlooper was on hand to endorse the Green Festival, saying, “Denver is proud to be the next city to host a Green Festival….Denver is creating safe, healthy, sustainable communities and strong green initiatives…and the Green Festival is a terrific place to bring it all together."

Learn more about Green Festivals»

Reserve Your Space at the Green Festivals

If you want to be part of the ever-growing green marketplace at the upcoming Green Festivals™ please call now - spaces are filling up.

To reserve a booth space at the Washington DC and/or San Francisco Green Festival, call
877-727-2179 x300.

The spring cities go on sale in October – Seattle, Chicago, Denver!

Green Festival Website

The new Green Festival website has launched! It is home to all the information about past, present and future festivals, including thousands of hours of GreenFest Live! With over 60 video and 230 audio recordings of speakers. Also featuring hundreds of Co-op America Green Business Network members who have been part of the festivals.
Visit» www.greenfestivals.org

This is an opportunity for your products and services to be embraced by tens of thousands of customers at this fall’s events in Washington DC and San Francisco - and next summer's events in Denver and Chicago. Now in our 7th year, Co-op America and Global Exchange's Green Festivals™ is the nation’s premier green event.

E-mail: exhibit@greenfestivals.org or
Phone: 877-727-2179 x 300
Web: www.greenfestivals.org

Holiday Gift Guide Advertising on Sale

Holiday shopping starts in November, and that's when our members receive their first copy of our Holiday Green Gift Catalog.

The Guides are a big hit with business members. Melissa Schweisguth of Dagoba Chocolates says, "It has become one of our best performing web ads to date."

Contact Chip Py, Green Business Development Coordinator, to make sure your ad reaches our more than 100,000 individual members.

Chip Py, Green Business Development Coordinator:
202-872-5315

Have you joined the conversation ?

Hundreds of Green Business Network members are networking and sharing business strategies on the newly redesigned Green Business Network Lounge – our B2B social networking tool.

To join email Desiree at desiree@coopamerica.org

GenGreenLife.Com Partnership Serves Local GBN Businesses

We are excited to announce our new partnership with GenGreenLife.com – with added benefits for Co-op America members!

Gen Green Life is an online resource that helps people find green businesses, products and services in their local communities in 354 cities across America.

Co-op America’s Green Business Network members will receive a FREE basic listing in the Gen Green Life directory and can display their Co-op America Seal of Approval . Businesses with the Seal of Approval will appear at the TOP of the listings – a great benefit!

This is a great opportunity for GBN members to connect with consumers on a local level!

To take advantage of this new benefit visit, www.GenGreenLife.com.

Charisse McAuliffe, founder and CEO of GenGreenLife.com, and sharing her experiences raising capital. (Workshop is Nov 13 at 4 pm.)

Questions can be sent to Desiree@coopamerica.org

World of Good

WorldofGood by eBay is Launched

Co-op America is a Trust Provider

The new WorldofGood.com on eBay has launched – and dozens of our business members are already selling on the site. The initial press has been amazing with over 371 press hits in one week.

Co-op America has been selected as one of the ‘trust providers’ – which means that our approved Green Business Network members are eligible to sell their products on the site. To learn more about how to feature your products, visit the site’s Seller Center.

World of Good staffers will be at our San Francisco Green Business Conference introducing the new benefit (Presentations will be made throughout the conference on Nov 12-13.)

Visit World of Good by eBay Seller Central»

People’s Choice Nominations

Co-op America members have spoken and have nominated their favorite green businesses for Co-op America’s annual People’s Choice Award. The winning business will be awarded at the San Francisco Green Festival.

This year’s nominees include:

Alter Eco, Babyworks, Frontier Natural Products, Gaiam, Inc., Kate’s Caring Gifts, Mountain Rose Herbs, Mountains of the Moon, Pizza Fusion, We Add Up and West Paw Design.

Vote»

Red and Blue Come Together to Green America

Good politics needs facts and real solutions. Since we're a non-partisan nonprofit, you won't hear us endorsing political candidates—but we do provide them with what they need to address key green issues. To learn more on the issues associated with advancing social and economic justice, community, and environmental health check out our web site.

Learn more»