Submitted by Tina M. Greco, Partnership Marketing Representative, Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT)
Going into last week’s “Greening Your Business, Sustainable Ideas for Every Company” hosted by the Chamber, I was not sure exactly what I would come away with. As a board member and representative of the Chamber’s Young Professional’s Network (YPN), my interest was different than that of the majority of the attendees in the room at the Loews Hotel. While I appreciated learning about Philadelphia’s vision and goals to become the “Greenest City in the U.S.,” the question that resonated most with me was stated by one of the panelists: “What’s our role to achieve the City’s vision?”
To me, the “our” refers to the young professionals throughout the Greater Philadelphia Region. The discussion on future business tax breaks and the value proposition that greening and sustainability will lead to for the City are very important, but again, I was drawn more toward learning about how my own personal efforts can lead to future public returns. Scanning the exhibitors in the room and talking to some of the business owners at the event, I began to realize that there numerous ways in which young professionals can support the “green” effort which they may not know about. All of the research and information gathered at this event will go into the planning for the Young Professional’s Network’s signature “Success in the City” event in May 2009, which will focus on our role toward helping the City of Philadelphia become the “Greenest City in the U.S.”
Click here to view photos from the event.
