Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Development of a Model Pollution Prevention Diffusion Partnership for Small Business
EPA Grant Number: R824747Title: Development of a Model Pollution Prevention Diffusion Partnership for Small Business
Investigators: Forsythe, Randall D. , Wickliff, Alisa B.
Institution: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: October 1, 1995 through September 30, 1997
Project Amount: $180,000
RFA: Incentives and Impediments to Pollution Prevention (1995) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Sustainable and Healthy Communities , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development
Objective:
This grant successfully piloted a model for a pollution prevention diffusion partnership directed at small businesses. The initial research premise for the model was that small businesses in metropolitan statistical areas are not well served by state pollution prevention offices and do not receive adequate pollution prevention diffusion and technical assistance. Our model was designed to test and evaluate a regional pollution prevention partnership for increased pollution prevention diffusion targeting small businesses in a major metropolitan statistical area (MSA).At the center of this model is the Environmental Assistance Office for Small Business (EAO) initiated at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1994. The operational goal for the EAO is to provide multimedia pollution prevention assistance to small businesses located in a 13-county, 2-state MSA surrounding Charlotte, NC. The Environmental Technology Initiative (ETI) grant ADevelopment of a Model Pollution Prevention Diffusion Partnership for Small Business@ was awarded in 1995 and enabled us to pilot pollution prevention technical assistance activities to meet our operational goal.
The three major grant activities undertaken as part of our grant were the: (1) development of a regional pollution prevention (P2) network, (2) development of a AGreen Star Business@ program, and (3) implementation of a small business P2 Challenge Grant Program. Each component is described below.
Component A: Development of a Regional P2 Network. The overarching goal of the network is to continually identify and broaden the network through regional partnering to better publicize our services and assist small business clients. One of the challenges to developing a regional pollution prevention technical assistance office with limited resources in a MSA is to extend the office=s reach through the many other organizations and agencies located in an urban MSA. Because of the density of population in urban MSAs, there are a number of organizations and agencies that provide community services. These organizations and agencies commonly located in urban MSAs serve as a base from which pollution prevention technical assistance can build. The EAO has been able to piggyback on the activities and networks established by a number of these organizations and agencies, as described below. We were able to provide value-added services to existing programs or share costs for our assistance activities with these agencies, keeping EAO=s costs lower. Through our urban pollution prevention network, we were able to create a more effective program using less resources by tapping into existing regional urban service organizations and agencies. There are three components to the development of a regional P2 network: (1) teaming/partnering, (2) marketing/publicity, and (3) workshops.
1. Teaming.
As a regional model for pollution prevention diffusion, we have identified key partners necessary to the success of a P2 diffusion network. In an urban MSA, typical key partners include university outreach offices like the cooperative extension service; community colleges, especially those that have technical schools such as graphic arts, etc.; regional environmental regulatory agencies; trade associations; and business groups such as local chambers of commerce and manufacturer=s associations. To illustrate successful networking, a few of our P2 partners and the ways in which we effectively share resources are listed and described below.
Mecklenburg County Department of Environmental Protection (MCDEP): The MCDEP serves as a county environmental regulatory and monitoring agency for air, water, and solid waste. MCDEP has financially supported and sustained the EAO office since its inception.
Charlotte City Storm Water Services: Storm Water Services will be contracting with the EAO to provide technical assistance to businesses and industries. The City Storm Water Services is required, as part of the their NPDES, to improve surface water quality through a proactive outreach program.
NC Cooperative Extension Service: The NC Cooperative Extension Service located in Gaston County has worked with the University on a number of regional environmental projects. Our work has included pollution prevention workshops; educational programs; and onsite P2 visits to small businesses representing autobody shops, textile plants, and dye manufacturers in conjunction with their countywide Wellhead Protection Program.
Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC): Community colleges represent one of the main educational avenues for individuals entering technology-based trades. We have worked with CPCC staff to present and sponsor two pollution prevention workshops for printers and to incorporate pollution prevention into their semester Ink & Paper course required by all graphic arts majors.
Water Quality Coalition: Through the participation in the Water Quality Coalition, a community-based stakeholders coalition, the Office has cooperatively worked to create a regional program to educate community members on water quality issues.
The Printing Industry of the Carolinas, Inc. (PICA): Working with trade group representatives is one of the most effective ways to reach a specific high-priority industry group. We have identified printers as a high priority P2 target in the Charlotte area. PICA has worked with us to develop a regional pollution prevention booklet for the printing industry and is working with us to develop a survey instrument to assess the usefulness of the booklet to printers. We have cooperatively conducted printer pollution prevention workshops and co-sponsored printing teleconferences with PICA, CPCC, and the NC Small Business Ombudsman Office.
2. Marketing.
The goal of program marketing is to seek community avenues for marketing pollution prevention. P2 marketing involves the preparation of Aadvertising@ material and also its dissemination in the community. To date, the Office has tried a significant number of marketing products and avenues to distribute P2 information.
We have successfully established a regional presence through the creation and dissemination of a number of publications including an environmental P2 Quick Reference Card; P2 articles in Air Waves, a regional newsletter prepared by the Mecklenburg County Department of Environmental Protection; P2 fact sheets; a Pollution Prevention Booklet for Printers; and a pollution prevention calendar mailed to 20,000 households in the greater Charlotte MSA. These products have been distributed via direct mail to small businesses, through the news media and workshops as well as through community-based distribution such as the regional environmental regulatory office.
3. Workshops.
Workshops are an essential component for regional P2 delivery. Workshops build foundations for effective communication and action. Mutual trust and respect emerge from the workshops and offer new bridges for P2 activity. We have conducted two annual workshops and cooperatively conducted a printer pollution prevention workshop that addressed environmental regulations, health and safety, and pollution prevention activities specific to printers. The office staff also participates in the annual air source meeting for Mecklenburg County. This meeting is held once a year to present air regulatory information and pollution prevention opportunities for the 300+ permitted sources in the County.
Component B: Development of a AGreen Star Business@ Program. There were three stages of research to develop the AGreen Star Business@ Program. Phase 1 of the research solicited input from the Pollution Prevention Advisory Board (PPAB) on the value, methods, and likely success for the Green Business Program in our region. Phase 2 of the research, based on the advice of the PPAB, implemented a number of specific investigations for the purpose of developing a plan of action that could be successfully and cost effectively implemented. These investigations included a national survey of piloted green business programs as well as surveys of three business sectors in our region. The surveys assessed the feasibility of various green business strategems. Both nationally and regionally, the results of these surveys indicted a low viability for a direct business promulgated plan of action. This resulted in directing our efforts at a client- or consumer-based approach to promote green business.
Phase 3 was designed to further investigate this approach. We developed and distributed an environmental calendar focused on pollution prevention through green consumerism to 20,000 households in this region. Each month of the year included a photograph and provided a lesson on an environmental topic. The topics included energy conservation, chemicals and households, dining and lodging, and recycling and solid waste. Each subject included a lesson and several practical pointers derived from the lesson. The calendar viewers were presented with five questions related to the topic each month. Answers were provided to allow the viewers to grade their knowledge of the subject matter. For those seeking additional information, Internet addresses were included. Survey cards were included in the calendar to assess if a consumer would support green businesses and a technical assistance office for pollution prevention diffusion. The results of the survey are discussed below under Summary of Findings.
Component C: Pollution Prevention Challenge Grant Program. This program was designed to investigate the value of a P2 Challenge Grant Program in overcoming the technical and financial barriers to implementing pollution prevention in small businesses. Through a pilot regional competitive grant program, we researched the benefits and the challenges of our program. Since 1997, we have awarded 11 pollution prevention challenge grants to small businesses in the greater Charlotte area.
Grants were funded in two categories: (1) audit+ (including a sound economic analysis), and (2) alternative technology implementation. The program targeted small businesses, providing only seed money (up to $2,000), and required a 50 percent matching or in-kind contribution. Each facility was visited by office staff at the initial phase of the project. Each facility was required to prepare a final report prior to receiving final payment. These case studies have been evaluated and reviewed to identify cost accounting assessment for either the technology or the proposed activities set forth in the audit+ evaluation.
The P2 Challenge Grant Program was promoted by three mass direct mailings to regional small businesses with coinciding media releases that targeted 2,300 small businesses in the region. Over a 2-year period, this program marketing generated over 100 general responses and requests for information; and 60 attendees for P2 workshops netting 11 grant awardees over an 18-month period.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Development of a Regional P2 Network. Maintaining a P2 Network through partnerships and program marketing is elemental to a successful regional diffusion program. This time-consuming work is crucial to a successful outreach program. Creating strong partnerships in a time of limited nonprofit dollars is key in the development of successful regional P2 outreach programs. As community-based solutions become more commonplace for environmental problem solving across the nation, intracommunity P2 programs need to be established to have the appropriate setting for small business involvement.Development of a "Green Star Business" Program. The Green Star Business Program was the most challenging component of the program. Many businesses and industries in other parts of the country have begun to recognize the value of being Agreen.@ Some have come to realize that creating wastes, energy, lost raw materials, or byproducts is an indication of inefficiency and higher production costs. An efficient industry is not only more environmentally responsible, but also has competitive advantages over its less efficient competitors. Despite these conflicting observations, our regional research indicates that the two primary reasons for a small business to be Agreen@ are to: (1) avoid or reduce environmental restrictions, or (2) because consumers demand Agreen@ products and services. Additionally, we concluded that the consuming public needs reliable information about what constitutes a responsible consumer. They need information on how to evaluate businesses and their products and services on an environmental impact scale. Cost savings aside, it is apparent that a green business can only be as green as its consumers. Thus, our green business initiative was strategically redesigned to educate and promote green business clients.
To investigate a green business approach, we distributed a calender with an enclosed survey instrument to 20,000 households with a 0.75 percent return in the first 2 months. Respondents indicated that environmental concerns did affect their purchasing decisions, and were willing to pay more for an environmentally sensitive product. They also indicated that the amount and type of packaging affects their purchasing decisions, and that they read product labels for hazardous and toxic ingredients. They indicated that they would support an organization that provides technical environmental assistance to small business, yet the majority did/could not name a company worthy of an award for environmental stewardship.
Pollution Prevention Challenge Grant Program. Development and implementation of the Competitive Grant Program led to a number of interesting conclusions in light of the perceived inadequacies in the current national and state models for P2 diffusion programs. First and foremost of these inadequacies is that the majority of small businesses in the Nation are underserved in the current P2 diffusion models. We know well what the regulatory costs would be for American small businesses if they were all brought under the regulatory umbrella. Although small businesses may not contribute significantly to waste loads individually, collectively, small businesses have a great impact. Thus, P2 delivery to the small business community remains one of the most outstanding challenges to the country=s P2 efforts.
The P2 Challenge Grant Program was a one-time experiment to investigate whether or not small incentive grants would be effective in overcoming diffusion obstacles mentioned above. As a result of the Challenge Grant Program, we were able to identify or confirm three main perceived obstacles to pollution prevention diffusion to small businesses: communication, education, and cost.
1. Communication.
Our preliminary findings indicate that the P2 Challenge Grant program was extremely effective in making P2 more visible, within a regional framework, to small business. Our small, nominally funded program (with 50 percent match) provided an appropriate and essential avenue to motivate small businesses in the region to listen to P2 ideas.
2. Education.
- Currently, the educational challenges faced by small businesses are
underestimated in existing P2 delivery models. Our research indicates that the
level of P2 knowledge or literacy of small business operators is far below what
is needed to take advantage of existing P2 diffusion delivery programs. Three
observations that support this conclusion are: (1) the Office has worked onsite
with 45+ businesses representing a range of industries such as autobody,
printing, and dry cleaning to textile manufacturing. Few of these businesses
(less than 35 percent) have any technical understanding of the pollution
potential posed by the chemicals used at their facilities; (2) only one-third of
the 11 grant recipients were capable of fully completing their one-page
application for the P2 Challenge Grant Program (the form had been deliberately
simplified to a high school level of understanding); and (3) age demographics of
the workforce commonly found in small business operations also can limit P2
diffusion. Small business operations are typically supervised by middle to older
owner/operators posing a knowledge gap to P2 diffusion. It is not uncommon to
find that the employee charged with environmental overview is a semiretired
owner or operator at the facility.
3. Costs.
- The small, seemingly insignificant grant program has been one of the keys to
the success of this program. Few of the participants would have been engaged in
P2 activity were it not for the incentive grants. Based on advice from our
Advisory Board, we promoted a P2 audit+ for the top dollar cost of $4,000 per
facility. Our research points to the fact that those grant recipients investing
a 50 percent cost-matching have implemented P2 audit results. Subsequently, we
believe these companies are more engaged in their P2 audit results than those
facilities conducting P2 opportunities without cost matching.
Conclusions:
1. Development of a Regional P2 Network.
- The continued success of regional pollution prevention diffusion is due to a
strong and effective P2 Regional Network. The future success of a
self-sustaining regional P2 diffusion office will be due to the continued
financial and ideological support by our regional partners. With limited
nonprofit dollars, all regional offices must create a healthy, viable network to
effectively provide a P2 outreach program.
- The success of this Green Business Education Initiative will be measured by
whether or not it can be sustained by green business advertising for its
continuance. We continue to believe that the idea of a Agreen@ business program
is not mainstream. Grassroots approaches are probably the only regional means to
implement these programs via consumer-based education.
- We believe the small businesses that participated in the Challenge Grant
Program were successful in preventing pollution and in saving money. At this
time a total of $57,500 is saved annually by three of the grant winners; two
companies have not provided a cost assessment, and the remaining facilities are
assessing their annual savings. The reduction in pollution has been significant
as well. At this time, we are designing a Regional Challenge Grant Program to
continue pollution prevention diffusion to small businesses. We will seek both
regional governmental support as well as corporate support for the challenge
grant program.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 7 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
pollution prevention, case studies, challenge grant, green business, network, marketing, teaming, workshops, small business., Scientific Discipline, Geographic Area, Sustainable Industry/Business, cleaner production/pollution prevention, State, Economics, Social Science, waste reduction audit, small business, advisory board, challenge grant program, pollution prevention technology diffusion partnership, regional partnerships, product labeling, technical assistance, North Carolina (NC), pollution prevention, green star business programRelevant Websites:
http://www.smallbiz-enviroweb.org
https://www.epa.gov/smallbusiness
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.