Growing Chicago’s Green Business and Clean Tech Economy

$Growing Chicago\'s Green Economy$ Chicago is positioned to become the center of the green business/clean tech economy. On September 4th, ELPC co-hosted a high-level discussion about a vision and specific action steps that can help make Chicago a national green business center.

The conference, “Growing Chicago’s Green Business and Clean Tech Economy” was co-hosted with the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center at the University of Chicago’s Gleacher Center.

“Five years ago, if we said let’s get together a group of the green business leaders in Chicago, we might have filled up a small room,” said Howard Learner, executive director of ELPC in introductory remarks at the conference. “But now green business is part of a major change in the Chicago economy. We’re the headquarters city of five major wind companies. Consumers are saying that they want to buy products from businesses that are cleaner and greener.

“At ELPC, we’ve been saying for quite a while that it is a false trade off to say you can either have jobs or environmental progress. We believe that we can have environmental progress and economic growth together.

“We need to pull together the community of business, public policy and government and figure out how to make it happen,” Learner said.

Speakers included Sadhu Johnston, the City of Chicago’s Chief Environmental Officer; Michael Polsky, CEO of Invenergy LLC; and Tom Casten, chairman of Recycled Energy Development. Click here for the full event agenda.