by Alison Lueders, Great Green Editing
Here’s the eighth post in our series about local companies that have achieved the City of Tampa’s Green Business Designation. This week we highlight Bayshore Solutions, a premiere web marketing and website development firm. Bayshore Solutions has been in business since 1996 and received their designation in 2012.
Sustainable Practices
As a creative and technical services business, Bayshore Solutions inhabits the digital domain of websites and the Internet. The nature of their business is such that they don’t face the same sustainability challenges as a manufacturer of physical products.
And yet the company really goes the extra mile to maximize their sustainable practices. These include:
Being as paperless as possible
- They keep most records – from client work to financial records – in electronic form. There are very few file cabinets at Bayshore Solutions.
- They make client presentations digitally, rather than presenting on paper. According to Kim McCormick, Bayshore Solutions’ Director of Corporate Marketing, a single customer progress report meeting typically involves a 15-20 page report to several people. Given that there are multiple meetings with current and prospective customers every day, the amount of paper saved over the course of a year is enormous.
Working with clients over the Internet
- Bayshore Solutions has clients in 54 countries around the world. Rather than meeting in person – with all the travel and greenhouse gas emissions that entails – they use tools like GoToMeeting and Skype. They build client relationships digitally, and reinforce them using other web-based tools like blogs, newsletters and social media.
Reducing energy consumption
- They only use Energy Star-rated equipment for computers, servers etc.
- Bayshore Solutions worked with their landlord to install motion detectors in the office. When no one is present, the lights automatically shut off.
- The building has programmable thermostats to reduce heating and cooling usage overnight and on weekends.
- All equipment is programmed to “sleep” or shut down after a period of inactivity.
Growing with sustainability in mind
- In their latest office expansion and face-lift, Bayshore Solutions opted for refurbishing existing cubicles and workstation areas, and purchasing pre-owned additional furnishings to support the growth and avoid waste.
Business Results
While Bayshore Solutions doesn’t preach about its green efforts, it reaps the rewards of:
- Significantly lower costs for energy, travel, paper, postage and storage.
- Faster transactions with clients by using digital signatures to sign contracts and statements of work. This allows Bayshore Solutions to work at Internet speed, rather than the speed of the Post Office.
Looking Ahead
- Bayshore Solutions has aggressive growth plans in 2013 and into the future. Through this growth, they continue to look for opportunities to use sustainable, green elements whenever feasible.
- One example is their ongoing choice to move to a more “virtual” hosting infrastructure, as their own equipment ages out. This reduces their energy and equipment footprint.
- As employee equipment expires, the company is moving all employees from workstations to laptops. This reduces space and energy needs and enables better remote access.
For more information about the Green Business Designation Program, contact Janet Harrison at 813-470-5055.