Sustainability Program to Improve Local Business Profitability

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Tampa, FL (January 24, 2014) Environmental sustainability and business profitability go hand and hand. With that, The Sustany® Foundation, in collaboration with Tampa Downtown Partnership, is launching a newly developed 12-week program, pairing up college student specialists with local businesses aimed at educating businesses on how to become more sustainably focused.

Participating Downtown Tampa Businesses:
• Bamboozle Café and Bamboozle Tea Lounge
• Anise Global GastroBar
• Duckweed Urban Market
• Renaissance Planning Group
• Sunny Side-Up
• Zudar’s Deli
• City Bike Tampa
• Moxie’s Cafe
• Malio’s Prime Steakhouse
• 22squared

Why: The business case for sustainability is well-proven. Long term growth strategies are inseparable from social, economic and natural resource concerns. Benefits include:
• Cost reduction and operational efficiencies
• Lower employee turnover and retention of talent
• Competitive differentiation

“Tampa Downtown Partnership is driven to create a more sustainable downtown business community. Together, with the Sustany® Foundation, ten of our downtown businesses will develop and implement their own sustainable business practices.”
– Christine Burdick, President, Tampa Downtown Partnership

“Our community is on the cusp of sustainability. I am excited to work with a local business to build their awareness about the benefits of sustainability practices.”
– Christine Arenas, USF Global Sustainability Student – paired with Moxie’s Café

“Sustainability is important to our clients and us.” – Lisa Cuscaden, 22squared

“We want to have a positive environmental impact and source locally but the program also stressed cost-savings which is important to us because we do not want to pass costs onto the consumer,” – Sing Xuan Hurt, Anise Global GastroBar

Program Details:
Each participating business is matched with a student from University of Tampa or USF Patel College of Global Sustainability based on their professional experience and course of study. The program includes three workshop meetings and weekly one-on-one assistance by student specialists, public surveys, analysis of waste for recycling strategies, and City of Tampa Green Business Certification. The value of a sustainability specialist’s time for the 12-week program is over $1,600, while the cost to the business is only $99.

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About The Sustany® Foundation
The Sustany® Foundation, founded in 2007, promotes sustainability in Tampa Bay. Sustany® supports sustainable practices through education and community engagement, enhancing economic prosperity, environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Sustany® leads local initiatives including the Sustainable Business Program for the City of Tampa, the Comm[YOU]nity volunteer connection, and the annual Sustainable Buzz. The Sustany® Foundation serves as a catalyst for innovative individual, organizational and community efforts that will improve life in Tampa Bay now and into the future. Visit Sustany®.org.

About the Tampa Downtown Partnership
The Tampa Downtown Partnership (TDP) is a private, membership based not-for-profit 501(c)6 comprised of companies, organizations and individuals with a common goal of advancing Tampa’s Downtown. Through an annual contract with the City of Tampa, the TDP administers the Special Services District. In addition to Tampa’s Downtown Guides and Clean Team, the TDP serves downtown through marketing, business development, transportation, advocacy, planning and beautification. For more information, visit www.tampasdowntown.com.