1. Building Sustainable Green Economic Development
Business Plan
5/30/09
Presented by:
Jim “Kimo” Storke
512-567-3165
jkstorke@gmail.com
2. TX Greenbelt Coalition Mission
The mission of the Greenbelt Coalition is to assist in the economic development of the cities in central
Texas, utilizing the Green Energy movement to create jobs, companies and green solutions for
residential and commercial customers.
Executive Overview
Background:
The coalition is made up of a group of concerned public and private companies which include utilities,
cities, higher education, private sector entrepreneurs, business owners and financial institutions.
The coalition was formed as a way to bring economic development to the Central TX region. The premise
is that green energy is here and the cities of Central TX need to be prepared to not only take advantage
of stimulus dollars, but to also build sustainable solutions which will continue to be standing once stimulus
dollars are gone.
The coalition’s aim is to facilitate public and private alliances and partnerships to green businesses, which
provide green energy solutions to residential and commercial consumers. Our goal is to work with cities
and utilities as a way to reach their customers and provide green energy solutions that the utility or city is
not providing, or to augment such services as applicable.
There are two end user customers, commercial businesses and residential customers. The solutions for
both may have overlap, but there will be specific solution providers for each target market, and the
solutions for each may come from one source or multiple sources.
3. Solutions will also include not so obvious elements. As an example, commercial businesses may require
professional services specific to their green solution. that may create a new division or spin-off business.
To do this the company may require services such as legal, accounting, marketing, sales, public relations,
human resources and operations. Therefore, the solution stack should be made of green solution
providers who can provide the a full spectrum of services and not just the obvious solutions such as
energy efficiency services or upgrades, building services, alternative power product providers, smart grid
companies and sustainability services.
Private Sector Solution
Stack to Green
Businesses
The coalition is about not only making a business/residence green, but creating new green businesses for
the Central Texas area or facilitating the growth of existing green businesses.
Objectives
The overall objective of the coalition is to develop and facilitate turnkey partnerships and solutions that
assist individuals and companies to improve energy efficiency, create employment opportunities, facilitate
partnerships with the private and public sector and to bring economic development to the Central TX
region.
The premise is that green energy is here and the cities of Central TX need to be prepared to not only take
advantage of stimulus dollars, but to also build sustainable solutions which will continue to be standing
once stimulus dollars are gone.
What makes the Coalition unique is the focus on the corridor of Central TX and the people and
companies that are involved in the project. The diversity of the Central Texas corridor demands that a set
of solutions be developed that cater to both the rural customer and the urban customer. To that end, a
quick look at the geographical features of the region showed that the resources available from the rural
areas supply abundant land and other resources for green energy projects. Projects such is solar farms
and anaerobic digestion, done as community sized projects or as utility sized projects are possible. A
confluence of these technologies combined with smart grid networks which are already in place from
some of the utilities in the area and enable a quicker rollout of these types of projects. Because the
region is smaller in its urban footprint, the integration of community size projects are also easier to
manage and make it easier to gain consensus to accomplish.
7/8/2009 Tactical Marketing Plan page 3
4. The innovation and technology from the Central Texas corridor typically comes from the urban areas, and
to a large extent Austin and San Antonio. Having the cities as the book ends of the corridor allow the best
of both worlds, the use of best of breed thinking, innovation and technology coupled with the close
proximity of the corridor and the land available make the coalition value proposition unique.
In addition to being centers of innovation, the cities of Austin and San Antonio are unique in their quest to
bring sustainability to Texas. In fact, the argument could be made that both cities are on the forefront of
this. The coalition’s aim is to unite the two as foundations for green solutions in both the urban and rural
areas of the Central Texas corridor.
The impact of the coalition will be felt by cities, utilities, businesses and ultimately the end users who are
the residents of these communities. The coalition’s aim is to partner with all of these entities to provide a
turnkey or one stop “shopping” experience for them to find whatever green solution they may need for
their business or residence. The other impact that the coalition will make will be directly to businesses
who offer these green services and to assist them in the evolution of their business to be a supplier to the
end users.
The coalition is not a group that will screen or make recommendations of which businesses an end user
will choose. That will be up to the end user. However, the coalition will showcase successes of those
businesses so that the end user can make a good decision based on their own due diligence.
Another large impact the coalition will make is to the cities of Austin and San Antonio. There is not a
group in the TX corridor whose purpose is to unite the two cities together; this is one of the main purposes
of the coalition.
The sustainability of the coalition will be dependent upon its ability to provide clear and concise guidance
for end users to procure green energy and green solutions. Furthermore, sustainability is also attained by
insuring that the coalition has the right type of partners that provide the turnkey solutions. As an example,
an industrial business wants to install solar panels on their building as part of an expansion. They may
need engineering assistance, solar installation services and products, financial assistance, and
architectural assistance. The goal of the coalition will be to provide a listing of vendors who have done
this type of work and to provide the case studies to validate the vendor’s work.
Sustainability will also be achieved as the coalition continues to be involved and partners with other sister
organizations such as the Austin Eco Network, the Clean Technology Forum from San Antonio, Austin
Energy, CPS, and the Pecan Street Project.
Strategy
7/8/2009 Tactical Marketing Plan page 4
5. The strategy of the coalition is to build public and private partnerships with utilities, governments,
schools and the private sector. In order to do this, partnerships must be formed around particular
solutions which will be implemented. In order to facilitate this strategy, work teams have been
created to work on different areas which need to be addressed related to the objectives of the
coalition.
The workgroups are as follows:
1. Survey work teams –
2. Solution work teams
3. Validation and perception work teams
4. Coalition steering committee
Each team is made up of volunteers from stakeholders in the region who have something to gain
from being part of the coalition. PEC, GVEC, the chamber of commerce of New Braunfels,
green energy entrepreneurs from Austin and San Antonio, the city of San Marcos, builders,
energy efficiency companies, sister associations such as the Clean Tech Forum of San Antonio,
Austin Eco Network and the Pecan Street Project.
Value Propositions
Each of the stakeholders or partners of the Coalition has a role and a value. The table below
illustrates the partner, role and value proposition the partner.
Partner/Customer Role Value Proposition
Cities of Central Texas Provide innovation and Gain jobs, revenue and economic
solutions, hubs for commerce development
and growth
Universities and Provide insight, training and Creation of new curricula and classes around
Colleges education to the new green “green” and growth of student base
workforce
State and Federal Provide funding via ARRA Gain jobs, revenue and economic
Government development
Utilities Act as the gateway for green Enhancement of standing as solution
solutions and provide green providers of green, comply with federal and
education to its customers state mandates to be greener for their
customers
By investing in green technology utilities are
creating long term energy price stability
7/8/2009 Tactical Marketing Plan page 5
6. Private Sector Solution Provide green solutions Growth of businesses, partnerships and
Providers commerce
Partnerships with new green companies (ATI)
which can be commercialized and out to
market
Texas Greenbelt Act as the facilitator and Assist in the proliferation of green to Central
Coalition promoter of the partners and Texas, be part of the bigger picture of green
the solutions for the globe
Businesses and Become Green Each person does their part in becoming
Residents green in their home and business, therefore
helping Texas be a part of the reduction of
fossil fuel consumption and being a wise
steward of the earth.
7/8/2009 Tactical Marketing Plan page 6