Along with jobs, Fort Meade growth brings traffic concerns

From the Baltimore Sun: Along with jobs, Fort Meade growth brings traffic concerns

Erosion Prevention in Ellicott City

From the Baltimore Sun: Howard moves to stem erosion, pollution in Ellicott City waterway

Urban Farming

The ABA has a great article on urban farming and the zoning issues that affect it:

http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/plowing_over_can_urban_farming_save_detroit_and_other_declining_cities_will

Green Tax Credits

Howard County is considering implementing tax credits for LEED certified homes. The Baltimore Sun reports:

Under the bill, owners of newly built homes that meet the "silver" standard in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED certification, awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council, could receive up to a 25 percent discount on their county property tax bill, while homes with the highest LEED rating could earn a 75 percent discount the first year.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED certification indicates that the building being certified achieves sustainability by meeting criteria in the following categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, locations and linkages, awareness and education, innovation in design, and regional priority. Buildings are scored on a scale of 0-100; the higher the score, the better the property meets sustainability standards under the LEED rubric. The resulting scores are then classified as silver, gold, or platinum.

The proposed tax credit in Howard County would provide homeowners who have achieved different levels of certification with different tax credits. According to the Sun,

"The legislation would give homeowners in Howard who have a LEED-certified silver rating a 25 percent tax credit. Those with "gold" certifications would receive a 50 percent discount, and "platinum" ratings would yield a 75 percent discount against county property taxes.... After the second year registering for the credit, a homeowner would have a 25 percent decrease each year, lowering their tax credit allotment. After four years, the credit would expire."

USGBC has a Maryland branch, which can provide individuals with more detailed information about LEED certification in Howard County.

Benefit Corporations, Benefit LLCs, and Marketing

In June, Maryland saw the creation of America's first benefit LLC, Clean Currents, a green energy company. Clean Currents was created under the recently passed SB 595, a follow up to the state's benefit corporation law passed last year. SB 595 was sponsored by State Senator Jamie B. Raskin (D-Mont).

Two weeks ago, Governor Martin O'Malley attended the inauguration of Blessed Coffee, a Takoma Park coffee shop. Blessed Coffee is a registered benefit corporation under the law passed last year. The company has pledged to allocate 50% of its net profits from wholesale revenue to social programs in Ethiopia's coffee growing regions, and 50% to community based organizations. O'Malley said of Blessed Coffee that “(i)t's a corporation that looks at not only the bottom line of profit, but also the bottom line of social responsibility.”

The Washington Post article, Takoma Park coffee firm holds 'Blessed' event, in quoting Raskin highlights one of the challenges the state has in encouraging benefit corporations:

“'The law allows community-minded companies to take the high bid,'    Raskin said.

The main benefit of the law, however, is as a branding and marketing tool. The community feels that it's a part of the business, and people are often willing to pay for products when they know the money goes toward groups and causes they support, Raskin said.” (sic)

Cause marketing can be effective. A 2010 study said that 41% of Americans have purchased a product in the past year because the product was associated with either a social or environmental cause. The same study said that 88% of Americans think it is acceptable for a company to involve a cause or issue in its marketing; contrast this to the Millenial Americans, of whom 94% think it is acceptable for a company to involve a cause or issue in its marketing. Additionally, Millenials use a company's support of social or environmental issues to determine other corporate interactions. 87% of Millenials use social and environmental causes as a benchmark to determine where to work. 79% of Millenials use the same benchmark to determine where to invest. As Millenials become more active participants in the marketplace, benefit corporations and benefit LLCs are poised to reap the benefits (pun intended).

Green jobs in Maryland

Last week, I read an interesting article in the Baltimore Sun entitled "Green jobs economy has hits and misses in Maryland". The article said that "(c)lean jobs locally grew 2.6 percent annually from 2003 through last year..." - a rate which is apparently indicative of an uneven pattern of growth for Maryland's green economy.

Maryland has made many efforts to stimulate the green economy. You may recall my blog a few weeks ago on the recent legislation pertaining to B Corps. Additionally, in 2009, Maryland created the non-profit Maryland Workforce Corporation to provide job training, which received a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration to benefit it's Mid-Atlantic Regional Collaborative Green Consortium.  As part of the grant, Maryland Workforce Corporation has a website called MARC Regional Green Jobs, which provides a posting board for employers to list green jobs that are available.

MARC defines green jobs as "jobs involved in economic activities that help protect or restore the environment or conserve natural resources". These jobs deal with renewable energy, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas reduction, pollution reduction and cleanup, recycling and waste reduction, agricultural and natural resource conservation, and education, compliance, public awareness and training. These jobs are expected to provide direct and indirect green goods and services, specialized inputs, and the distribution of green goods.

If you have questions on how green jobs can benefit your business, please contact our office.