Entrepreneurs for Sustainability, abbreviated as E4S, is a business network in the Greater Cleveland

Greater Cleveland

Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...

 area oriented towards sustainability

Sustainability

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

 and entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response...

. The organization was founded in 2000 by Holly Harlan, owner of a business consulting firm in Cleveland Heights, with the goal of encouraging economic development and startup businesses oriented towards positive change and addressing environmental issues. Meetings are hosted by Great Lakes Brewing Company

Great Lakes Brewing Company

Great Lakes Brewing Company is a Cleveland, Ohio-based regional brewery and brewpub, which has been in operation since 1988. The brewery has been cited as important to Cleveland's local identity. As of 2010, it is the 22nd largest craft brewery and 31st largest overall brewery in the United States...

. The organization is growing, with 5800 members in 2008.

Sustainability-oriented startup companies associated with the group include BioDiesel Cleveland, Sustainable Solutions, a green building consultant firm, and Good Nature, a sustainability-focused lawn care service. Non-profit organizations associated with the group include EcoCity Cleveland (which has merged into the Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Cleveland Museum of Natural History

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum located approximately five miles east of downtown Cleveland, Ohio in University Circle, a 550-acre concentration of educational, cultural and medical institutions...

 as the GreenCityBlueLake Institute), Green Energy Ohio, and the Cleveland Green Building Coalition.

The organization awards a "Champions of Sustainability" award to regional leaders who have implemented principles of sustainability.

Services & Programs

In addition to their regular monthly meetings, Entrepreneurs for Sustainability provides a number of services to its members. One such program is called the Sustainability Implementation Group, which is oriented towards small and medium businesses, and gets companies to visit each other's facilities and learn about new technologies, with one goal being the formation of new revenue streams associated with sustainability. The group also received grant money in 2004 from the state of Ohio to hold workshops on energy efficiency

Efficient energy use

Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...

 in counties throughout northeast Ohio. In 2006, the organization received $20,000 from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation to build and strengthen its programs.

External links

• E4S Homepage
• Local Food Cleveland
• Zero Waste Northeast Ohio
• Biomimicry Northeast Ohio
• Green City Blue Lake - A sustainability-oriented event calendar for Northeast Ohio.