By Constance Beutel

WE’RE GETTING READY TO LAUNCH the second free offering of the Sustainable Benicia: Green Business seminars Thursday. This incredible series is made possible through the generous funding of the Valero-Good Neighbor Steering Committee Settlement Agreement, the approval of the City Council and the recommendation of the Community Sustainability Commission.

While talking with Lauralee Barbaria and Nancy Roberts, two faculty members of Dominican University (more about each of them in a bit), I suggested that I would go back to the video I took of the concluding 2011 session from the first offering of this series and pull clips for our first session this Thursday. The reason for my “homework” assignment is to give the current enrolled participants an idea of some of the action plans developed by the first graduates, so they could start thinking of how best to leverage the substantive business content of the series into action within their own businesses and professional lives.

What struck me in going back over the video from 2011 is just how effective those plans — and how committed the presenters — were in turning ideas into reality. I’ll start with the extraordinarily talented Elena Karoulina, Benicia Community Gardens executive director, whose action plan covered several areas. One of these was to introduce a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm to Benicia that would provide healthy, organic food to our community and support local agriculture. As a member of the Terra Firma Farms CSA who receives a weekly delivery of organic vegetables and fruit, I personally am a beneficiary of her vision and action.

Boxes loaded with fresh, affordable organic fruit and vegetables are delivered weekly, and the cost is truly comparable to — perhaps even a little less than — what I would spend at the grocery store. Without question, I am eating so much better and healthier since I joined!

Back in 2011, Larry Lamoreux also presented an action plan related to sustainable food consumption and production that envisioned a video series titled, “What’s for Dinner?” He saw the need to facilitate the education of our community in understanding the issues about genetically modified organisms in agriculture, the essence of preserving our nurturing soil, overfishing, and more. If you’ve been following The Herald’s Community Calendar announcements, you know the “What’s for Dinner?” series was recommended by the Community Sustainability Commission and approved by City Council for funding and action last year, and that the videos and discussions at the Benicia Public Library were a big success!

Michael Paric, who helped start the Green Business Committee at the Benicia Chamber of Commerce, presented an action plan that established a bicycle valet service — then put it into action, with local companies supporting the printing of a banner and funding the bicycle “corral” where cyclists who bicycled to a Benicia community event could park and have volunteers keep an eye on their bicycles. You may have seen it in action during the 2011 Arts and Crafts Fair.

I myself presented an action plan for the Community Sustainability Commission’s Education and Public Outreach work group that included putting on the first Benicia CleanTech Expo in 2012. Other action plans were specific in addressing operations and business concepts, and I’ve seen some of those other plans in various iterations around the community.

There is still time to register and participate in Sustainable Benicia: Green Business. It’s free and the highly regarded Dominican University of California puts it on. Here are the instructors:

Lauralee Barbaria is associate director of the Environmental Finance Center West (EFCW) at Dominican, which supports projects that are instrumental in building resilient communities and businesses that adapt to and thrive in the face of tomorrow’s environmental, economic and social threats. Lauralee’s previous role as Green MBA Program director, combined with 25 years of corporate executive experience, help her match student goals and interests with opportunities.

Nancy Roberts has more than 20 years’ experience in marketing and public relations, communications and project management for mission-driven organizations. Nancy has worked as a consultant, writer and teacher in green and social marketing and systemic thinking, and she was part of a team at Dominican’s Environmental Finance Center that created a “Guidebook of International Environmental Finance Tools” for the United Nations Development Program. As a freelance consultant and associate with Gigantic Idea Studio, she consults on sustainable communications strategies to promote environmental programs and behaviors.

What: Sustainable Benicia: Green Business Seminar workshops, covering topics: “Sustainability: Making the Case for Business”; “Lean, Green and Clean: The Design Revolution and the CleanTech Sector”; “Green and Social Marketing Tactics and Strategies”; and “Action Plans: Profit, People, Planet.”

Where: 370 East L St., Benicia Community Center

When: Five sessions on Thursdays: Jan. 31 and Feb. 7, 14, 21 and 28, from 5:30-8:45 p.m.

How: Benicia residents or owners/employees of Benicia businesses are admitted first; email cmbeutel@sbcglobal.net for information.

Next week: Trash to treasure

My sister, Roberta, has sent me a stack of information from the Minnesota sustainability front . . . and they are making money from sewage. There may be gold down there in our wastewater treatment plant!

Constance Beutel is a member of Benicia’s Community Sustainability Commission. She is a university professor and videographer and holds a doctorate from the University of San Francisco.