Western City, the monthly magazine of the League of California Cities, has acknowledged the accomplishments of Benicia’s Business Resource Incentive Program (BRIP) in helping Industrial Park companies operate more sustainably.

The magazine noted in its July issue that the Industrial Park, the largest development of its type in Solano County covering more than 3,000 acres, gives the city one of its greatest opportunities to address greenhouse gas emissions.

Economic Development Manager Mario Giuliani told the publication that the park has generated more than half the city’s General Fund revenue prior to the severe recession.

The financial downturn not only increased vacancies to 20 percent, it also caused decreases in sales and property taxes, accompanied by job and business losses that hampered efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in compliance with California’s laws, Giuliani said.

In support of the park’s companies, he said, the city developed and launched a program in 2013 that provides them with free energy and water usage assessments and recommendations on increasing efficiencies in both areas.

In addition, BRIP provides grant funding and low- or zero-interest loans to help those companies pay for those recommended changes, Giuliani said.

“The concept for this program came from input and support from the Benicia Industrial Park Association, Benicia Chamber of Commerce, Solano Economic Development Corporation, Solano County Green Business Program and Pacific Gas and Electric Company,” he said.

Because Benicia had little extra money in its General Fund to use for the project, city officials successfully sought Valero-Good Neighbor Steering Committee settlement agreement money from Community Sustainability Commission grants that were approved by the City Council.

Giuliani said the results, in both greenhouse gas reduction and savings for companies, were evident nearly immediately. In recognition of its success, the city program received the League Partners Award for Excellence in the City-Business Relations category of the 2014 Helen Putnam for Excellence Award program.

In 2012, it won the International Economic Development Council Gold Award.

One of the first participants in BRIP was Dunlop Manufacturing, which manufactures music industry supplies, including guitar picks.

Giuliani said the BRIP resource assessment found significant leakage in Dunlop Manufacturing’s air compressor system that powers about 50 small industrial machines.

Using a $10,000 BRIP grant and PG&E On-Bill Financing, Dunlop modified its system, significantly increasing efficiency, reducing electrical use and netting the company an annual savings of almost $26,000 — and an emissions reduction of 15.2 metric tons annually.

Another participant, Alfred Conhagen Inc. of California, repairs rotating equipment and provides engineering services, industrial fabrication, pump upgrades, field service and structural assemblies for power plants, refineries, chemical plants, sugar mills, agriculture sites and water and sewer plants worldwide.

Herb Forthuber, general manager, said BRIP gave his company the “financial encouragement” to accomplish the advice he got after the assessments.

“I’m a hero to my employees for installing new, bright warehouse lighting that comes on quickly,” Forthuber said. “And our monthly utility bill is significantly less, which makes me a hero at our corporate headquarters.”

Signal Solutions, a small data and audio-video installation business, used a BRIP grant and loan as well as federal tax credits and $1,292 in PG&E rebates to install new factory and warehouse lighting and a roof-mounted, 13.2-kilowatt solar system.

The modifications will save the company nearly $5,000 each year in utility costs, while Benicia will see a 4.28-metric ton decline in greenhouse gas emissions.

Giuliani said other companies in the Industrial Park have similar stories. In less than three years, 29 businesses are saving about $225,000 annually, he said, while Benicia’s greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by more than 500 metric tons annually.

With a state mandate to reduce water use by 25 percent, Giuliani and his staff are focusing on water reduction and reuse projects, and said one company is seeking a $25,000 BRIP grant to underwrite removal of existing grass and replacement with drought-tolerant landscaping. Another is looking at reusing water at its plants.