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Vermont State Employees Credit Union Works to go Green

From “The Bottom Line,” e-newsletter of the Vermont
 Small Business Development Center, January 15, 2008

The VSECU has been working to serve the financial needs of its members-owners in Vermont for over 60 years. In 2006 the VSECU Board of Directors developed a mission statement communicating the credit union’s commitment to their philosophy and impact related to environmental stewardship. Steve Post, CEO of the VSECU, said, “The first steps towards helping our members understand the environmental impact of their decisions was to more completely understand our own operations.”

They relied on the Vermont Business Environment Partnership (VBEP at: www.vbep.org), a joint program of the VtSBDC and the VT-ANR for assistance. “We’ve all heard the ‘foot print’ jargon and we needed somebody with the right expertise to show us exactly where to begin this process,” said Steve Avery, who is responsible for all VSECU facilities. To determine their environmental impact, an “environmental opportunity assessment” was conducted with VBEP staff at each of the 7 credit union branch facilities, some of which are leased and some that are owned by VSECU.

All energy use was evaluated including some of the biggest energy consumers like heating, AC and lighting, and smaller energy users like computers and copiers.

Additionally, all purchasing decisions, air emissions, waste water discharges and waste (solid and hazardous) from their operations and maintenance were evaluated for opportunities to reduce these impacts to the environment.

According to Steve Avery, the VSECU is just beginning to uncover the opportunities to change their business habits, “and The VBEP has provided us with the assistance we needed to get this process started.”

VSECU Facilities Manager Steve Avery (left) and CEO Steve Post