Going green in Howard County

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Jul 9, 2008 by Danielle Ulman

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman added another component to plans to make the county a "model green community," with the creation of a Green Business Council Tuesday.

The council will act as a conduit for businesses with environmental purposes -- like solar power, electronics recycling and organic dry cleaning -- to relay their needs to the county, and as a promotional tool to entice more green businesses to locate there.

"I want Howard County to be a place that is business friendly in general and that is friendly to the environment," Ulman said in an interview Tuesday.

"The fact that we have so many green businesses that are thriving in Howard County provides an opportunity to take us to the next level," he said. "I think the business council will be an avenue for networking and further growth of these companies."

Ulman said he was unsure of exactly what the council would do, aside from meeting several times a year and networking to see how the businesses can work together.

"They will be advocating to me what the county ought to be doing to nurture and draw businesses to the county," he said. "I'm excited, [although] I don't exactly know what will come out of it. They will be exploring how we can continue to move Howard County forward."

The council will be composed of Howard business leaders from the green sector, the Howard County Economic Development Authority and the Office of Environmental Sustainability. There are eight founding members of the council, but Ulman said he expects to have "dozens, if not more, of members in the next week or so."

Tuesday night's event at the Howard County Conservancy was held not only to publicize the creation of the new council, but to announce the merger of a green business in Howard with a larger outfit. Richard Deutschmann, CEO of Chesapeake Solar Inc., said his company has merged with Vermont-based groSolar, which recently installed a solar hot water system in Boston's Fenway Park.

The firm will be called Chesapeake Solar a groSolar company, and will remain in Howard, allowing Deutschmann to sit on the Green Business Council.

"What the county executive has been doing has been creating an increasingly ripe environment for doing green business in the state of Maryland and in Howard County," Deutschmann said.

Since Howard began offering tax credits for businesses and homeowners that installed solar energy, Deutschmann said his business saw a 1,000 percent increase. Now, Chesapeake Solar will serve as a hub for groSolar's expansion in the mid-Atlantic region.

"The founding member companies are growing rapidly," Ulman said. "I want them to be the next headquarter businesses in the county."

Ulman marketed the Green Business Council as the first in the state. Other counties in the state have adopted green building initiatives, but none have created a forum similar to the one in Howard.

The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce launched a Green Business Resource Center in April, and the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce introduced an Eco-Business Initiative in June, which will take a year-long look at prospects for environmentally friendly business ventures.