Preserving Our Natural Resources for the Future

Harold "Gus" Frank is being recognized as a Champion of Change for his work demonstrating that corporate environmental leadership makes sense, both for business and for American communities.

The Forest County Potawatomi Community (”FCPC” or the “Tribe”) is guided by a fundamental belief in protecting Mother Earth and ensuring that future generations will have access to clean air, water and land.  This philosophy has led FCPC to become an environmentally proactive tribe and take a pragmatic approach to ecological stewardship.

Over the past several years, FCPC has implemented a number of energy efficiency initiatives to significantly lower its energy usage and reduce its carbon emissions. Since 2007, the Tribe has reduced its energy usage per gross square foot by 12 percent and reduced their corresponding carbon emissions by more than 20 percent. These efficiencies have significantly lowered both the Tribe’s energy costs and its environmental footprint.  It has eliminated more than 14,400 tons of emitted carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 2,560 passenger vehicles, or the CO2 emissions from the electricity use of 1,630 homes for one year.

Sustainable Farming for Global and National Food Security

Chad and Jodi Ray are being recognized as Champions of Change for their work demonstrating that corporate environmental leadership makes sense, both for business and for American communities.

You want children and their parents to value the family farm lifestyle and farmers? We must educate, educate, and educate some more why sustainable farming is so important to our world food supply.

Ray Family Farms of Bunn, NC markets their products directly to the consumer. We produce Animal Welfare Approved beef, pork and eggs. We also grow vegetables and raise poultry. The only family farmer poultry processor in our state is not AWA approved -- that is the only reason our poultry is not. We raise delicious, healthy, and nutritious food from “conception to consumption.”  Other than animal welfare, our farm is very committed to educating our customers and community, promoting environmental stewardship, and utilizing wildlife enhanced farmland. 

The history of our family’s roots here in Franklin County, NC are as deep as a 200’ pine tree. The history of our farm however is not. It is less than 35 years old. Our parents' generation was really the first to ever accumulate land assets. We come from a long line of “dirt” farmers -- dirt farmers were all the people around here who lived off the land. All of their income and the food they ate came from the patch of land they were working. Most of the time that involved working other peoples' land -- sharecropping.  My mother and her family moved 14 times in 16 years while she grew up as a sharecropper. Our parents will leave us our farm that was purchased in our lifetime. That is a very powerful responsibility knowing our ancestors worked hundreds of years to give us the opportunity to make something great out of a farm handed down to us.

The Synergy of Core Values and a Robust Bottom Line

Karen Trilevsky is being recognized as a Champion of Change for her work demonstrating that corporate environmental leadership makes sense, both for business and for American communities.

I am an entrepreneur, who happens to run a successful bakery. It is a great honor to be recognized as a Champion of Change for Corporate Sustainability, especially given the current business and economic climate in our country. With this recognition, it’s my hope that more business leaders embrace the synergy and benefits of leading your business from a set of core values and more consumers demand values-driven products and services. 

Like most start ups, I began my baking business with very few bankable resources: vision, passion and copious amounts of sweat equity. The baking day began at 3 p.m. in a shared kitchen and ended at 2 a.m. when the dilapidated pickup truck was loaded and deliveries began. By 10 a.m. the last delivery was made, new orders taken, supplies ordered and I was able to grab a few hours of sleep in the restaurant’s stock room. We grew slowly. Yet, by 1995 we were providing fresh baked natural pastries to more than 600 accounts seven days a week. Today we are a proud team of 240 people, baking in a state-of-the-art facility and making our products available nationwide at more than 12,000 locations.