Economic push for environment honored

Sustainable Northwest recognizes companies that tie together concern for the environment and economic development.

When Sustainable Northwest was created 14 years ago, founding chairman Cecil Andrus says, the idea that concern for the environment could be tied to economic development raised some eyebrows.

But, the former Idaho governor says, things have changed.

"Now," Andrus says, "you have the economic community talking to the environmental community about how to increase value added."

Both companies being honored by Sustainable Northwest with the award that bears Andrus' name have pushed out the market for sustainable products. Celilo Group Media and Jefferson State Forest Products were to be honored Friday night with Sustainable Northwest's Cecil D. Andrus Award, which recognizes the companies' efforts in sustainable entrepreneurship, stewardship, innovation and education.

Customers of Whole Foods Markets have seen - whether they realize it or not - the work of Jefferson State Forest Products. Using wood from responsibly managed forests, the company creates fixtures for produce, bakery goods and other retail displays.

Jefferson State is based in Hayfork, Calif., a rural community next to the Trinity Alps. The company's sustainability philosophy, said chief executive officer Jim Jungwirth, means finding a way to work - and live - within the forest.

"It's based upon reality that rural communities have to reestablish a positive relationship with the forest," he said. "We deal with a philosophy of place. We have to live there."

Jefferson State Forest Products did a little over $3 million in gross sales last year. What began with just Jungwirth on the business side and master craftsman Greg Wilson on the research and development side has grown to a 4O-employee outfit. The company was also the first bought by Upstream 21, a Poftland venture capital fund that focuses on sustainable enterprises.

The growth, Jungwirth said, is based on the growing willingness of Whole Foods and other grocery stores to embrace their fixtures.

"We've been able to show them that the products we make out of these kinds of raw material are good for their business," he said. "... We have customers who believe that a knot, or a knothole, is not a bad thing."

Creating customers for products like Jefferson State's is key for the other honoree. Founded in 1999, the Portland-based Celilo Group Media publishes Sustainable Industries Journal, sustainable product coupon-book Chinook Book, and clean energy news service nwcurrent.com.

The dynamic of the sustainable market has changed dramatically, said Celilo Group Media president and CEO Nik Blosser, from the publications' early years.

"We went from being, I wouldn't say irrelevant, but seven years ago, we clamored for attention," he said.

Sustainable Industries Journal's monthly readership is now at about 12,000. The launch of Chinook Book in Northern California's East Bay area - where the group also has offices - puts the coupon book's total circulation at 100,000.

"We feel like we're reaching a different level," Blosser said.

A recent Portland office move meant an opportunity for the group to walk the talk. The new space, at Southwest First Avenue and Yamhill Street, was built out following the framework of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Commercial Interiors standards.