Public-Private Partnerships Power Business Efficiency

Public-Private Partnerships Power Business Efficiency

You’d never know it driving by, but tucked into a nondescript warehouse district just south of town is an office and production space so airy and dazzling that it would turn heads in the hippest urban enclaves. The comfortable digs and lighting at Britten, Inc., are the result of several recent, major energy efficiency projects. They are making Britten’s workers happy, but the firm’s accountants are smiling, too.

Momentum builds for a regional energy plan

Momentum builds for a regional energy plan

The 88,000 people in Grand Traverse County spend $306 million a year on energy. Of those millions, 70 percent leaves the community-a huge tax and a drain on the people and the economy of the region. But what if we dedicated ourselves to making sure more of that money stays in the region? What if we embarked on a deliberate plan to cut back on those energy costs, capture the energy that’s being wasted, and invest in new energy sources locally? Those were the questions asked last week at a workshop in Traverse City.