GoGreen Seattle: Going Beyond Business and Sustainability As Usual

SEATTLE - March 3, 2014 - PRLog -- The fifth-annual GoGreen Conference in Seattle will build on the foundation of cross-sector business and public sector collaboration by shining the spotlight on the food industry, which generated over $6 billion in revenue last year in King County alone.  The 2014 conference will dive into the important role of food as an economic driver within the Puget Sound region.  Featured industry experts from the State of Washington, including over 12 food-related business leaders, will expand the dialogue around business leadership for sustainability and encourage collaborative solutions to pervasive business challenges.

“We are a place of ideas and innovators. Building on our reputation for climate-friendly practices, we will bring together clean-tech businesses, non-profits, and universities to elevate King County as a center for clean technology,” said Executive Constantine. “We can not only set a pace for the world, we can also make a good profit out of creating these ideas and marketing them to the rest of the world. I am proud to have King County serve as title sponsor for GoGreen Seattle.”

Featured 2014 Keynote Addresses

Dow Constantine | King County Executive

Dow Constantine was recently re-elected as the King County Executive by the largest margin of victory ever recorded for that office. Executive Constantine has made combatting climate change a priority for his administration, calling it one of the greatest generational challenges of our time. He is building on King County's reputation for climate-friendly business practices that attract innovative companies, and is convening leaders in clean-tech businesses, nonprofits and universities to elevate King County as a center for clean technology. In addition to forming alliances for long-term solutions, Executive Constantine is taking action that will deliver more immediate results.

Kimbal Musk | Co-Founder, The Kitchen Community

After successfully co-founding Tesla and PayPal, Musk pursued a passion for food and cooking by opening The Kitchen and a series of nationally-recognized restaurants. The Kitchen created its 501c3 non-profit in 2011, The Kitchen Community, to further its goal of 'Community Through Food' by creating over 150 Learning Gardens in schools and communities across America including Illinois, California and Colorado with Washington on the horizon for expansion in 2014. Learning Gardens are designed as a catalyst for community-wide behavioral improvements in childhood nutrition, socialization, and student achievement in under-served neighborhoods across the country.

Jim Wegner | Chief Executive Officer, Darigold

As CEO of one of the largest dairy processors in the U.S., Jim Wegner has led efforts to reduce consumption of water, materials, and energy, earning the inaugural U.S. Dairy Export Council Award for Sustainability from the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy in 2012. Darigold's success is credited both to its innovative approach to engage its employees along with efforts to implement sustainability into daily operations. Headquartered in Seattle, Darigold, Inc. is the marketing and processing subsidiary of the Northwest Dairy Association, a cooperative owned by approximately 550 regional dairy producers. Since 2008, Darigold has been reducing its environmental impacts through supply chain efficiency, packaging reduction, water source innovation, and food safety.

Event Details

GoGreen Seattle 2014, brought to you by King County, will kick off Tuesday April 29, with the GoGreen EPA Executive Forum from 3-5 pm at the Pan Pacific Hotel Seattle. The full day conference will be Wednesday, April 30 at the Convention Center’s LEED-certified Conference Center located at Eighth Avenue and Pike Street. Tickets are available online at seattle.gogreenconference.net or via phone at 206.459.0595.  Early Bird rates are good through Friday, March 28. Single Admission Early Bird Tickets are $150 and Group Rate Early Bird Tickets are $125 (groups of two or more). Student, government and non-profit registration rates are available.

About GoGreen Conference

The GoGreen Conference is a sustainability learning experience for organizational decision-makers. Featuring regionally targeted content and recognized leaders from the community, GoGreen works across industry silos to foster peer-to-peer learning and collaborative solutions. Our mission is to empower attendees with the sustainability strategies, tools, and connections to build resilient, profitable organizations while driving the development of sustainable cities and regions. Learn more at seattle.gogreenconference.net.

About King County

King County, Wash. covers more than 2,000 square miles and is nearly twice as large as the average county in the United States. With more than 2 million residents, King County ranks as the 14^th most-populous county in the nation. Under the leadership of Executive Dow Constantine, King County’s government is nationally recognized for taking bold steps to help the region mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Executive Constantine has helped King County establish a strong record of improving public safety through innovative approaches to gun violence; enhancing the health and longevity of residents through access to health insurance; increasing mobility through providing more bus service than ever; providing economic opportunity by expanding contracting for small businesses; and protecting our rural lands and open spaces.

King County has also led the way in creating numerous policies and programs geared toward achieving sustainability and market-based solutions to protect the environment and enhance everyone’s quality of life. Most recently, in his 2014 State of the County address, Executive Constantine framed his policy agenda for meeting two of the "greatest generational challenges" of our time: Building equity and opportunity, and confronting climate change.