Akraya CEO, Amar Panchal Named Climate Hero of Silicon Valley by Acterra

March 25, 2009 - PRLog -- The idea to turn Akraya, Inc., a leading IT staffing company serving Fortune 500 enterprises, into a green certified business first occurred to Panchal while waiting to pick up his car at an auto body shop. Inspired by a brochure, Panchal decided that his firm, Akraya will also join the battle to fight climate change.

As a result, Akraya developed an in-house green campaign named Green Earth, Green Akraya. As the first step, the company introduced a new green employee policy to guide its staff towards becoming environmentally conscious. All staff was trained in the new recycling and waste management procedures. With an environmental purchasing policy in place, reusable dishes and mugs were provided to minimize lunch waste. The company also supports carpooling, public transportation use and working from home, especially on high pollution days. In addition to doing a stellar job at source reduction of office supplies, Akraya launched a quarterly green electronic newsletter called Green Vibe to highlight best practices and to recognize employee actions to green both professional and personal lives.

Since the decision to go green, Akraya has earned Bay Area Green Business Certification. In addition, Acterra, a leading Silicon Valley environmental organization has also recognized the exemplary leadership that the Akraya management team demonstrated throughout the greening process by awarding Panchal with the Climate Hero of Silicon Valley title.

“Amar Panchal is a Climate Hero because as a business leader, he has taken action to commit to greener corporate practices” said Michael Closson, Executive Director of Acterra. “Panchal and his team are now environmental advocates encouraging other small businesses to follow their footsteps.”

“We are very proud of being recognized for our green efforts” said Panchal. “Becoming a green business has not been easy but it has been worth every minute spent on it. Environmental consciousness is like a religion; it unified our team and became part of who we are.”

To find out more about becoming a green business, please visit http://www.greenbiz.ca.gov/. For more information on Acterra’s Climate Hero of Silicon Valley program, please visit http://www.acterra.org/.

For more information on Akraya, please visit www.akraya.com. For press related questions, please contact Eszter Szikora at (408) 907-6424.

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Akraya is a leading provider of Information Technology, Engineering and Life sciences managed talent solutions and professional staffing. Akraya enables the success of strategic technology initiatives through its Management, Analysis, Architecture, Engineering and Support services. Akraya is a preferred partner to several Fortune 500 companies and exciting startups. Akraya is a certified Minority Owned (NCSDC) as well as a Woman Owned (WBENC) enterprise. Akraya is also a Certified Green Business.

For more information on Akraya, please visit www.akraya.com. For press related questions, please contact Eszter Szikora at (408) 907-6424.