Five businesses and organizations and four individuals were inducted into the International Green Industry Hall of Fame during a ceremony at Fresno State University.

SunRun, UC Merced, Green Apple Horse Network, Electronic Recyclers International and Grid Alternatives were the inducted businesses and organizations. The individuals were Ed Begley Jr., Christina Schwerdtfeger, John Shegerian (CEO of Electronic Recyclers) and Alan Tratner, who received Lifetime Achievement awards.

SunRun is a San Francisco-based company that offers solar leasing and power purchase agreements.http://www.sunrunhome.com/;
University of California Merced has six buildings that are LEED certified, and students and faculty are leaders in solar-energy research http://www.ucmerced.edu/
Geen Apple Horse Network, based in Marin County, helps the horse industry go green, and manages a directory of green products and services http://greenapplehorse.com/;
Electronic Recyclers International, a Fresno-based firm that is the nation's largest electronic waste recyclers http://electronicrecyclers.com/;
GRID Alternatives, an Oakland nonprofit that installs solar panels on low-income households throughout California. The Fresno office has installed solar power systems on more than 300 homes in the Valley, all owned by low-income families http://www.gridalternatives.org/mission-history
Ed Begley Jr., an actor and environmental leader who is chair of the Environmental Media Association and Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy http://www.edbegley.com/
Christina Schwerdtfeger founded Coto Consulting in 2009 as a woman-owned, small business enterprise to provide environmental consulting services to private and public sector clients throughout the United States. She specializes in multi-media compliance for air, water and hazardous waste, with particular emphasis on greenhouse gases and sustainability.http://www.coto-consulting.com/
John Shegerian, a serial entrepreneur, is chairman and CEO of Electronic Recyclers. Prior to his work at ERI, Shegerian co-founded www.financialaid.com, one of the most successful student loan companies in the country, and founded Addicted.com, a comprehensive, interactive website dedicated to helping those struggling with the disease of addiction, that has become the leading online space for the recovering community.
Alan Tratner, international director of FD3′s Green2Gold in Santa Barbara and president of the Inventors Workshop International and Entrepreneurs Workshop, director of the Small Business Entrepreneurship Center in California and former publisher of Lightbulb Journal and INVENT!. http://www.green2gold.org/

Also honored were Climate Ride, a nonprofit in Missoula, Mont., that organizes charitable bike rides to support sustainable solutions, bike advocacy and environmental causes http://www.climateride.org/, and Aquacue, a San Jose firm whose customers set a baseline, reduce waste and engage the community to reduce water bills and advance sustainability. http://aquacue.com/

Fresno businessman Sam Geil founded the International Green Industry Hall of Fame to recognize pioneers, leaders, and visionaries who have contributed to the Green movement.

We've been on the fringes of the green movement in the San Joaquin Valley for awhile now, and we've seen firsthand its growth. Like most emerging economies, it is expanding at a stutter step rate - but it is growing.

More farmers are adding renewable energy to their operations, most commonly solar. Cities such as Tulare are embracing clean energy in big ways. Local property owners, schools and others are joining the movement, just as Big Business and the military are doing nationwide.

A just-released Brookings Institution study puts Fresno's green ranking at 57 out of 100 largest metro regions nationally, due in part to organic food and farming, and growth in biofuel and biomass. This is from the Fresno Business Journal.

Here's a link to the report itself. Stockton and Bakersfield also are included.

We believe that additional expansion is possible, even during a period of economic austerity. Dozens of solar projects are in various stages of development, and that industry could really pop if they come to fruition. University of California at Merced is so optimistic that it has unofficially labeled us as "Solar Valley."

Fresno's mid-state location, vast amount of land and minimal environmental issues work in our favor. Fresno also is home to Electronic Recyclers, one of the largest recycling companies in the nation - and which is planning a global expansion.

Coincidentally, the same Business Journal edition that highlights the Brookings report has a story on a possible expansion by Electronic Recyclers. Read it here.

Stay tuned.

Valley businesses and UC Merced are inducted into the Green Hall of Fame

Fresno's Green Economy Is Growing