Businesses Invest in Earth-Friendly Initiatives
Across the globe, sustainability is the buzz word, promising a new generation of innovation, conservation, environmental protection and job creation.
Rutherford County is on board, and the list of area companies with eco-friendly products, programs and facilities is growing.
The Davis Groupe announced in July 2009 that it will manufacture environmentally friendly LED lighting, initially creating at least 200 Middle Tennessee jobs.
“Everything is just falling in place. Right now, we feel that this could grow exponentially,” says Jimmy Davis, chief manager of The Davis Groupe, which is a supplier to a host of manufacturing operations and a Tier One supplier to automotive giants such as Nissan and Toyota.
Light-emitting diodes are an electronic light source that uses 60 percent less electricity, lasts longer than conventional lighting options and produces less waste. The Davis Groupe, one of three companies involved in the LED project, will build the commercial, industrial and residential products. The other partners are NCS Power, based in Washington state, which is handling engineering and development, and Aladdin Lighting in Clarksville, Tenn., the triad’s marketing and sales arm.
Davis says Middle Tennessee is an ideal location for the initiative, considering its central location, its proven manufacturing base and its availability of skilled white-collar and blue-collar workers.
“We’re going to get the pick of the litter when we start hiring,” he says, and he expects hiring to begin no later than mid-2010.
The Davis Groupe’s illuminating initiative is just one of many green success stories in Rutherford County, including the county government’s own efforts at environmental protection and education. Hired by the county in 2004 as the environmental education coordinator, Mimi Davis Keisling is charged with teaching Rutherford County residents how to reduce litter, recycle and prevent water pollution. A new environmental education outdoor classroom was completed at the end of 2009 on the grounds of the Lane Agri-Park in Murfreesboro. A hands-on learning facility, the classroom features a watershed model to demonstrate how pollutants contaminate water supplies, a solar-energy station with demonstrations, a sanitary landfill model, stations on waste reduction and composting, and a history and storytelling area.
“We anticipate programs to operate from April through October,” Keisling says. “Third- and fourth-grade students will be a primary focus for field studies in order to reinforce the environmental objectives that are taught in school.”
In addition, Keisling presents environmental programs in the county and city schools to between 5,000 and 6,000 children annually.
The county practices what it preaches, too. It operates four recycling centers, and the new North Rutherford County Clerk’s Office, still under construction, will be heated and cooled using geothermal technology. The same is true for Rockvale Middle School, which opened in 2008. The new Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center, scheduled to open in the fall of 2010, also will boast geothermal heating and cooling.
Solar panels to produce electricity are just one of the eco-friendly features of the new Firestone Complete Auto Care store in Smyrna, which is Bridgestone Americas’ first green commercial space. Other features include improved indoor air quality, thanks to paints, stains, carpets and sealants that release fewer air-borne pollutants; ultra low-flow fixtures that reduce water consumption by 30 percent; and a reflective metal roof that lowers heating and cooling costs.
Franke USA, which makes commercial cooking equipment, invested $40 million in a 250,000-square-foot, LEED-certified headquarters complex in La Vergne. The building features a 168-panel solar roof array installed by LightWave Solar Electric in Nashville and exterior charging stations for electric cars.
