On May 25th, Sustainable Seattle announced the winners of the Third Sustainable Community Outstanding Leadership Awards (SCOLA).  Initiated in 2001, these awards recognize the outstanding efforts of individuals and organizations that are helping to make the Puget Sound region a more sustainable and livable place. Sustainable Seattle presents its awards annually to honor the leadership of local individuals, organizations, businesses and public agencies in the following categories: Built Environment, Business, Government, Neighborhoods & Community, and Social Justice. This year’s recipients are:

• Beacon Development Group (Built Environment) - developers of high quality, affordable, sustainable housing that creates healthy living environments for lower-income populations, including green-built Traugott Terrace in Belltown and other housing for recovering addicts, formerly homeless, and families living with AIDS.
• Flexcar (Business) - a national car-sharing company with more than 100 vehicles in King and Kitsap counties, including hybrid gas-electric vehicles. Flexcar enables businesses and individuals to travel without owning cars. The company also plants trees to offset all its emissions.
• City of Seattle's Sustainable Building Program (Government) - responsible for implementing the City's adoption of LEED Silver environmental standard for its new construction. The program promotes sustainable building in  commercial and residential construction and remodeling. 
• Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS) (Neighborhoods & Communities) - a non-profit provider of environmental education and assistance to businesses and communities. ECOSS has focused particularly on the South Park/Duwamish area, including redevelopment of brownfield sites and environmentally sensitive economic development.
• ArtWorks (Social Justice) - a non-profit dedicated to empowering young people, improving their lives and the surrounding community, through the creation of public art. Examples include numerous murals in the SODO Urban Art Corridor and throughout Seattle. Kids also receive valuable mentoring, job counseling and employment. The public receives the gift of their murals, boards, banners and other pieces of public art.
• PCC Natural Markets (Board of Directors’ Special Achievement Award) - a community-owned food cooperative. PCC supports local, sustainable agriculture, educates consumers on issues such as genetically engineered food and organic standards, and takes positions on matters affecting sustainability. PCC’s programs include providing cash and volunteers to local food banks, saving endangered farmland, and cash rebate programs that support schools and other non-profits in the seven communities where stores are located.  

"These organizations and their dedicated staff are working hard to address key issues facing our region – from improving transportation, building affordable housing and promoting earth-friendly construction, to empowering at-risk youth, redeveloping polluted urban sites and saving organic farms," explained Sustainable Seattle Board Member Christy Shelton. "Our 2004 award winners exemplify sustainability in action around Puget Sound. The strong pool of nominees made it difficult for us to pick only one award winner in each category."

The recipients were honored Tuesday May 25 at 7 p.m. at a ceremony at Kane Hall organized in conjunction with the Net Impact annual presentation, featuring a talk by Paul Dolan.

Nominees for Third Annual Awards

The nominees for the third annual awards are listed below. Please note that some individuals and organizations were nominated in multiple categories.

Built Environment

• Beacon Development Group
• City of Seattle, Sustainable Building Program
• Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority
• Seattle Housing Authority, High Point Redevelopment
• Vulcan, Inc.

Business

• Celilo Group Media, Inc.
• Jeff Fairhall - Essential Baking Company
• Flexcar
• Michael "Buffalo" Mazzetti - Okanogan Highlands Bottling Company
• PCC Natural Markets
• Mike Peringer - SODO Business Association and ArtWorks
• Libba and Gifford Pinchot - Bainbridge Graduate Institute
• Seattle Thunderbirds Hockey Club
• Seattle University

Government

• City of Seattle, Department of Planning and Development
• City of Seattle, Sustainable Building Program
• EnviroStars Cooperative
• King County WasteWise
• Seattle Housing Authority, High Point Redevelopment
• Seattle Monorail Project

Neighborhoods & Community

• Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS)
• Giraffe Project
• Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority
• Mike Peringer - SODO Business Association and ArtWorks
• Positive Futures Network, Publisher of "Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures"
• Seattle Housing Authority, High Point Redevelopment
• Seattle Thunderbirds Hockey Club
• Frank Urabek - South King County Chapter of Trout Unlimited
• Vulcan, Inc.

Social Justice

• Beacon Development Group
• Giraffe Project
• Mike Peringer - SODO Business Association and ArtWorks
• Positive Futures Network, Publisher of "Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures"
• Seattle Thunderbirds Hockey Club

About the Net Impact Event

The UW Business School hosted a talk by Paul Dolan, President of Fetzer Vineyards and author of True To Our Roots: Fermenting a Business Revolution. The talk highlighted how Dolan led Fetzer Vineyards to a position of leadership in the industry and market while successfully pioneering the path of sustainability. Dolan’s talk was part of the Net Impact Spring Forum, an annual event hosted by Net Impact, a student-run organization within the business school that seeks to integrate sustainable business and social responsibility into the community.

About Sustainable Seattle

Founded in 1991, Sustainable Seattle is an award-winning 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the long-term quality of life in the Puget Sound region. Sustainable Seattle is best known for its path-breaking work on community sustainability indicators. Its set of indicators became an international model for how citizens can track and monitor the quality of life in their communities. The organization was recently awarded an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant to bring its indicator work to the neighborhood level in Seattle. Sustainable Seattle has also been involved in education and outreach programs to promote sustainable development. Visit www.sustainableseattle.org for more information.