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Sustainable Business Navigator

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Learn How to Green Your Small Business

One hour is all it takes

To learn ways to become more sustainable, cut costs, and gain new customers by marketing your sustainability achievements. 

Fill out the registration form

DEC’s Sustainable Business Navigator (SBN) provides fast, free, and impactful advice to help small businesses meet their sustainability and cost cutting goals. Businesses that participate in the program have a one-hour conversation with DEC’s sustainability experts on topics that matter to them. Since one size doesn’t fit all, what sustainability topics you want to talk about are up to you. They can include:

  • Waste reduction
  • Energy efficiency
  • Toxics use reduction
  • Buying and using greener products
  • Staff training and engagement
  • Sustainable transportation and logistics
  • Water conservation
  • Marketing your sustainability achievements to reach new customers;
  • And more

Conversations can take place either on location at your business or virtually, depending on your preference and staff availability.

Benefits

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Benefits of Participating

  • Fast, free, and impactful advice that’s tailored to your business 

  • Learn how you can cut costs and reduce waste 

  • Reach new customers through learning how to market your sustainability achievements 

  • Referrals to more in-depth services providers and funding opportunities 

Informational Webinar

DEC is hosting an informational webinar on Tuesday, May 20 from 11:00am - 12:00pm.

Register Here

How it works: 

  • Fill out this simple registration form. 

    • What you’ll need: 

      • The business’s logistical information (name, address, contact person) 

      • The topics and projects you’d like to discuss in your conversation 

  • We contact you to set up a time for your one-hour conversation with our sustainability experts. 

    • Note: Meeting availability and scheduling is based upon SBN staff availability and travel logistics. 

  • We either meet on-site at your business or virtually. 

  • You receive a follow up email summarizing your conversation and providing you with additional resources to achieve your goals. 

The information provided through the SBN program is for educational/informational purposes only and does not constitute professional (legal, tax, or financial) advice. Use of this website, including any contact forms, email links, or technology tools does not create any fiduciary or agency relationship between the business and DEC. Participation in this program is no substitute for obtaining legal representation and/or financial advice for your business. 

The SBN staff that provide advice to small businesses through this program will only discuss sustainability topics, and consultations will not include or constitute regulatory or legal advice. If your small business has questions about regulatory compliance, please reach out to Empire State Development’s Small Business Environmental Ombudsman program for confidential assistance. 

Eligibility: 

  • Be a business with a location(s) in New York State 

  • Have 100 or fewer employees 

  • Have not participated in the program in the past two years 

Contact

For questions and more information, reach out to: [email protected]. 

FAQs

No.

Any type of business can participate as long as it has a location in New York State and 100 or fewer employees.

Meetings are conducted by non-regulatory staff and discussions had in SBN meetings will not be shared with any other divisions or offices within DEC. The same applies to any data collected, such as that submitted on registration forms or kept in meeting notes. 

Note that information shared with SBN is subject to disclosure pursuant to Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) under NYS Public Office’s Law (POL). However, businesses have a right to request that trade secrets, confidential commercial information, or critical infrastructure information, be exempt from disclosure. If a business wishes to preemptively ensure that SBN staff withhold such information from disclosure to the public, then businesses should clearly mark the specific portion(s) of any document(s) they wish to be withheld and provide a written request stating why the information should be exempt from disclosure pursuant to POL §89(5)(a)(2) and 6 NYCRR 616.7. DEC will safeguard the information and consider whether the documents can be exempt from disclosure if/when there is a FOIL request. Other information may be exempt from disclosure under POL §87(2). 

No.

Meetings are scheduled based upon the availability of DEC staff with efforts made to get them scheduled as quickly as possible. On-site meetings will take longer to schedule. 

There are many ways to become more sustainable, including reducing energy use and waste, using more sustainable products, reducing the use of toxics substances, and using renewable energy. The SBN program allows small businesses to learn about these topic areas during their free one-hour consultation with DEC’s sustainability experts. 

Contact for this Page

Sustainable Business Navigator, Office of Sustainability
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233

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