Portland, OR – Today, Oregon Business Magazine announced their list of the 100 Best Green Companies to Work For in Oregon and Rogue Creamery is ranked # 10.This is the 4th consecutive year that Rogue Creamery has been ranked as one of Oregon’s 100 Best Green Companies. Rogue Creamery recently received the SBA Director’s Impact Award for innovation and leadership on May 20th.Co-owner David Gremmels currently serves on Governor Kitzhaber’s Oregon Sustainability Board and the creamery won the 2007 Governor’s Sustainability Tourism Award for its commitment to community and agri-tourism.
The 100 Best Green Companies list is distinctive in its qualifying factors. The winners are not picked by the magazine or other outside influences. Instead they are selected by the very people who work within the 440 companies who participated. Employees and employers alike were asked to rate their satisfaction and importance in 15 statements related to sustainable practices. Over 18,000 employees took part in anonymous surveys for the search to identify the companies who approach their daily work with green values. The green companies on the list came from every sector in the state including: landscapers, hotels, nonprofits, and food and beverage.
Find more information at: http:///www.oregon100best.com/events/green-event/
“Sustainability is part of the culture at Rogue Creamery. It has been for 80 years. Rogue Creamery is a small company striving to be a big example of a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable business. We are doing business simply and purely in a supportive community filled with Blue Cheese lovers “, said David Gremmels, President and Cheesemaker at Rogue Creamery.
Today Rogue Creamery offsets about fifty percent of its electrical use with its own photovoltaic system and 35% of its team members commute to work via alternative methods saving an average of 12,000 gallons of gas per year. In addition, they have challenged other businesses leaders to offer the same program to incentivize their teams. Rogue Federal Credit Union is a great example of a business incorporating a hybrid of Rogue Creamery’s Nellie Green Program. They have put nearly 50 of their team members in the saddle commuting to work daily. All totaled they have supported nearly 85 bikes on the road.
“At Rogue Creamery everything we do In connection with the environment, landscape, atmosphere, community, animal husbandry, ingredients, practices and processes must be supported by three key words; Safe, Healthy and Optimistic. These are the three words Rogue Creamery has used for eight decades “, said David Gremmels.
Our green program called the Nellie Green program involves solar, recycling, waste reduction, purchasing, commuting, asset management, manufacturing processes and financing. Team members are incentivized for car- pooling, walking, using public transportation or commuting on bike or via electric or hybrid cars to help Rogue Creamery meet its sustainable metrics. It is an incentive for us to work with local suppliers and bank locally thus multiplying the value of our dollars and their contribution in our community”, said Gremmels.
Sustainability is incorporated into every facet of Rogue Creamery’s business practices including planning, forecasting, budgeting, vendor selection and logistics through its flexible distribution network. We invite and include other makers to participate in our shipping network reducing carbon and costs. Rogue Creamery takes a further step and is third party certified by Food Alliance for its sustainable practices, food safety standards and purity of products. It is our hope we will see this mission driven certification group continue in its work increasing awareness as the Oregon Best Green Company Awards do for sustainable business practices.
About Rogue Creamery
Rogue Creamery’s international award winning handmade cheese is produced from sustainable and organic certified raw milk and made using old world sustainable practices. Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals — environmental health, animal welfare, and social and economic equity. Rogue Creamery ensures a consistently delicious and healthful experience through its commitment to sustainable, organic and food safety processes which are third party certified. Its dairy and cheesemaking processes are certified sustainable by Food Alliance, cheesemaking and ingredients organic by Oregon Tilth and food safety procedures and HACCP’s by Steritech.
Source: Rogue Creamery
