The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) opened the nomination period for its 2011 Siemens Sustainable Community Awards today. Now in its fourth year, the program recognizes local governments, chambers of commerce, and other organizations for the tremendous steps they’ve taken to improve quality of life and enhance their ability to sustain a successful community for generations to come.
“In this era of limited resources, public-private partnerships are proving especially successful in making their communities more sustainable.” said Stephen Jordan, BCLC executive director. “We are soliciting nominations so that we can share best practices and help accelerate this process throughout the country.”
The Siemens Sustainable Community Awards recognize communities in the categories of small, midsize, and large, based on population. Nominations will be accepted until January 21, 2011. Community-based coalitions, chambers of commerce, community developers, and other local agencies are encouraged to complete the application process.
The winning community in each category will receive $20,000 worth of trees from Siemens Corporation. The tree award will be delivered through the Alliance for Community Trees (ACT). In 2010, Siemens Sustainable Community Award winner Grand Rapids, Michigan, received its trees during a weekend-long planting event staged by ACT member organizations Friends of Grand Rapids Parks and Global ReLeaf of Michigan. Siemens employees participated in the planting, as did local volunteers, civic leaders, tree care experts, businesses, and city officials.
To be eligible for the awards program, cities and municipalities must demonstrate several overarching characteristics of long-term sustainability planning. These requirements include local partnerships and stakeholder involvement and demonstrable improvements to the environment, business sector, and quality of life.
The Siemens Sustainable Community Awards judging panel consists of leading professionals with backgrounds in environment, business, academics, government, and economic development. One winning community per category will be announced on April 13, 2011, at the Chamber BCLC’s National Conference on Corporate Community Investment in Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia and its mayor’s office are the winners of the 2010 Sustainable Community Award, Large Community.
“Siemens is proud to sponsor this award, which emphasizes the important role communities of all sizes play in setting examples for achieving a sustainable future,” said Alison Taylor, vice president, Sustainability, Siemens Corporation. “Sustainability is a cornerstone of Siemens values and being able to support cities in their quest for greater sustainability is not only a business goal, but also a responsibility that we take very seriously.”