The Sustainable Oxford Grant Program aims to cultivate local businesses and a greener community
Oxford is partnering with 513 Green to help businesses improve their sustainable efforts.
Seth Cropenbaker, Economic Development Specialist for the City of Oxford, believes that the Sustainable Oxford Grant Program (SOGP) is prepared to strengthen the community, both by helping ensure sustainability and economic growth through local businesses.
The partnership between the City of Oxford and 513 Green, a sustainability certification program that recognizes and promotes organizations, aims to grow the local business community in Oxford. Cropenbaker decided to focus on the consulting element that 513 Green used to help analyze businesses in need of sustainable help.
To make a greener Oxford, local businesses would be required to complete a checklist that would then be scored by the team at 513 Green based on where the business is in terms of its sustainability. A site visit would then be conducted, where the 513 Green team would come and help businesses acknowledge and address where they can improve their efforts to improve their climate awareness and business as a whole.
According to the City of Oxford website, “this opportunity provides funding to cover up to 50% of project costs, with a $1,000 award cap.”
The program is open to funding both capital projects as well as individual services and can be used for a variety of services. This includes improvements to equipment, facilities and sustainability-related services. Projects that qualify must have at least one of five potential requirement groups.
These categories include sustainable action: using compostable containers or offering straws to customers upon request; water conservation: implementing water-saving policies or purchasing a new dishwasher; waste diversion: beginning a recycling or composting program; energy conservation: purchasing high-efficiency appliances or utilizing renewable energy sources; transportation and air quality: implementing ‘smoke-free workplace’ policies or including living plants as business decor.
To be eligible, a business must have operated for at least one full year within the City of Oxford.
Cropenbaker adds that the program can seem somewhat complicated.
“I do think that [from] the feedback I've gotten from folks that have engaged with [the program,] they think the 513 Green is a requirement,” Cropenbaker said. “Rather than it being a ‘value-add,’ in the minds of some, it’s become a hurdle. I need to do a better job on the messaging and communication around it.”
Cropenbaker noted that the 513 Green aspect is a standalone. He urges people who have a project to still apply and not be intimidated by it.
“It’s a checklist, it’ll take you all of four and a half minutes to complete,” Cropenbaker said. “The site visit is a part of that, which does require some time, but I do think it’s valuable time.”
The grant program is still available, even if businesses or individuals do not want to participate in the 513 Green aspect.
Cropenbaker urges people to view 513 Green certification as a value-add to local businesses and ask themselves, ‘What is good for my business as well as my environment?’
Cropenbaker added that Oxford, as a community, cares deeply for the environment, which makes projects and programs, like the SOGP, thrive and grow more efficiently.
“I think that environmental sustainability is something that our elected officials and staff care about,” Cropenbaker said. “It’s a growing trend where students are actually choosing universities based on their environmental practices.”
Cropenbaker believes the environmentally conscious elements and ideals that Oxford holds are a part of both the university as well as the local community.
Initial applications closed on Aug. 1 and will be announced by Sept. 1.
More information about SOGP can be found on the City of Oxford website.
