Epic and WMC In Same Breath: One Is Fresh, One is Not

Writing for Wisbusiness.com Marc Eisen reports on Monday's Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council Conference held at Epic Systems Corporation's Verona campus.    

  Epic campus gives conference first-hand look at sustainable biz practices

...From geothermal heating and cooling, to "100-year" construction standards, to a costly investment in 3,500 underground parking stalls, to a state-of-the-art but natural storm-water drainage system...Some 300 people turned out for the event organized by the UW-Madison's Center for Business, Environment and Social Responsibility.

Not lost on Eisen is the dichotomy between the state's future and the role fo Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC):

Of course, the subtext of the conference was intriguing: Epic's role as a progressive counterweight to the conservative politics and business strategies -- fiercely anti-tax and deeply anti-regulatory -- championed by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.

The WMC vision isn't big enough to sustain the Wisconsin economy in the 21st century, Tom Eggert, the conference organizer, told me... "It will be great when WMC catches up and sees that the conversation has to be broader than just economics," Eggert said.

His point -- and the point of the conference -- is that the companies that see the bigger picture of sustainability are likely the ones that will prosper in the future.

Not lost on Waxing America is that Eisen singled out some major participants, most of whom are active members of WMC:

...upwards of 70 percent of state companies with sustainability officers had shown up, including reps from Quad Graphics, S.C. Johnson, Rockwell, Johnson Controls and American Family insurance. Big players all.

You have to wonder who is in charge at both corporate headquarters for these companies and at WMC.