On December 1st, a small team of community members and folks from the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) went out in pairs to door-knock in Chisago City and the City of Lindstrom to encourage small business owners to participate in a free energy and/or solar assessment of their business through the Chisago Clean Energy Hub.
What is the Clean Energy Hub, you ask? It is a partnership between Chisago County HRA-EDA, Metro Clean Energy Resource Team (Metro CERT), Chisago Lakes Chamber, Eutectics, and the America’s Best Communities committee. The program provides technical assistance, pre-qualified clean energy contractors, and professional guidance from start to finish on all qualified projects in the Chisago Lakes Area (Chisago, Lindstrom, Center City, Shafer, Taylors Falls). It is one piece of many to help the Chisago Lakes Area win the America’s Best Communities (ABC) challenge.
On the heels of hosting home energy workshops this Fall, the group headed out to door-knock at area small businesses and encourage them to join more than twenty neighboring businesses in completing energy and/or solar assessments. The more businesses participate, the better chance the community will win as much as three million dollars as one of the eight finalists (out of 350 applicants) for the ABC challenge that will be decided in April, 2017.
“We paired one local community member with one CERTs member for our door knocking duos,” said Diana McKeown, Metro CERT Director. “Not only did we have great conversations with a myriad of business owners, but we also signed up thirteen businesses in two hours! This brings the total number of participating businesses in the Chisago Lakes Area to 37, and there’s never been a better time to explore opportunities in energy efficiency and solar energy.”
This surpasses the original goal of having 30 businesses sign up, and several more were interested that were not able to sign up at the time. Way to go Chisago Lakes Area!
Interested in an energy and/or solar assessment for your business in the Chisago Lakes Area? Contact Diana McKeown, Metro CERT Director at the Great Plains Institute, at [email protected] or 612-278-7158.
See photos from clean energy door knocking!
About Metro CERT
Operated by the Great Plains Institute, Metro CERT is one of seven regions that comprise Minnesota’s Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) — a partnership of four organizations working together to connect individuals and their communities to the resources they need to identify and implement community-based clean energy projects.
