Greener options: CityU now offers Sustainable Business program

By Anna King

Velocity Contributor

Eco-friendly customers at the Barracuda Coffee Shop don’t question their Richland, Wash. hangout on its commitment to serve a sustainable cup of joe.

Fair trade stickers grace the company’s coffee bean bags, three recycling bins sit by the door and a sign by the register encourages people to drink from a ceramic cup instead of paper one. Owner Jake Shupe bought the coffeehouse a few months ago but believes sustainable products have staying power.

“We think it’s the responsible thing to do, to be good stewards of the environment,” he says. “We’ve cut down on about 80 percent of our waste, like garbage. It’s really pretty easy. It doesn’t take that much more time.”

Whether in small-town cafés or corporate skyscrapers, people can’t avoid sustainable and green business practices. More efforts continue to ramp up throughout industries worldwide. That’s why City University of Seattle recently announced a new Sustainable Business degree and graduate certificate program.

“Five to 10 years ago it was called e-commerce. Now it’s just regular business. It’s just the way things are done,” says Nina Fenton, CityU of Seattle’s MBA program director.

With the Sustainable Business program, CityU plans to fill the growing employer need for new recruits who understand today’s environmental and socially-responsible principles, Fenton says. 

Prospective students researching this industry’s future may look to a recent report by Washington’s Community, Trade and Economic Development agency. The report indicates more green jobs will be created as resources become scarce. As a result, the higher education system remains key to the green economy since a significant number of related occupations require a baccalaureate degree or higher, according to the report.

At a national level, the eco-friendly movement continues to thrive as the Obama administration’s federal stimulus package pumps millions of dollars into green energy and sustainable businesses.

CityU addresses the green growth demand in October 2009 when it offers courses to help bolster sustainability resumes. Students may choose to earn a Sustainable Business emphasis in CityU’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) program or pursue a five-course Sustainable Business graduate certificate.

In three years, CityU plans to include sustainable business into all undergraduate and graduate programs, says Kurt Kirstein, CityU’s School of Management Dean. 

“The goal is for City University of Seattle to really step up,” Kirstein says. “(These programs) will teach leaders and managers how to implement strategies that will be different, but also profitable.”

Kirstein says CityU is among the first universities in the country to offer such programs.

“City University of Seattle’s culture allows it to be fairly agile,” he says.

Kevin Wilhelm, CEO of Sustainable Business Consulting in Seattle, says profitable businesses engaged in environmental and social responsibility won’t be extraordinary much longer. Instead, these practices will become the norm.

“In about three to five years it will just be the way business is done. The bar is going to keep shifting. Having a stamp that says ‘We Recycle’ isn’t going to be enough,” says Wilhelm, who advises top officials at companies, such as The North Face, the City of Seattle and Waggener Edstrom.

He says professionals who understand changing environmental regulations and opportunities will be better positioned to land competitive jobs in today’s tough economy.

Also, these professionals will continue to be relevant in the long term, he says.

Back in Richland, Shupe searches for new sustainable ideas for his coffee shop. He recently bought a trailer to haul recycling along with more ceramic cups and silverware to use in place of paper and plastic. Last year, Barracuda Coffee received recognition for its efforts when it won the Richland Green Business of the Year award.

“To be honest I am still learning (about being green and sustainable) too,” Shupe says. “We would probably make a higher profit if we weren’t sustainable but we are proud to be doing the right thing.”

For more information on the Sustainable Business program visit http://www.cityu.edu/pdf/SustainableBusiness_flyer.pdf