Despite setbacks, businesses stay 'green'

By Asma Adam

As Scott Brown scoops up a handful of sapphire blue pieces of glass, he explains that his company will use them to create a beautiful kitchen island countertop for one of its customers. A large countertop made from the shells of black walnuts is curing in a frame in another corner of the workroom.

“Being green and being environmentally forward thinking is what has kept us still kicking and doing really well” during the recession, Brown said. He is one of four partners who run Rust Brothers, an eco-friendly cabinetry and tabletop business in the basement of an old warehouse in Northeast Minneapolis.

Their business builds all its products from materials such as recycled glass, sustainably grown wood and even black walnut shells.

As climate change affects everything from fish to crop yields, it also creates new employment opportunities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has predicted that jobs in environmental engineering will increase by about 30 percent between 2008 and 2018.

The federal government predicts that jobs manufacturing and operating wind turbines will grow as the U.S. relies more on wind power.

“If we can inspire people to want to get into this field, they’re going to get good jobs,” said John Abraham, an associate professor of engineering at the University of St. Thomas. “The climate industry now is the healthcare industry of 20 years ago. It’s booming.”

Brian Plourde, a former student of Abraham’s, sits at a high-powered computer in a lab at the University of St. Thomas School of Engineering. The 24-year-old engineer is designing small wind turbines that fit onto the sides of cell phone towers and generate the electricity the towers need to send out signals.

The primary market for these turbines will be in third-world countries where diesel generators or expensive electricity currently power cell-phone towers. Switching to wind power would not only help these companies cut costs, but also allow them continue serving their customers during severe weather conditions.

Abraham says it’s important that the U.S. be a leader in developing such technologies. “Right now, China’s killing us. We’re set to be buying their technology. I want to sell our technology to them. We have national reasons for wanting our citizens to be leaders in this field.”

Plourde, who grew up on a farm in Somerset, Wis., is part owner of Windstrip, a start-up company in Minnesota made up of two older partners and two younger partners – Plourde and a friend. The older partners bring money and business experience. Plourde and his friend provide engineering skills, time and ambition.

Their product is in the testing stage with one turbine operating in Duluth and two more coming online soon.
Meanwhile, there’s no money for salaries. Instead of working for a large firm earning up to $80,000 a year, Plourde is in a “constant countdown to bankruptcy.”

His diet consists of Little Caesar’s and chocolate milk. He owns a house with his young business partner. Their housemates pay rent, which helps cover the mortgage.

In the lab, Plourde wears four-year-old jeans and polo shirts. “I just can’t gain weight or lose weight because my clothes won’t fit anymore,” he said.

Plourde does own a lot of nice suits for meetings with people who might buy the wind turbines or invest money in Windstrip.

To handle the stress, Plourde works out every day at Lifetime Fitness, chops wood and consults with an experienced entrepreneur. Plourde and his partner work 12-hour days.“We push each other around the clock,” he said.

The partners at Rust Brothers can relate to Plourde’s challenges. When Brown started the company in 2002, he left a good office job at a biotech firm because he wanted to be his own boss. As they edge toward their 40s, the partners would like to be able to hire young, strong workers to carry heavy materials. But with $400,000 in annual sales, the business isn’t earning enough to give an employee a good wage and benefits.

“We feel strongly about the kind of job environment and benefits that we would like to be able to offer for employees. I’d rather not hire anybody until we’re ready to give them what I’d like as an employee,” Brown said. Although the two men are employed in different sectors of the environmental industry, Brown and Plourde both hope that their businesses will make the world a cleaner, better place.

“If everybody just worries about what they’re doing and tries to do great things it will make a huge difference all over the place,” Brown said.