2012 Green Awards
You can help save the planet and make money. These five Chicagoans are showing the city how it’s done
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2012 Green Awards: Brian Levin
« ELISE ZELECHOWSKI DEBORAH SAWYER » AGE: 29 FOUNDING PARTNER: Carbon Day Automotive (website) BUSINESS: Transportation Four years ago, Levin was just another commercial real-estate broker taking a hit in the economic downturn. That’s when he embarked on a new venture: electric vehicle charging stations. With the increased production of electric vehicles on the horizon, Levin … Read more
2012 Green Awards: Cassie Green
SAID AL-HALLAJ » AGE: 34 FOUNDER AND OWNER: Green Grocer (website) BUSINESS: Neighborhood grocery When the aptly named Green moved to West Town in 2006, she was struck by the absence of a quality neighborhood grocery. One year later, she was drafting a business plan for a store that would stock regional produce and … Read more
2012 Green Awards: Elise Zelechowski
« SAID AL-HALLAJ BRIAN LEVIN » AGE: 33 FOUNDER: ReBuilding Exchange (website) BUSINESS: Building materials Even before the economy slowed, Zelechowski noticed two problems plaguing her native Chicago: the abundance of construction and demolition waste (from buildings that had fallen into foreclosure and disrepair) and a lack of jobs (for the hard to employ). Her … Read more
2012 Green Awards: Deborah Sawyer
« BRIAN LEVIN AGE: 55 PRESIDENT AND CEO: Environmental Design International (website) BUSINESS: Green engineering In 1991, this environmental scientist set out to help developers transform contaminated city lots into usable land. In 2009, Sawyer landed a career-making project when Exelon enlisted her firm, Environmental Design International, to engineer the nation’s largest urban solar … Read more
2012 Green Awards: Our Winners Speak Out
This year, we are honoring five entrepreneurs with big ideas on how to grow the sustainable economy. What’s the secret to their success? We gathered them together to find out
Annexation, the Midwest, and the Rise of the Sun Belt
Why is the Midwest in financial and population decline while the Sun Belt thrives? Annexation, which pulled in vast swaths of suburb just as people were fleeing urban cores, has a lot to do with it.
The Mistpouffers of Clintonville, Wisconsin: A Brief History of Brontides, Icequakes, and Other Mysterious Booms
A hamlet 40 miles west of Green Bay has been shaken by a series of “booms,” scaring the townsfolk and drawing national attention. But strange, unexplained booms, shakes, and shocks are common throughout the world, and have been a mystery for centuries.
Week 24: A Moment to Forget
In 2000, I proposed to Sarah at a B & B in Lakeside, Michigan. Got down on one knee, took her hand, the whole thing. She proposed back, rings were exchanged, and then we were just kind of like: What do we do now?…
Illinois Primaries Postmortem: If You Care, Which Few Seemed To
Low turnout, a big victory for Rahm, a respectable victory for the local Democratic establishment, a substantial (if completely predictable) victory for Mitt Romney: an uneventful Illinois primary for the most important election since 1860.