I had a timely discussion with Jonathan Cloud, Entrepreneur in Residence at the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is responsible for the new Sustainable Business Incubator there, and he is a big mover and shaker for green business in New Jersey.

SBI’s goal is to use its expertise and huge network to help green technologies and very early stage green companies succeed big. In a sense we all have a stake in the success of SBI, and probably all have an expertise or know someone who can contribute to green entrepreneurship in New Jersey. Read on.

I called Cloud for several pressing reasons:

• We need people like him badly. No matter how feverishly the environmental community works, its results will be too-little-too-late for humanity unless it fully engages the legions of business people in our free enterprise system.

• We need people like him now. Like it or not, new economic realities and self-interest provide major reasons why millions more people are engaging with the environmental agenda. A broader coalition is building for a green economy and now is the moment to take full advantage of that.

• I’m worried. I’m worried that the deep recession could slow the ability of people to invest capital in the green businesses that will ultimately bring us efficiencies and solutions we won’t find in the publicly-funded or non-profit sectors of the economy.

• I’m really worried. I’m afraid that the nosedive in energy prices will cause a collective amnesia about $147/barrel oil and $4/gallon gasoline, and reduce our investments for resource efficiency and renewables.

MY CONCLUSION AFTER OUR CONVERSATION: Despite the recession (and partly because of the recession), green business opportunities are bigger now and the trend has more momentum than even I’d thought – in New Jersey and beyond. And there’s an opportunity for more people to be involved than ever before – some of whom haven’t even thought about it.

FIRSTLY: Interest in green business is only growing in the midst of our recession. Jonathan Cloud is seeing increasing activity in many areas he’s involved with. *The number of business proposals and people he is seeing continue to grow. *Attendance at the Sustainable Business Institute Conference to be held May 20-22 at FDU is likely to at least double last year’s participation of 200 people. *Clean tech is one of the few areas of the economy that’s still able to attract venture capital investment. “Green business is truly ‘The Next Big Thing,’” he says. “Now more people are really seeing that the way to get the economy going again is to convert to a more sustainable economy. People realize that we can solve not just the economy but the climate.” Cloud was working in the field in the ‘80s when the green trend withered, and he says it’s different this time.

SECONDLY: Plunging energy prices haven’t yet put a damper on the green business activity he’s seeing. In early stage businesses and beyond, “People I’m talking to are still moving ahead with projects with oil in the $50 range. They’re looking at the government incentives and the long-run picture and they’re moving forward,” Cloud told me.

THIRDLY: New Jersey’s array of policies has become very supportive for sustainable business planning, in Cloud’s view. “Things like New Jersey’s Global Warming Response Act, the Energy Master Plan, [and others] create a good foundation,” he said. What needs to follow is quicker progress on implementation, a subject I’ll save for a follow-up post on my discussion with Cloud.


I'll be submitting several more posts about my wide-ranging and timely discussion with Cloud. In the meantime, take a look at one of his blog posts. Even if you're not an entrepreneur yourself, the opportunities to share expertise and get involved abound, with over 500 sustainable businesses in NJ, by one estimate. Now it's time to "grow the next generation of green ventures," Cloud writes. Also take a look at our post titled, "Green Jobs in NJ! Tell Friends."

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