Sustainability is no longer considered a fringe activity.  Despite the politics around global warming and other issues, “green” corporations and a large segment of the world citizenry have raised the priority of conserving resources in all segments of society.  During these extremely challenging economic times, the call for green products, green business practices and green progress has not waned.  If anything, the momentum for the greening of America is at an all-time high.  In the recent report, “The Greening of Corporate America 2009 – The Pathway to Sustainability - From Strategy to Action,” results confirm that corporations are voluntarily increasing engagement in sustainability initiatives. NADA has made efforts to educate dealers on green issues and LEED continues to provide leadership for green building systems. See The Sustainability Movement.

 Attention to green operations and becoming an active steward of the environment increases top line revenues and bottom line profits.  All other things being equal, studies have determined that numerous consumers will choose to do business with a retailer who is consciously reducing energy consumption and cutting CO2 emissions, one that has a commitment to incorporating sustainable practices into their facilities and operations over one who has no or little focus on sustainability. The greening  dealerships could easily lead to incremental conquest sales.  Even with small and inexpensive strategic initiatives, there are great benefits for the dealer in the cost-saving arena – utility and energy savings in the double digit percentages and government subsidies and favorable tax treatments, to name a few. 

Green Dealer Support was formed with the idea that we could provide help to dealers in their efforts to become “greener”. The company was created by a group of 10 people passionate about auto retail and the environment. It was built on the premise that the green/sustainability movement is complex and will continuously evolve – dealers need help finding their way. When you check out About Us you will see that the diverse backgrounds supply us with many views of how environmental sustainability impacts the dealer world.

Green Dealer Support provides a two-pronged approach for dealers to use in  their efforts to become “greener”. The solution would include: 

Dealership Assessments

Assessment are conducted over a two  day period concluding with a detailed report out;

• Evaluation of the entire dealership identifying opportunities to become “greener”
• Prioritization of the top opportunities that are pre-requisites and low hanging fruit

Implementation

With the Dealership Assessment completed Green Dealer Support moves the organization forward:

• Managing the development and orientation of a dealership Green Team
• Providing clarification, templates, research, resources, etc. for each of the opportunity areas