New “Green” Roundtables Offer More Companies A Competitive Edge

April 14, 2009 - PRLog -- From Wal-Mart to the Auto Show, product designs and corporate services that improve environmental, social and financial performance are increasingly being pursued to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage. Unfortunately, wading through the shocking growth in eco-labels, guidelines and protocols can be a time-consuming and frustrating endeavor that most companies today can ill afford.

That’s why Five Winds International is launching new regionally based roundtables to help businesses keep up to date on the latest in “green” issues and initiatives across the value chain. The roundtables – serving companies in the Northeastern and Midwestern regions of the US – are modeled after Five Winds highly successful International Product Sustainability Roundtable (PSRT) that has been engaging corporate leaders like United Technology Corporation, SC Johnson and Armstrong World Industries for over 10 years.

“These new regional PSRTs are a natural extension of what we are doing on an international level,” says Five Winds International Roundtable founder, Jim Fava.   “Participation helps companies speed up development of greener products and services by providing them with the tools they need to make sound decisions quickly in order to capture market demand.”

The roundtables will bring together a broad spectrum of companies from across the supply chain – from raw material sourcing through intermediate production and manufacturing to distribution. Guided by Five Winds’ sustainability experts, companies will have the opportunity to analyze sustainability issues and market expectations, determine business implications, act on emerging issues, exchange candid feedback and test ideas for integrating sustainability within their organizations.

The benefits of this approach are well known among current PSRT companies. “Being a part of PSRT provides us with an opportunity to benchmark against leading companies in an informal atmosphere,” explains Wayne Wnuck of United Technology Corporation. “And it offers professional development for our staff along with broadened exposure of sustainability within the company.” Armstrong World Industries’ Jennifer Gaalswyk concurs. “PSRT allows us access to important information that – on our own – we don’t have the time or staff to track. That translates to better decision-making in terms of how we design and promote new products.”

For companies considering the roundtable, two complimentary webinars are being offered to showcase the PSRT approach:

April 29, 10 – 12 EDT.  Product Sustainability:  the Race to Trace Supply Chains  Sign-up at
May 27, 12 – 2 EDT.  Sustainability Dashboards: How to Filter Relevant Issues and Extract the Business Implications.


Twice yearly meetings and quarterly webinars are just two ways roundtable companies benefit. Companies also have access to best practice benchmarking research, quarterly strategic news updates and a website library.

To learn more about Five Winds’ regional PSRTs and register for the upcoming complimentary webinars, visit www.psroundtable.com.  



For more information or to schedule an interview, media are invited to contact:

Libby Bernick
Five Winds International
l.bernick@fivewinds.com
(610) 640-2302, ext. 102

About Five Winds International
Five Winds International (www.fivewinds.com) is a management-consulting firm that helps organizations improve the business, environmental and social performance—the sustainability—of their operations, products and services. Since 1998, our strength has been helping organizations integrate environmental and social considerations into their core business activities and design better products and services, save money, enhance brand reputation, develop better relationships with stakeholder communities, and create new market opportunities.

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Five Winds International (www.fivewinds.com) is a management-consulting firm that helps organizations improve the business, environmental and social performance—the sustainability—of their operations, products and services. Since 1998, our strength has been helping organizations integrate environmental and social considerations into their core business activities and design better products and services, save money, enhance brand reputation, develop better relationships with stakeholder communities, and create new market opportunities.