The Social Venture Network (SVN), the nation’s leading peer-to-peer network of socially responsible entrepreneurs, investors and nonprofit leaders, is awarding Tri-State Biodiesel’s own CEO Brent Baker their prestigious 2009 Innovation Award. Brent has been a pioneer of the biodiesel movement since the fuel emerged in the United States about 15 years ago and is now a nationally known spokesman and educator on biodiesel and related issues.
As a prominent representative of the biodiesel industry, Brent has been actively working on dispelling the “myths” created by certain lobbying groups meant to confuse the public about the benefits and characteristics of biodiesel. “It’s been particularly bad the past two years,” he says, “One [myth] is that biodiesel production and use is worse for the environment, and takes more energy, than petroleum—and that simply is not true…The first 15 years I was involved in this business, I never heard that.”
Sustainability—the continued health and longevity of an enterprise or system—is of particular importance to the SVN, and has always been a platform of Tri-State Biodiesel. We are now collecting waste from over 2,700 restaurants in New York City and Connecticut, and are expanding operations into New Jersey and Oakland in the upcoming year. By focusing on feedstock procurement from a recycling standpoint, as opposed to a commoditizing system, Brent has successfully led TSB to emerge as a profitable leader in the industry. This, along with his tireless role in national biodiesel education and promotion, is what has led to Brent’s selection as an SVN Innovator.
Brent will be receiving the award during the
SVN Fall 2009 Conference
October 22nd - 25th
Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa, La Jolla, CA
To find out more about this event or the Social Venture Network, please visit:
This is an honor that Brent and all of us here at Tri-State Biodiesel pledge to live up to by continuing to carry out our responsibilities toward the realization of a sustainable nation.
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