Herb Crowther - Midwest Biofuels
Nominated by: Deirdre McDonnell, Atlas Architectural Services
The following is my nomination for Herb Crowther for the Fuel Efficient Transportation Award. With so many pieces of the pie to select from, it is hard to narrow down which category to nominate Herb Crowther. I suppose his latest accomplishments with Midwest Biofuels seems the logical choice. But come tomorrow, depending on his whim, there might very well be a completely different budding idea, destined to become the next project or company. But no matter the "what" Herb is working on this week, or the "who" he is talking to, Herb is no doubt actively engaging sustainability. He is one of those rare people who can respect the good work of today, while at the same time expect greater things tomorrow.
With unwavering drive, Herb wants what`s best for Greater Cleveland, our region, the nation and the world as a whole. And with time, what Herb wants, Herb gets!
Nominated by: Ed Morrison, Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-OPEN)
This letter recommends Herb Crowther to receive the E4S Celebrating the Champions of Sustainability award. Herb has done as much as anyone in our community to identify sustainability and energy-related opportunities and rally an entourage of other people across the civic spectrum to take action. While I was executive director of the Center for Regional Economic Issues at Case, an economic development think tank, we hosted a weekly forum on Open Source Economic Development. This open source approach encourages civic entrepreneurs to explore new ventures and push hard to build the networks they need to launch their ideas. This forum provided a public venue for panel discussions Herb produced and moderated highlighting the intersection of economic development and Northeast Ohio’s vehicle technology, supply chain economy and sustainable transportation opportunities.
The mix of large corporations such as Lubrizol, Penske Logistics, Park-Ohio and Penton Media; entrepreneurs from Comsense Technology and Banyan Technology; universities including Case, John Carroll and the University of Akron; and economic development intermediaries such as the Columbiana Port Authority, the Ohio Rail Development Commission and the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition that presented, and the diverse audience that participated, reflects the economic landscape of our region and the new way of incubating business formation in the civic space. These panel discussions played to a full house every time, generated rich discussion, and rapidly produced an “energetic” network. This put a variety of other transportation and energy forum sessions into play including Phil Lane’s seminal “Carbohydrate Bridge to the Hydrogen Economy” on the history and economic potential of biofuels, and the subsequent founding by Herb, Phil and others at REI and Case of the New Energy Roundtable.
As REI’s executive director I was proud of the connections that were made, but most importantly, the actionable opportunities this grass roots network produced. Within five months of Phil’s arrival at REI, Herb and Phil formed Midwest BioFuels, LLC and in July they opened the first retail biodiesel pump in Greater Cleveland. Already, further collaborations are forming with major corporations, entrepreneurs, university labs, agriculture organizations and workforce development agencies to collaborate with Midwest BioFuels to produce biofuels, deploy alternative fuels in school bus and commercial trucking fleets, and jointly develop biofuel additives, conditioners and feedstocks.
Herb demonstrates the qualities of civic entrepreneurship that is transforming our region: a clear vision, deep practical experience, collaboration, relentless optimism, and a dogged determination. By recognizing his work with Phil in starting Midwest BioFuels, E4S will "spread the gospel" of the importance and value of civic entrepreneurs to Northeast Ohio’s transformation into a nationally recognized leader in sustainable business practices.
