About Us

E4S is a diverse network of over 5000 leaders who are putting the principles of sustainability into action. We started the E4S Network in 2000 with the classic entrepreneurs and have attracted the entrepreneurial thinkers, the change agents from business, government, academic and non-profit sectors of our community.

What we share is a belief that sustainability principles are drivers for new business opportunities and tools to improve our quality of life. Together we are building a sustainable economy in Northeast Ohio that will create prosperity and total community health.

To E4S, success means that there are increasing numbers of businesses and organizations embarking on the sustainability journey. Building a sustainable economy starts one business at a time, one project at at time. To support these projects E4S provides network connections (CONNECT), and sustainability skills learning programs and resources (LEARN). E4S also provides a range of implementation services for individual companies and industry-focused economic development projects (DO).

Working together with the E4S Network, we have begun to propel the new triple-bottom line business economy forward—teaching entrepreneurial business leaders how to integrate people, planet and profit to create a healthier, more prosperous economy and community.

In 2006, E4S helped to create momentum towards a sustainable economy in our region in the following ways:

• Attracted over 1300 individuals to events and workshops that resulted in hundreds of connections to customers, suppliers, project partners, new ideas and new friends of sustainability.
• Presented Joel Makower, the founder of Green Biz.com and a nationally regarded sustainability leader, to a record-breaking crowd at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.Grew our E4S Get Linked Membership program by 65% and our Friends Program by 125%.
• Launched new learning programs and roundtables to teach the region’s leaders the “how to” of sustainability including our signature Sustainability Implementation (SI) Groups.
• Expanded the E4S Network by holding our first Akron Network Event, the building block of a new networking hub in Northeast Ohio.
• Launched a new web site bringing you the latest in sustainability news, events and educational resources. (www.e4s.org)
• Opened the E4S Connection and Learning Center in the Glenville Enterprise Center so you have a place to Connect, Learn, and Do Sustainability.
• Started an innovative Waste=Revenue Roundtable, changing the way we think about waste.