Restoring Verde Valley is Crucial For Business, Declares Region’s Green Business Bootcamp Cohort
Nestled between Flagstaff and the Phoenix Metro Area, the Verde Valley is home to some of Arizona’s richest agricultural land and most breathtaking scenery. To protect this unique ecosystem, 8 locally owned businesses and nonprofits graduated from the second cohort of the Verde Valley Green Business Bootcamp on June 23rd at the Town of Camp Verde’s Business Resource and Innovation Center
The Graduates include: Wild Heart Farm, MetaTea, Bike and Bean, J&J Antiques, Driscoll Construction, Sedona Public Library, Village Yoga Studios, and the Junipine Resort.
Read about some of our graduates and their projects below!
Interested in launching a project to benefit your business while supporting the Verde Valley region? Reach out to Alicia Peck alicia@localfirstaz.com
Wild Heart Farm - Rimrock
Based in Cornville, owner Kate Watters seeks to nourish the mind and body by providing floral arrangements to Northern Arizona that are locally grown using regenerative, no-till agriculture. Her long-term project is to expand her one-acre experiment as a lab for biodynamic agricultural practices and community education. To make her business more sustainable, Kate replaced an old air conditioner with a new and high efficiency mini-split unit in the builder with her office. Additionally, she is going to participate in water and energy audits to benchmark her resource use and install solar on her farm.
Photo Credit: Wild Heart Farm
MetaTea - Sedona
Owner, Uma Devi, seeks to care for the body by offering specialized teas with specialized yoga routines. Uma decided to do away with the glass containers she has been using for her products and shift to fully recyclable and compostable tubes. This will use less energy in the production and transportation of her packaging and save money! As she shifts to the new packaging, Uma will find other opportunities to source her herbal teas locally, prioritizing organic and biodynamic farms.
Photo Credit: MetaTea
J&J Antiques & Driscoll Construction- Cottonwood
J&J Antiques, owned by Joyce Driscoll, specializes in giving old items new life. Driscoll Construction, owned by Stephen Driscoll (Joyce’s husband) fosters relationships through high-quality products through fine craftsmanship. Together, their businesses are focusing on protecting their watershed. The center of their project is a rain catchment system capable of capturing over 22,000 gallons of rainwater per year. Additionally, they are going to restore the banks of their greenbelt with native species and work towards a solar energy project in the future!
Sedona Public Library - Sedona
The Sedona Public Library sees itself as so much more than a place to rent books. It is a center for community learning. For its Bootcamp project, Tasha Spuches seeks to bring Bootcamp style programming and our partners to the library to engage the public in how it can save money and be better stewards of the region’s natural resources. Additionally, the library will participate in energy and water audits and look into installing electric vehicle charging stations for its patrons!
Village Yoga Studio - Sedona
Fully embracing the notion that businesses can be a place for people to find meaning and connect - the concept of the Third Place - owner and entrepreneur, Marianne Langridge, sees that at the heart of the Village Yoga Studio. Her goal is to connect to her community by deepening her connection to the environment. As part of her Bootcamp project, Marianne is working to implement more energy efficiency measures (door sweeps, switching to LED lighting, etc) and by expanding her locally sourced and sustainable retail offerings. Her longer vision is to turn the commercial plaza into a leading sustainable commercial site for the Verde Valley!
Photo Credit: Village Yoga Sedona
Other participating businesses: Bike & Bean (Sedona) and Junipine Resort (Sedona)
Interested in planning a project for your business or nonprofit in the Verde Valley? Reach out to Alicia Peck alicia@localfirstaz.com today!
