Members of the spring 2023 cohort receive their certificates as part of the California Green Business Network. Photo by Gabriel Dillard

To a large share of consumers, company culture can be just as important as what a business is selling.

Many people, especially those in younger generations, like to know details about a company like where its products come from, if they’re ethically sourced, how workers are treated and commitments to the environment.

In the lead with charging the green revolution in the U.S. is California, and the Golden State has a vast array of programs, resources and funding to help business owners have a smaller environmental footprint and save money.

The California Green Business Network is a network of local programs operated by counties and cities throughout California to help local businesses conserve energy and water, minimize waste, prevent pollution and shrink their overall carbon footprint.

 

The network recently recognized 14 local businesses at offices of the Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation that were part of the program’s first local cohorts.

The businesses certified for spring 2023 include unCOMPlicate HR, Uplift Balloon Events, La Patroncita LLC, Witrago E. Creations, Ofelia Sandoval Elizondo, Pretty Pickie and Marisol Perez Family Daycare.

The businesses certified in fall 2023 are Belen Sanchez Insurance Agency, Reclaim Technologies, GD.STWRD, Bookish and the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce.

Brooke Wright, programs director for the California Green Business Network, said the main reason businesses should go green is because it will ultimately save them money.

“We have all the leg work already done. If they work with us we can help those items that will be the most sustainable, but also have resources that will help them save money,” Wright said.

Some of the common green business measures the cohorts learn about include using only LED lights, separating waste into landfill, recycling, composting, using certified less-toxic cleaning products, offering employee commuting options and doing business with other green businesses.

Wright said some of the standards are being implemented as laws in different cities and counties, but going green helps them to stay ahead of compliance and avoid being penalized or fined.

The standards are always evolving and there will probably be new ones when the current measures become laws.

 

Karla Elizabeth Osborn, owner and founder of Pretty Pickie Boutique in River Park in Fresno, has always been conscious of living healthy for herself and her children, as well as for the health of the environment.

As her children grow, they help Osborn grow the business.

“They know everything about the business and it’s such a big thing for them be in this part of my life,” she said.

Becoming a green certified business was not that difficult, she said, as she has always been environmentally conscious. The resources from California Green Business Network helped every step of the way.

Osborn, who is originally from Mexico, studied computer science in college, following her passion for coding.

Like in a scene from a romance tale, Osborn met an American tourist in Mexico, they fell in love, got married and she moved to the U.S. in 2009.

In 2016 she started designing leather handbags, creating a line with 15 designs. The business was successful.

After moving to California from Arizona, she decided she still wanted work with leather, but in a different way. She started designing and crafting earrings, necklaces, rings, and custom designs for jewelry out of leather, wood, stone and other materials.

She originally started selling her crafts at farmers’ markets in 2020, vending at six of them through the week and saving money for a storefront.

By August 2022 she had a grand opening in one of the retail spaces at River Park’s parking garage.

Her business continues to do well, with plans to offer free craft and jewelry making classes for senior citizens. That’s just one of the ways she chooses to serve community and sustainability.

“I’m so proud of us,” she said. “We are going green, and I am so happy. I feel we can help,” she said.