For Immediate Release:
May 26, 2022
Two Montgomery County Organizations Jointly Win $200,000 Federal Prize from The Department of Energy
One Montgomery Green and Bethesda Green to Launch Community Engagement Program to Advance Clean Energy Innovation in Wheaton, MD
(Wheaton, MD) – One Montgomery Green and Bethesda Green today announce they have received one of 18 Phase One prizes of the Inclusive Energy Innovation Competition, awarded nationally by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Awardees were selected from more than 200 submissions across the country. This project will combine Bethesda Green’s nationally recognized, sustainability-driven entrepreneurial programming with One Montgomery Green’s proven community engagement and environmental outreach strategies to advance climate and energy technologies in Wheaton, Maryland for the benefit of everyone in Montgomery County.
Relying on extensive community engagement efforts, this project will prioritize the development and expansion of entrepreneurial programs and access to resources, specifically for the community in and around Wheaton, MD, while simultaneously reducing the barriers to equal opportunity and furthering efforts to promote the Justice40 Initiative. Additional information can be found in the official announcement from the Department of Energy, which includes praise for this exciting project from Senator Van Hollen and Congressman Raskin.
“Innovation through increased entrepreneurial activity and environmental sustainability is at the heart of Bethesda Green’s work, enhancing resiliency throughout Montgomery County,” noted Adam Roberts, Executive Director of Bethesda Green. “We envision an inclusive and sustainable economy built around climate-related innovation, sustainable energy programs, climate sensitive transportation and expansion of electric vehicle use and solar energy implementation – all this work creating good green jobs in Montgomery County.”
Wendy Howard, Executive Director of One Montgomery Green, added, “Every One Montgomery Green initiative to promote sustainable communities begins with a foundation of diversity, justice, equity, and inclusion woven throughout the process. This award will enable us to create real impact and change for the residents of Wheaton, involving them directly in our shared, ambitious efforts to make our community more climate-friendly and resilient.”
The two organizations, close collaborators in creating sustainable urban ecosystems, will foster grassroots innovation related to just and equitable clean energy deployment through activities focused on community-centric networks and bottom-up solutions for sustainable development. These activities will be designed by and for the communities involved, and this project will raise awareness about and directly assist Wheaton-based innovators to secure DOE and other federal, state, local government, or private funding to conduct R&D and deploy their innovations.
As part of this project, One Montgomery Green and Bethesda Green will: engage the community and conduct work in both English and Spanish; create an equitable and actionable carbon reduction roadmap; expand entrepreneurship and green jobs training; increase the number of Wheaton businesses that are B Corp and Green Business certified; collaborate with the Montgomery County Green Bank to promote building energy upgrades; encourage community solar initiatives; facilitate community collaboration to create more local green space; and enhance availability of clean energy transportation options.
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Bethesda Green, a 501(c)3 non-profit founded in 2008, works to address environmental challenges locally by creating a sustainable, green community, built collaboratively through citizen engagement, environmental education, government partnership and innovative business development. Through our Be Green Living program, we partner with local public and private entities to address environmental challenges through projects that enhance the quality of life for local residents such as access to composting, recycling, and expanding raingardens and sustainable methods of transportation. Through our Be Green Business program, we help existing local businesses through B Corp certification and manage the Innovation Lab, which supports leaders who are building for-profit business models around innovative and sustainable solutions to tackle environmental and social challenges. Program areas of focus include: 1) Environmental Innovations: ClimateTech / BlueTech / Natural Resources / Circular Economy / Sustainable Fashion, and 2) Sustainable Food Systems: AgTech / Food & Beverage / Packaging / Manufacturing / Distribution / Retail.
One Montgomery Green (OMG), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, is the successor organization resulting from a merger in 2017 between GreenWheaton, Inc. (GW) and Silver Spring Green, Inc. (SSG). Its mission to catalyze the County’s transition to a sustainable economy, facilitate environmental responsibility among businesses, residents, and government, and increase the quality of life for all Montgomery County residents. Every OMG sustainability initiative begins with a foundation of diversity, justice, equity, and inclusion woven throughout the process, which reflects the eclectic background and culture of the residents of Montgomery County, MD. OMG is dedicated to engaging the community in education and outreach that promotes sustainable communities with a “visibly green” and healthy environmental footprint. In an effort to empower and educate the public to better adapt and mitigate the impact of climate change, OMG has two main projects; a climate resilience project whose goal is to engage and educate communities by creating an assessment tool and a response plan that addresses climate change vulnerabilities, resilience, and adaptation; and the Clean Headwaters Program, a six- session course offering high school students an opportunity to perform hands-on community science to determine the extent of the plastics pollution in two Montgomery County streams.
Contact:
Wendy Howard, CC-P
240-424-0317
wendyh@onemontgomerygreen.org