Smart Business

Chapter 1. Small Business, Big Impact

Each day, millions of small businesses across the country provide products and services that enrich our lives. There is the local café that serves melt-in-your-mouth pastries for breakfast, a visionary software firm that develops cloud-based tools that make your business hum, the florist shop that arranges a cheerful bouquet for your friend on the mend, the golf course that offers an oasis where your foursome unwinds after work, and the plumbing company that fixes the leak you discover upon arriving at home.

Small businesses are the heart and soul of the American economy. According to the Small Business Administration, ventures with fewer than 500 employees make up more than 99 percent of US employers and generate about half of private-sector output. They also use a significant amount of energy and resources to create this economic value. Based on ENERGY STAR estimates, the nation’s small businesses collectively spend more than $60 billion annually on energy alone. “That equates to nearly half a billion metric tons of carbon emissions each year that impact climate change,” says Daniel Hill, cofounder and president of the Green Impact Campaign, an organization that provides small businesses with free energy assessments to help them improve profitability and environmental sustainability.

Small businesses spend more than $60 billion a year on energy.

ENERGY STAR, Small Businesses: An Overview of Energy Use and Energy Efficiency Opportunities ...