Kelley School Green Awards recognize environmentally friendly Hoosier businesses

Earth Day event also fosters corporate ‘green ideas’

By George Vlahakis

The Kelley Green Awards were chosen on the basis of nominations by IU students. Award recipients were selected from the pool of nominations by the Environmental Policy Committee of the Kelley School. Students who nominated the winning firms summarized their reasons at the school’s Earth Day program.

Recognized were Cummins Inc., of Columbus; Bristol-Meyers Squibb, which has operations in Evansville and Mount Vernon; and Buehler Foods of Jasper. The awards were presented to the companies’ executives by John Hill, the school’s associate dean for research and operations.

“The award encourages students to think about companies that exhibit environmental leadership,” said Thomas Lyon, chair of the Environmental Policy Committee and IU professor of business economics and public policy. “It recognizes companies for the actions they’ve taken to improve the environment as a part of their business practices, which is something that often goes unnoticed. Also, it lets the public know that this is something the Kelley School of Business cares about as part of its ongoing educational mission.

“We want to encourage companies like these for taking positive steps,” he added.

In addition to the Kelley Green Awards, 10 IU students presented environmentally friendly, “green ideas” to the audience, which then voted to determine the best idea. More than 40 students submitted ideas.