Title:Putting the "Green" in Landscape Management

October 7th - 9:30 am

Biography:

Christy Webber is president and founder of Christy Webber Landscapes, a $20 million Chicago-based landscape contracting firm. The firm has more than 250 employees providing landscape design, construction and maintenance to residential, commercial and municipal clients. In 1998, Christy became the first woman in the state of Illinois to become a Certified Landscape Technician (CLT). She has subsequently been inducted into the University of Illinois at Chicago's Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame and selected as the U.S. Small Business Administration's Small Business Week 2009 "Entrepreneurial Success of the Year." Her company has received numerous distinctions as well, such as repeated inclusion on both Inc. Magazine's "Inner City 100" list of America's fastest-growing urban businesses and Lawn and Landscape Magazine's Top 100 companies.

Course Title: Putting the "Green" in Landscape Management

Course Description: Christy formed Chicago Greenworks in 2006 to develop a 12.5 acre eco-industrial park named Rancho Verde. Christy Webber Landscapes' Rancho Verde headquarters has since won numerous awards for its innovative, environmentally sensitive approach to the redevelopment of a brownfield site. The building is certified LEED Platinum, the highest classification granted by the US Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

The development and construction of Rancho Verde led to a strategy of ongoing reevaluation of the company's operations and exploration of more sustainable alternatives. From building a green headquarters to utilizing propane mowers, Christy Webber is meeting the challenge of greening the "green" industry head on ??" and she's doing it with a healthy bottom line. She'll share her sustainable strategies for operating successfully in this new economy.

Previous speaking engagements: New England Grows Conference, 2009 MidAm Conference, 2009 & 2010

Education: University of Denver, Bachelor of Science, Education

Schedule subject to change