North Myrtle Beach, SC - The Institute for Sustainable Development announced today, June 9, 2011, that the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce CVB achieved Green Plus Certification. It is the first organization in South Carolina to undergo the rigorous Green Plus process and achieve the highest level of recognition within the Green Plus program – one of only 50 smaller enterprises to do so. “Green Plus™ is about making smart business decisions with an eye toward supporting your community, employees, and local environment,” said Chris Carmody, Executive Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development. “The North Myrtle Beach Chamber is helping guide its region toward a more prosperous, sustainable future through leading by example.” Created by the NC Research Triangle-based Institute for Sustainable Development, Green Plus is business improvement program that provides a roadmap on triple bottom line sustainability issues for smaller enterprises across the United States. The North Myrtle Beach Chamber is a thought leader in its community -- it was the first South Carolina Chamber to offer the Green Plus program to its members and believes embracing triple bottom line sustainability will help the business community be more successful today and in the future. “In January 2010, when we announced that our Chamber was the first business association in SC to offer the Green Plus certification program to our members, I stated that the focus of the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce was on a sustainable economy for our city and region,” said Marc Jordan, President and CEO of the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce. Jordan continued, “At that time, we saw Green Plus as a visionary and valuable tool to assist our members in creating a sustainability plan for their business.” “Nothing has changed to lesson our commitment to this vision today, and by becoming Green Plus certified, we are holding ourselves up to our members as an example of how valuable this tool is in remaining focused on sustainable development,” Jordan concluded. Leading the charge in renewable energy, particularly wind energy, the chamber spearheaded the creation of the North Strand Coastal Wind Team, not only to lead the community towards energy independence but with the long term goal of establishing North Myrtle Beach as an example to other cities. Other members of the team include the City of North Myrtle Beach, the Savannah River National Laboratory, Coastal Carolina University’s Center for Marine and Wetland Studies, the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Authority and the South Carolina Energy Office. The chamber will be moving to a new location in the fall and is in the process of updating the new location based on recommendations from a recent energy audit. For more information about Green Plus and the Institute for Sustainable Development visit www.gogreenplus.org. For more information about the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce visit www.northmyrtlebeachchamber.com.

(taken from WNMB website)