Sustainable Community Award for a large community to the City of Philadelphia

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) and Siemens Corporation has presented the 3rd Annual Siemens Sustainable Community Award for a Large Community to the City of Philadelphia.  The award recognizes Philadelphia’s outstanding efforts to achieve complementary economic, environmental and social goals, and to improve overall quality of life for residents.  In April, BCLC and Siemens announced the three finalists for the award: Atlanta, Dallas, and Philadelphia.

“We’re honored that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Siemens recognize the great strides Philadelphia has made during our first year of implementing Greenworks, our sustainability plan,” said Mayor Michael A. Nutter.  “Our progress shows that blending federal and state support with city commitment and the drive of the private sector can result in big accomplishments, even during a recession.  We’re encouraged by the momentum behind our sustainability efforts, and we look forward to aggressively continuing our work to promote market transformation in energy efficiency retrofitting and growing the green economy.” 

“The awards highlight successful public-private partnerships and showcase national models for sustainable development,” said BCLC executive director Stephen Jordan. “We congratulate the City of Philadelphia for their inspiring achievements and look forward to sharing these examples with many companies, chambers, and their partners.” 

“Siemens is a part of the fabric of this nation,” said James E. Whaley, Vice President of Corporate Communications & Marketing at Siemens Corporation in Iselin, N.J.  “We’re helping blaze a trail for America’s new energy economy as well as strengthening the communities where we do business.  The City of Philadelphia shares that same vision of a sustainable future and has demonstrated both exceptional commitment and outstanding results.  On behalf of the more than 60,000 employees of Siemens in the U.S., we salute these three communities for their groundbreaking efforts and honor them as role models for other cities and towns across the nation.”

Alan Greenberger, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and Executive Director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission accepted the award on behalf of the City of Philadelphia last night at BCLC’s National Conference on Corporate Community Investment in Houston, Texas.

“Selecting Philadelphia as the recipient of the Sustainable Community Award for a Large Community showcases how prioritizing sustainability has improved both our environment and our economy,” said Mr. Greenberger.  “We’re training our workforce to install solar panels and cool roofs, and we’re putting Philadelphians to work weatherizing homes and installing green stormwater management infrastructure.  We thank the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Siemens for celebrating the hard work and dedication of the City of Philadelphia and our partners, workers, and residents.”

Details about the award and past winners are on BCLC’s Web site at http://www.uschamber.com/bclc/sustainablecommunity. 

Further information on the City of Philadelphia’s Greenworks Philadelphia sustainability plan can be found at www.greenworksphila.org.

The first annual Greenworks Progress Report will be officially released at a community event in Eastern North Philadelphia on May 26, 2010.   

Aviva Kievsky

Senior Press Aide

Office of Mayor Nutter

(215) 686-6210

(215) 686-2170- fax