Economic Development “Summit of Excellence” - Green Technology
The primary purpose of hosting the Summit of Excellence is to gather prominent community stakeholders to facilitate a discussion regarding the City of Riverside’s current conditions, opportunities, challenges, and gather feedback that the City intends to put towards our ambitious Economic Development Strategic Plan for the future development of the City. The City of Riverside structured the Summit of Excellence with industry expert keynotes from the topic areas discussed – Green Technology, Medical, Aerospace, Arts & Tourism, and General Technology – our vision of centers of excellence. In the area of green technology, agriculture & sustainability, key feedback and commentary included:
- The city needs to champion the OASIS project
- Review waste-disposal systems to leverage opportunities built from waste
- Landfills into assets
- Creation of a Riverside “Farmer’s Market” App
- Dedicated green business attraction for green jobs
- Organization of non-profits to allow for easier networking
- Unify development in the Inland Empire for “food technology” industry
- Phyto Nutrient Market ($68B/year)
- Processing facility
- Utilizing barrier to entry populations to generate workforce
California Green Business Network
The City of Riverside partners with the California Green Business Network, a free program for businesses of all sizes and from different sectors to operate more sustainably and receive public recognition for their efforts. Becoming a Certified Green Business means implementing practices that reduce energy and water consumption, prevent pollution, divert waste from landfills and assist staff in creating a cleaner healthier environment.
California Air Resource Board
CARB is charged with protecting the public from the harmful effects of air pollution and developing programs and actions to fight climate change. In 2021 CARB opened a 400,000-square-foot facility on a 19-acre campus in Riverside, CA. It will be the largest true zero net energy facility of its type and has the highest sustainability goals including Zero Net Energy, CALGreen Tier 2, and Zero Carbon. More than 400 employees work in this one of kind world class lab and research facility.
