Purpose
Members of the Eugene community desire a healthy economy that conserves the environment while providing equitable access to jobs with fair wages, benefits and other services crucial to families. Programs and policies that simultaneously achieve economic, social, and environmental well-being are often called "triple bottom line” initiatives. Mayor Piercy seeks to make Eugene a  “center of excellence” in triple bottom line business and job development through her Sustainable Business Initiative.

Task Force
A 16-member citizen Task Force lead the SBI. The Task Force had the responsibility of gathering ideas from local citizens and experts and making recommendations to the Eugene City Council on how to support and expand triple bottom line business practices and products.  A Technical Advisory Committee supported the work of the Task Force by providing information and participating in Roundtables.

Timeline
From summer 2005 through winter 2006, the Task Force gathered information from the private and public sectors, outside experts, and the general public through a series of sector or issue specific Roundtables, meetings with community groups, and an online-survey. During the spring of 2006, the Task Force developed and finalized recommendations that were presented to the City Council in Oct, 2006.

Roundtables, Community Meeting, Public Survey
Roundtables were held on topics such as organic and natural foods, green building, biofuels, renewable energy, financing, and technical assistance.  The roundtables sought to gather key players from the sector as well as outside experts to identify ways to enhance sustainable business and job development opportunities in the sector. Meetings with community organizations were also held, as were a series of "open houses” to gather ideas from the general public. An online survey provided the general public with another opportunity to provide feedback.