Green Impact / Dan Connors & Emma Griffith

https://greenimpacttech.com/

A great time interviewing Dan Connors (Not related :)) and Emma Griffith from Green Impact! 
Their software connect with Saleforce and Specright to help you with your reporting and improving your "green impact" 

Check out our sponsor Orora Packaging Solutions 
https://ororapackagingsolutions.com/

https://specright.com/ 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1329820053/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=corygat

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-connors/

I'm here to help you make your packaging more sustainable! Reach out today and I'll get back to you asap.

This podcast is an independent production and the podcast production is an original work of the author. All rights of ownership and reproduction are retained—copyright 2022.

Transcript

Cory Connors: 0:31

Welcome to Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors. Today's guest are repeat guests, even though you haven't heard them before. We had some technical issues on the last recording when we recorded at the spec right convention, but I'm very excited to have Dan Connors and Emma Griffith back from Green Impact. How are.

Dan Connors: 0:51

Oh, we're doing great Corey. Thanks for having us back and I'll, I'll, I'll use my joke that I used last time, , I know if I hear of Always good to connect with another

Cory Connors: 0:58

Connors. Yes. Yes. I, this is in my whole career of 20 five years. I've never met another Connors other than my. Close family. So at least not one that was spelled correctly like yours. Correct.. So great to meet you in, in Nashville. Let's talk about that a little bit. Let's talk about, before we get to our, our histories and stuff let's talk about this, the spec right? convention . Emma, what was your experience like?

Emma Griffith: 1:27

I had the best time. It was my first time in Nashville. And spec right put on such a phenomenal event. I learned a lot. There was also a lot of different opportunities for networking. And the events at night were fun. Like going out to Luke Bryan's bar, that's something I don't think I'll ever get to do again. So I had. I had a fabulous time. Dan, I hope we can go back next year regardless of where it is that this is mine publicly.

Cory Connors: 1:54

You heard it here. First folks. How about you, Dan?

Dan Connors: 1:56

Yeah, I, I would really echo what, what Emma said. I thought it was a really good event you know, was able to allow us to connect with some of the, you know, the people that are in the space that, you know, we're really trying to work. I also thought it was a very educational session. You know, spec Wright definitely put on a, a good

Cory Connors: 2:13

show. Well said. And totally agree. It's an important aspect of sustainability and I think a lot of people don't understand how critical this is going to be in the future. But let's get back a little bit to, to your backgrounds. Dan, we'll start with you. Can you tell us a little bit about where you came from , and then how you ended up at Green Impact?

Dan Connors: 2:35

Sure. So, you know, I think it would really start kind of in the 2021 year I was working , at another consulting firm. And that had a, had a relatively large Salesforce practice at it, and we were really looking for, you know, a bit of a niche or a focus and having strategic planning meetings and really trying to figure out what we wanted the direction to be. And at the same time, you know, I was kind of having some of those personal dilemmas as well. I had been working at that consulting firm for 15 plus. All really in the c r M space, helping companies sell more and market better and do all of those things. And while it was great you know, I was really looking for a, a bit of a more impactful role, something that allowed me to, you know, also help with some of the, the causes that I'm a little bit more passionate about. So, you know at, at that time, Salesforce ended up releasing a product called Net Zero. And that was really pivotal, pivotal in our decision to create Green green impact and really focus on helping organizations to implement net NetZero cloud and ultimately achieve their their carbon reduction goals.

Cory Connors: 3:37

Excellent. And I want to, I wanna focus on that in, in a little bit here, but let's, let's get Emma's background first so the audience can know a little bit about.

Emma Griffith: 3:46

Sure. So I serve Green Impact in a business operations capacity. So I recently obtained my M B A so I do all things related to congratulations. Thank you, . Yeah, I'm glad it's done. But I serve. The organization in a business capacity, and I found my way into sustainability. I would say a couple years ago I actually wrote a book about an island in Maryland that is endangered due to the direct impacts of climate change. So a rising sea levels and erosion. Wow. Yeah. I went there first summer. I got a grant from my undergraduate university to go and essentially I went and lived on the island for six weeks, got to know the people. And the book is essentially a collection of their interviews. I went through and put everything in chronological order. So it, you know, flows really nicely and it reads well. But that's something that's really at a deep impact on me, and that's my big why as. Why I'm involved in this space and why I'm so passionate about it. Every time that I go back to the island, I see the continued impact of climate change. Things aren't getting better, they're getting worse. And so that's, that's what keeps me

Cory Connors: 4:54

going every day. Such an important point. Thank you for making it. We all need to have a why and to be truly motivated in this, in this space and in any space that we're passionate about. I remember at the last sustainable Packaging Coalition event, Paul Nowac the president talked about his. Why and what he's doing and and why he's so motivated to improve the environment. And it's, it was really impactful. I think we all kind of took a step back and said, what are we doing? And, and, and why? And and so well said. Thank you so much. Thank you. Yeah. Let's, let's talk about Green impact , and how you're, you're related to Salesforce and potentially Specright and all of those things and how they all work together. Dan, can you, can you fill us in on the details of the company?

Dan Connors: 5:46

Sure. So as you mentioned, we are we are a Salesforce partner that, , helps organizations to implement NetZero Cloud. Now, that can mean a lot of different things to different organizations., we bring a little bit of a different spin to the implementation. We try to heavily rely on the sustainability skills that we have within the organization because it's not just a technical implementation , of the, , Salesforce solution. There's also. Some real sustainability knowledge that needs to go in to the project to help organizations to really decode the data that they've uncovered and you know, try to translate all of the data that we collect into a decarbonization plan and, and ultimately, , help them figure out what are the, the right next steps , to reach their carbon reduction.

Cory Connors: 6:30

I didn't know it was that detailed. So you're actually going in and analyzing their data. Can you give us an example of a kind of a company that would come to you and, and kind of how the process works and, and maybe Emma, that, maybe this is you or, or Dan, whoever wants to take this one.

Dan Connors: 6:45

Sure. Yeah, I, I could probably chime in on that. Sure. So, you know, it is very different within very different organizations. Lots of different organizations are at different places in their journey to sustainability. But the toll of itself is really you know, a data platform. So it's, it's helping organizations to aggregate all of their disparate data from various systems and compile all of that into one place. Where you can go and analytics to help, really figure out , what is what within your organization. One of the onboard ANA analytics is a building energy intensity, so it allows you to very,, easily look at your building portfolio and understand what the energy uses within any of those buildings are also allows you to compare that data versus some of the industry standard information that's on board within NetZero cloud. To really benchmark where versus other organizations or buildings that are of the same shape and size and, and

Cory Connors: 7:39

general use. Oh, that's really cool. So it can give you kind of a primer starting point to, to say, okay, we're, we're way behind. We need to catch up, or we're, we're in pretty good shape. Is, is that kind of the, the idea.

Dan Connors: 7:55

Yeah, a absolutely right. So, so not, like I said, not only comparing against, you know, the, the other things in the industry, but also comparing within your, your a asset portfolio in and of itself, right? Yeah. Organization may have 12 buildings, and when they look at one building, it is the, you know, it's the, it's the, the sore thumb that's sticking out, right? And that leads them to understand that maybe that's a building that we need to either invest in more for some, you know e e efficiencies or maybe we need to, you. Release that building from our asset portfolio and move on to a more energy efficient facility.. Cory Connors: That's a, I think in this whole thing is with scope one, scope two, scope three reporting. You're going to be looking inward first and then outward second, or maybe at the same time.. Emma, can you talk to us a little bit about your role there and, and what your focus is? And again, congrats on a recent mba. That's not an easy.

Emma Griffith: 8:47

Thank you. Yes, it was a one year program, so it was both fast and Furious. But yeah, so a lot of what I do we work very closely with Salesforce, so a lot of what I do goes back to Salesforce and maintaining relationships with people in that field, but then also being involved in events regionally. So we're based out of Pittsburgh. I'm in West Virginia. So going out to events there, getting to know people in both the sustainability and the tech spaces because there's overlap between the two. Also traveling, you know, even further, Dan and I were in San Jose for a GreenBiz conference in October. We survived an earthquake together.

Cory Connors: 9:26

We made it. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Yes, I remember this. Yeah.

Emma Griffith: 9:29

We have lived to tell the tale, thankfully,. So it's a little bit of everything working at a startup. That's, you know, what I expected. And there's awesome days. There's some days that are more challenging than others, but that's what keeps me going. I like things to be constantly evolving and changing. And so yeah, my job is a little bit of everything. That's what I tell people.

Dan Connors: 9:51

Yeah.

Cory Connors: 9:51

Well that seems to be the MO for operations and that seems to be very true. You kind of have to be a, a, a Jack or a Jill of all traits. Yeah. And to, to be knowledgeable of many, many things. So very important part. So what's, what's the future look like for Green Impact, Dan? And anything that you're really excited about or

Dan Connors: 10:13

focused on? Yeah, so, you know, a, a, a couple of things actually. So we tech we just had our one year anniversary yesterday. Yay. Yeah. Congratulations. Completed our first year in business. Very excited to be you know, steamrolling into year. You know, I, I continue to be excited about the relationships that we have with Salesforce. And you know, what, that continues to bring us. I also think, you know, you mentioned spec spec right ear earlier, right? We are really excited about the potential relationship with spec, right? And what, you know, the collaboration of Salesforce Green Impact and spec Right? Can bring together. We really think that the combination can help organizations to really isolate their emissions for any of the particular products. And that's something that we're seeing it, it really a demand for in the market. You know, consumers nowadays ha want to have the option of choosing a more sustainable product, even if there's a slightly increased price point of that. So, you know, being able to really dive into an organization's data and figure out what the, the carbon footprint of one particular product is, is something that, you know, the collaboration of, of the three of those organizations can help organizations to do. And then ultimately that will just flow to their customers. You know, being able to make a more sustainable purchasing decision.

Cory Connors: 11:26

Time in and time. Yes. Incredibly valuable and it seems like what spec Right is saying is very true. The, the spec first approach is the future, and it is frankly going to be necessary to provide all of this data to companies like yours and, and Salesforce to, to report to the, the agencies that are gonna demand. This information from all of these companies, so very

Dan Connors: 11:55

interesting. Yeah. And, and that the reporting space is evolving so quickly as well, right? There's, there's so many frameworks that are out there now that we're helping customers get their data into. But again, those frameworks are all very quickly evolving and the technology that's supporting those is also evolving fairly, very quickly. So we're excited to see what, you know, what's in store for the next the next couple of.

Cory Connors: 12:16

Yeah. A potential expansion to Paris we discussed. Yeah.. . Dan Connors: Well, we would at Paris Event For sure., Cory Connors: I think it was Paris Packaging Week is what we're talking about for the listeners. I just got back and they were asking me about it and I said, well, you should go next year because lots of people over there need green impact. And they said, okay. So Emma, are, are you on board without any, any stories that you wanted to tell us before we call this one? So

Emma Griffith: 12:47

many stories, so many, truly, so many stories that I can share. Yeah. One that I think speaks to the company a lot is we are technically a remote first workforce. We're at about 12 people now. I think we've. Added a few positions lately, so I believe we're at 12. Yeah. And some of us are based in the greater Pittsburgh region, but some of us are located nationally. But around the holidays, Dan flew in our fully remote workers so that we could all work together. Have a couple meals together. We did some volunteering together. I think that really speaks to the culture that we have here at this company. It was so cool to be able to see some of my coworkers who were formerly, you know, like little blips on my screen. I'm like, oh my gosh, like you're here in the flat . We're so used to that means of communication these days, which is. is really beneficial in a lot of ways, like the way that we're able to do this right now. But I think it's also important to have that like person to person human connection. That's something we definitely prioritize. At Green Impact we have met clients and potential clients in person as well. And I think. That's probably one of my favorite green impact stories to share. Yeah. All my friends were jealous when I told them about that on holidays,

Cory Connors: 13:56

so. Well, nice work, Dan. That's important.

Dan Connors: 13:59

Good job. Yeah., I like the joke, you know, a lot of people, as I'm telling them about the organization, they're like, oh, what do you do? Do you plant trees? And I said like, I like them. Yes, we actually did, like, that's what we did to volunteer. We went out and plant. Harvested seeds and planted the trees. So no, we're not doing that as a business, but it's something that we are passionate about. You know, in, in general, anything that we can do to help, help the environment is what we're, what we're

Cory Connors: 14:20

here to do. I enjoy seeing people actually doing the things that will help the planet and not just talking about it. Not just saying, yeah, we're gonna be more sustainable, or this or that. Actually going out and. Trash from a beach or, or planting trees. So if you're listening, make sure you make that part of the culture of your company and , follow Green Impacts Lead and Aurora's lead, because that's, that's what we have to do, I think. Yeah. Find

Dan Connors: 14:47

a way to volunteer.

Cory Connors: 14:47

It's important. Yeah. So key. Well, thank you both for your time and your wisdom and, and your patience for the last time. We, we tried this and it didn't work out so well. I would like to give a shout out to Mr. Adam Peak who couldn't be here today, but was on the last call, , and I think this this episode will probably play on both platforms, which will be wonderful. So you'll get twice the impact, if you will. Perfect. So thank you. Appreciate it, and, and thank you. For the listeners, if you're listening, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. And thank you Landsberg Orora for your sponsorship

, Dan Connors: 15:24

and check us out@greenimpacttech.com. Yes,

Cory Connors: 15:26

thank you Dan. Thank you Emma. Well said. And I'll put that in the show notes too so everybody can click on it. Thank you. Cool.

Dan Connors: 15:33

Thanks

Emma Griffith: 15:33

everyone. Thanks Corey.