 Peter Nierengarten first got involved with SSDN in 2012 after he was exposed to the regional network concept at a USDN Annual Meeting in Portland. It was there that he met Maggie Ullman and Rob Phocas, who lured him to a regional meeting the following year in Chattanooga. From there, he joined the steering committee and soon shifted into the role of cochair in 2014. Peter has served as a cochair of SSDN since 2014 and will be transitioning out of his role after the 2016 annual meeting in Atlanta. Peter has been able to help guide SSDN through several changes during this time, but something he’s most proud of is assisting with the standardization and streamlining of membership requirements and a new dues structure for the organization. He hopes this will provide a more sustainable financial future in the long-term.
Peter is still planning to play an active role in SSDN and is excited to encourage growth among the network and develop newer members into leadership roles. He also looks forward to providing a link between USDN and SSDN, and helping those who don’t have access to services USDN provides find a network of similar support within SSDN. Now that Peter will no longer be cochair of SSDN, he’ll have lots of extra time on his hands. Here’s how he plans to fill it: he’s working on several long-term and new initiatives with his team in Fayetteville. A sampling of projects includes:
- Bike Share program – hoping to launch later this year, early next year
- Working with Parks & Rec to revise the City’s landscape master plan to include urban forest protection
- Bicycle Friendly Communities (Silver status) – If they get this, they’ll be one of only a handful of Cities in the south
- Recycling and waste-reduction initiatives: 1) commercial food waste composting pilot project, 2) piloting single stream recycling
- PACE – Property Assessed Clean Energy – looking at bringing in more communities; energy financing tool to allow homeowners to make energy efficiency improvements
- Invasive species management work
- 3 STAR designated community – participating as a pilot program in the STAR 21 program
Peter’s department also just created an unusual merger within the City … they just took over City’s paid parking department. At first this seems like an unlikely partnership, but there’s a ton of opportunity to create more parking for bicycles and alternate transit, look at surface parking areas in a way that could create a more vibrant urban fabric and look at ways parking can influence smart growth strategies.
Good luck with your projects Peter! Thanks for your service at SSDN!
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The 2016 SSDN Annual Meeting is next week, April 6-8! We are looking forward to seeing everyone at our meeting. We will keep an up-to-date meeting packet and agenda on the SSDN website, so you can always access it while you're traveling or in Atlanta. Please let Meg or Maggie know if you have any questions related to the upcoming meeting this week, as we're making final preparations. We'll send out a final email before the meeting date with any up-to-date instructions or information. Thanks so much!
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Southface Institute's Leadership Transition: Dennis Creech, founding executive director of Southface, is transitioning out of the organization in 2016. Since 1978, he has lead Southface as it pioneered science-based solutions in the green building sector and helped build Atlanta as a national leader. He helped lead environmental change in the south. Southface is currently looking for a new leader to take the organization into its next chapter. More information about the leadership search and profile can be found here. To apply for this position or to suggest a candidate, please email Southface@BoardwalkConsulting.com.
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Job Opportunities
Director of Sustainability, City of Orlando, Florida: Primary responsibility is the coordination, development, refinement, administration, integration and communication of sustainability policies and practices for the City of Orlando. Apply online at cityoforlando.net and click on "Jobs." Use Job Number 16-004.
Closes: April 28, 2016
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