source: VentureBeat

While 2011 Cleantech investment in 2011 is down from 2010, there is a BIG silver lining.

San Diego Source reports that “In terms of investments made, venture capitalists dealing in clean technology across the country were nearly as active in 2011 as they were in 2010, but the total dollar value of their investments declined around 4.5 percent, according to an Ernst & Young LLP analysis.

The analysis was based on information from Dow Jones VentureSource, and it showed that while there was a decrease from 2010 to 2011, the $4.87 billion invested in 2011 still represented a 29 percent increase from 2009.”

Why is this AWESOME news from my view? In my work on entrepreneurial boards like UVEF, CEDO, US25, as well as advising groups like BoomStartup I work closely with some of the wisest angel investors from groups like Utah Angels, etc. These investors are now much more rigorous in pre-screening startups prior to investment as compared to 2009.  It follows then that if 2011 cleantech investment is up from 2009 that there are  more and better prepared startups receiving funding.

So, things are looking up, not down, for Cleantech!

Do you agree?

For years, PilmerPR has been at the forefront of Public Relations firms counseling cleantech and other clients its Rule #1 for Corporate Responsiblity: “First Be Good, Only Then Talk About Being Good.” While companies outside the U.S. have led the way in Sustainability planning, U.S. based companies are starting to “get the memo.”

Environmental Leader reports on this trend as follows:

“Two-thirds of corporate leaders say management attention to and investment in sustainability rose from 2010 to 2011, according to a global study by MIT Sloan Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group.

In the third annual Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study, sponsored by SAP and Shell, two-thirds of companies also said sustainability is necessary for competitiveness, up from 55 percent a year before.

The study of over 2,800 corporate leaders found 31 percent companies saying that sustainability is contributing to their profits, while 70 percent have placed sustainability permanently on the management agenda. Among the companies investing time and money in sustainability strategy and practices, according to the report, are Duke Energy, CEMEX, BMW, UPS, HSBC, HP, Florida Ice & Farm, Campbell Soup, GE, Nike, Kimberly-Clark, Wal-Mart, and India’s Jain Irrigation.”

For strategic counsel on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & Sustainability email us as info@pilmerpr.com

When I was fresh out of college I served as administrative assistant to an exceptional corporate CEO, Richard “Dick” Smith  of Smith Administrators in Salt Lake City.  Dick used to teach employees, “Rule #1: the customer is always right. Rule #2: when the customer is wrong, refer to rule #1.”

In every position since that time, and as the owner of my own PR firm, I strive for the highest level of customer satisfaction possible. As we round the corner to a new year, my staff and I recommit ourselves to this standard. Over the past year, I have utilized many vendors, service providers and products. Some have impressed me greatly with exceptional customer service — others, not so much. Social Media’s empowerment of the common consumer keeps savvy companies on their toes to excel at service and to monitor their online reputation. (Self-serving comment since PilmerPR offers this service.)

+Good:

Sonny Bryan’s BBQ – Yesterday, I ate at the nearly new Sonny Bryan’s BBQ in Sandy, UT. Dallas residents are familiar with this humble cornerstone of Texas BBQ. Service was fast, ribs were great! Pat’s BBQ in Sugarhouse may still lead the BBQ pack in Utah (they have live Blues bands weekly) and Good Wood may dominate Utah Valley so far, but Sonny service is great!

Brent Brown Toyota – Every car dealer I know of has had unhappy customers at one time or another. Brent Brown did something about that in 2011. They hired a new service manager, and Toyota customer surveys are now tracking near 95% happy customers. Other steps now in place increase the speed with with the dealer responds to customer feedback. PilmerPR is proud to be a part of those efforts.

EP Auto – I don’t trust auto mechanics in general. Sorry, guys! Eric and staff at EP Auto in Orem, UT are an exception. I’ve used them for a decade and see no need to change. They other day, I was prepared to spend $300 on a fix to my wife’s car. When the final bill came, that amount was $150 because we didn’t need to replace what was originally considered the faulty part.

-Not so good:

CocaCola - Last year, I found a piece of clear plastic in my bottle of Coke Zero.  (I love Coke Zero). When I tweeted about the find to test the company’s social media savvy, they tweeted back the same day. Impressive! However, it went downhill from there. Instead of saying, “Mr. Pilmer, we are so sorry for your experience. What would it take to make this right for you?” the company sent me questionnaires and phone calls crafted to mitigate their risk. This made me less happy at each step as they appeared to assume I would sue them at the drop of a hat. They ultimately sent me a letter from what appeared to be a law firm saying there was no evidence wrongdoing on their part.  Give me a break!!! (The local bottler did send a couple of coupons which I still have not used–kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.)

Gold’s Gym – For around eight years, my daily exercise 5 days/week has included cardio or core workouts at Gold’s in Orem, UT. When the gym was new, I really felt there was something special about being a member there. Not so much now. Today, the TV didn’t work on the bicycle I rode; the heart monitor didn’t work on the treadmill I used; and the jets on one side of the jacuzzi haven’t worked for a week.  And, last week there was a Health Dept warning on the jacuzzi. I’ve never seen one of those before.

Have you had a customer service experience that was exceptionally good or bad?

Social Media a now a key component of a well crafted Public Relations strategy. FIND OUT how the following news should affect your PR plans for 2012.

“According to StatCounter’s measurements, StumbleUpon has just surpassed Facebook and now delivers more than half of all social media referral traffic in the U.S. StumbleUpon founder and CEO Garrett Camp tweeted the news this afternoon.

Facebook achieved this goal in April of 2010, but StumbleUpon was already well on its way. At that time, StumbleUpon already gave twice as many referrals as Twitter. StumbleUpon’s user experience is fanciful and fun, but its traffic power for publishers is quite serious. While the other social networks make the headlines, StumbleUpon has been a quiet success story. In light of today’s news, it won’t be so quiet for long.”

Source: ReadWriteWeb

Go Daddy customers seem to be running for the exits based on the company stance on SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). Bleeding thousands of customers a day, Go Daddy PR folks must be pulling their hair out over this one. They might do well to bone up on PilmerPR counsel on Crisis Communications. At first blush Go Daddy supported SOPA in public. Upon further review, they saw the downside and reversed course. Too late?

So, what do you think. SOPA bad dog or SOPA good dog?

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For all of the Obama fallout over the recent Solyndra solar debacle,  renewable energy continues to “heat up” shall we say. Despite the bad PR, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently reported another milestone.  During the first half of 2011, renewable energy sources (biomass/biofuels, geothermal, solar, water, and wind) produced 4.687 quadrillion Btus of energy or 12.25% of US energy production. That’s up from 11.05% in 2010.

Perhaps of greater note is that energy productions from renewable sources in 2011 was 17.9% higher than that from nuclear power.  Renewable energy now equal 79.83% of that from domestic crude oil production, with that gap closing fast.

So, despite the business missteps and public relations stumbles, renewable energy is not only here to stay, but is a real “contender” for industry dominance going forward.

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We have worked for a month to prepare our client Humless for the PR / News storm created by the first serious hurricane of 2011. As expected in August, Hurricane Irene created a news wave of tsunami proportions.  Below is that news release that was viewed by more than 1200 on Business Wire within the first 4 hours of posting. More than 600 postings of the news have proliferated online, 16 bloggers have passed on the news so far, and more than 100 folks have already viewed the fun video we assisted in creating. The sales team says the phones from the east coast are ringing.

[entire press release]

PROVO, Utah–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Humless, LLC (Humless.com) announced today its outreach to coastal states threatened by hurricanes. Ill winds blowing in the Atlantic bring into focus the precarious situation coastal residents face regarding emergency electricity. Humless is offering its Sentinel emergency power system with solar kit for use under the rigor of emergency storm relief efforts to the American Red Cross in coastal areas.

“Every year storms knock out power to large populations in hurricane alley,” said Glenn Jakins, CEO at Humless. “People along the coast need to know there is a safe, portable, renewable power system that doesn’t depend on gasoline, proven scarce after major storms.”

According to a study by the Propane Education and Research Council, half of residents in hurricane-prone states expect to lose electricity for more than 24 hours, but only 26 percent own a generator. Of those who own a generator, many wait too long to see if their generator will start or if they have enough fuel. Many don’t consider that their gas station will likely lose power when they do. See video.

To focus attention on the value of portable power for emergency planning, Humless is offering loaner systems to the American Red Cross for testing in the region. As with other first responders, Red Cross has mobile, reliable power needs to run computers, maintain satellite communications, and to keep teams connected during and after a disaster.

Fortunately, a new generation of Advanced Lithium+ emergency power supply does not rely on fossil fuels and can last for years without a recharge. Humless has produced the first all-in-one alternative-fuel power system to combine a 10-year shelf life and long-lasting charge time with less than 5 percent loss of stored power per year. It can be charged with solar panels, wind turbines, hand cranks, and virtually any available energy source, and still provide versatile output to power everything from a radio to computers to a refrigerator. Totally silent and portable, Humless is safe for indoor use, unlike fuel-burning generators.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) means making a positive difference in the world. Whether that means improving the environment, contributing to community causes, or using your expertise to help those in the greatest need, every company should leave the world better than they found it.

On August 19, World Humanitarian Day, two PilmerPR clients highlighted their efforts to do just that.

Humless, founded by South African immigrant Glenn Jakins, announced its “Light the Night” initiative,  focused on creating affordable clean power systems specifically for NGOs in places that do not have electricity. They are already partnering with Safe Mothers Safe Babies in Uganda and We Care Solar in Nigeria. Both of them help rural medical clinics that do not have any electricity for lighting or medical equipment. See their press release for more information, and watch this video about how their custom units are already making a difference.

Humless also spent the day at Utah County’s Food and Care Coalition, serving food to hungry citizens in Provo. They understand that while they can make a huge difference in developing countries, true humanitarianism starts at home.

PilmerPR’s other client, Timpanogos Hearing & Balance, announced “Hearing for Christmas,” a program that collects lightly-used hearing aids and other equipment to donate to underserved Utah residents. Doctor of Audiology Layne Garrett, Au.D. will also make his fourth trip to Ghana to provide free hearing exams at a school for the hearing impared. Local residents may also donate their used hearing aids for those children. You can also get more information from their press release, and this video of Dr. Garrett and his wife describing their efforts.

PilmerPR is proud to assist companies that step beyond expectations to touch lives around them. If your business is socially responsible, or wants to be more socially responsible, contact PilmerPR today for a free 30-minute consultation.

Today’s UVEF event turned into a “tweet fest” with more than 75 tweets at the time of this article. As the UVEF event chair, I was thrilled with the standing room only crowd of somewhere near 150.

Keynote speaker and serial entrepreneur, John Pestana made a great case today at UVEF’s Top 25 Under 5 awards luncheon for “bootstrap” financing for a new company, letting the first company’s revenues finance growth, rather than more  investors. His formula for making that happen…”sell, sell, sell.” Don’t wait on the product developers for a perfect product. Perfect it as you go and get the revenue flowing to finance growth.

On the BYU directory John Pestana lists his expertise as e-Business, e-Commerce, & model trains. I also know he is an accomplished musician and prolific song writer. John is also the Co-Founder of Omniture, once cited in Forbes magazine as “the juggernaut of Web analytics.”

The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) today announced winners of its 2011 “Top 25 Under Five” Award, spotlighting outstanding Utah entrepreneurs and start-up companies. Award ceremonies were held at Utah Valley University with Adobe, Silicon Slopes and InnoVentures sponsoring the event. UVEF recognized OrangeSoda, an online marketing company with a unique blend of intelligent service and simple technology, as the number one performer among nominees. Today’s winners collectively created 800 jobs and $189 million in 2010 revenue.

“The national Chamber of Commerce recently joined the list of those recognizing Utah as a top five spot to grow an entrepreneurial startup,” said UVEF 2011 chairman Cary Snowden. “Today’s UVEF winners demonstrate that Utah’s business climate is geared to launch world leaders in diverse industries from internet marketing to medical technology to cleantech.   This bodes well for our state’s great economy.”

Serial entrepreneur and mentor John Pestana emceed today’s event. Pestana is most noted for co-founding Omniture, which sold to Adobe for $1.8 billion. However, his tireless efforts support budding entrepreneurs through Utah schools as well as organizations such at BoomStartup and Utah Student 25.

“Utah is prime real estate for growing scalable new business ventures,” Pestana said. “I’m so pleased to associate with these entrepreneurs who take great personal risk in their quest for the American dream.”

This year’s other award recipients are Simply Mac, Qivana, CampusBookRentals.com, SEO.com, Experience Dental Studio, Fifty Films, mediaFORGE, KT TAPE, BizVision, CFOwise, The Sweet Tooth Fairy, iApplicants, Orabrush, Professional Cable, LLC, DrivingSales, ClearCenter, Avantar, Omnia Alliance, Bluehouse Ski Co., Launch Leads, Zylun, Izatt International, BambooHR, and EcoScraps.

This is UVEF’s twelfth Top 25 Under Five competition. UVEF has highlighted more than 200 companies through this competition, including Utah success stories like Omniture, Skullcandy and Xango, among many others.

Deseret News coverage of the event

Daily Herald coverage of the event

Salt Lake Tribune coverage of the event

Our cleantech client Humless is owned by naturalized U.S. citizens who immigrated from Africa. They love the 4th of July and they love the freedom that America represents to the world. Their holiday weekend included a company cricket match, picnic, & sharing the company’s mascot, the Humless electric vehicle (1960 VW bus) with 300,000 parade goers in Provo at the Freedom Festival Grand Parade. Congressman Chaffetz & family caught a ride with Humless. We had a blast putting together this fun video!

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