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Business efforts in sustainability across Thurston County received formal recognition on Wednesday, April 9, during the 2025 Thurston County Green Business Forum & Awards.
The annual event was hosted by the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce and was celebrated at Saint Martin’s University’s Norman Worthington Center.
Altogether, three business entities were named top awardees, while nearly 100 others received “Green Business Designations” for their commitment to water conservation, energy efficiency, waste diversion and low-carbon innovation, according to the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce.
The top green business honorees were Top Rung Brewing for Small Business category, ECOS for Medium Business category and Ameresco for Large Business category, as stated in the The Voice, April 2025 issue of the Chamber.
The organizations were cited for specific field-level practices, confirmed project results and third-party certifications.
Top Rung Brewing was named Small Green Business of the Year for its hands-on sustainability efforts and commitment to different local partnerships in the county.
Founded in 2014 by firefighters Jason and Casey Sobol after winning a local beer competition, the Lacey-based brewery has since grown into a model for “eco-conscious brewing” practices.
The chamber said Top Rung recycles aluminum, glass and paper; composts spent hops and grain; and donates leftover grain to nearby farms for livestock feed.
Additionally, in their brewing process, it includes a heat recovery system that captures warmth “from wort transfers” to preheat water for the next batch in order to produce “more efficiently heat water,” cutting energy use and water waste.
Water reused through their “heat exchanger reaches 140°F” and is cycled back into the hot liquor tank, minimizing the utilization of external resources.
The chamber noted Top Rung works to reduce waste in the taproom and promote customer awareness, though the business admitted “tracking energy consumption across the brewery” is one of the persistent challenges it is experiencing.
Still, the brewery said it's always looking for better ways to conserve resources and educate stakeholders.
“As a business rooted in the community, we believe in being responsible stewards of our resources. Sustainable brewing not only helps the environment, but also improves efficiency and reduces costs, allowing us to continue producing high-quality craft beer while minimizing our impact,” said Top Rung in a statement released by the chamber.
Moving forward, Top Rung Brewing plans to sharpen its “energy monitoring” tools, improve “water conservation methods” even more, and expand customer engagement in its mission for sustainability.
ECOS, a cleaning product manufacturer with national distribution, was named Medium Green Business of the Year.
In 2011, the company opened its Lacey production facility and has since stuck to its goals of “reducing ecological footprint” through lowering waste and emissions, while pushing “green chemistry” forward.
According to the chamber, ECOS manufactures more than 120 plant-powered cleaning products, many of which are certified “Safer Choice by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”
The business entity also holds multiple LEED Zero certifications in energy, carbon and waste.
“We have been carbon-neutral since 2013. … Our facilities are powered by 100% renewable energy, including our own on-site solar panels, and we divert over 98% of our waste from landfills,” said President and CEO Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks said in a statement released by the chamber.
In terms of packaging innovation, ECOS was the first U.S. manufacturer to produce “liquidless laundry detergent sheets,” which eliminate “plastic packaging entirely.”
The chamber said ECOS also uses recyclable paperboard and aluminum bottles for many of its products to cut down on landfill waste and emissions.
To monitor product integrity, each ECOS plant includes an “in-house green chemistry lab” and maintains a “Nasties List” of 500 substances that the organization assured will not appear in any of its formulas.
Aside from the company’s internal work, the chamber also emphasized ECOS’s active role in the wider sustainability community.
ECOS is also part of various recognized global groups, like Science-Based Targets and the Sustainable Palm Oil Round Table. The organization also shares its emissions data with the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which is widely trusted for environmental reporting.
At the same time, ECOS helps push “public policies that help protect human and planetary health” through the American Sustainable Business Network.
“We have set a Science-Based Target to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030,” said ECOS, as it continues to be a “carbon-neutral” and “climate positive” business.
Honored as the county’s Large Green Business of the Year, Ameresco is known as the “leading energy solutions provider,” serving for 25 years now.
The organization, which operates in Spokane and Kent, integrates “energy efficiency, renewable energy, battery energy storage, microgrids, biofuels, geothermal, water management solutions, and more to deliver cost-saving, environmentally-responsible projects.”
The chamber highlighted Ameresco’s projects, such as HVAC system tuning, LED conversions, central plant upgrades and efficient-flow plumbing. Also, through energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs), Ameresco helps clients finance upgrades through guaranteed future savings.
“Much of the work that we do is focused on advancing customers’ decarbonization and resiliency goals while addressing their aging infrastructure that is in desperate need of upgrades,” said Ameresco in a statement.
Ameresco also operates “renewable natural gas (RNG) production plants at landfill and wastewater treatment facilities.”
One recent project it cited was in Boulder, Colorado, where it dismantled a “hospital building” and diverted 90% of waste materials from landfills, which exceeds the “75% goal of the city.”
When it comes to the efforts in transportation, Ameresco installs electric vehicle charging stations, retrofits fleet facilities and builds solar carports.
The chamber said the organization partnered with the Washington State Department of Transportation and has included “LED lighting upgrades” in order to reduce electricity use along roadways and highways.
The company said its objective is to reach “net zero carbon from its own Scope 1 and 2 operations by 2040.”
By 2050, Ameresco plans to reduce 500 million metric tons of carbon across its projects. In 2024, it helped avoid 17 million metric tons of CO₂, the same as cutting 44 billion miles of gas-powered driving.
Meanwhile, the 2025 Thurston County Green Business Forum & Awards was organized in partnership with the Thurston Green Committee. It also covers the Thurston Green Business Expo and an Electric Car Show hosted by the Thurston Climate Action Team.
The event was planned with support from the cities of Lacey, Olympia,and Tumwater, along with Thurston County, the Port of Olympia, Intercity Transit and Puget Sound Energy.
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Boatyarddog
I'd work for of these businesses.
They are ALL GREAT!
Tuesday, April 15 Report this