AHFA extends deadline for Sage Award to Nov. 5

Questions about profit have concerned some interested in the applying for the eco-friendly contest

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, September 17, 2010

HIGH POINT — The American Home Furnishings Alliance has extended the deadline for entering the 2010 Sage Award for environmental leadership to Nov. 5.

The entry form and guidelines are posted at www.SageAward.org. Manufacturers, retailers and suppliers to the residential furnishings and bedding industries are eligible to enter.

Now in its third year, the Sage Award program recognizes companies whose environmental leadership illuminates a pathway of improvement that others in the industry can follow, according to the AHFA. Companies applying for the award should be able to demonstrate measurable progress in reducing their environmental footprint, expanding their positive social impact and operating a profitable business.

"The last point has presented some difficulty for a number of businesses that have expressed interest in this year's Sage Award program," said AHFA CEO Andy Counts. "We want to assure companies that this part of the entry application does not require confidential financial information. Also, its purpose was never intended to be a 12-month assessment of profitability. Rather, our judges look for information to help them assess the long-term health of the business."

There is no requirement that an entrant must have been profitable over the past 12 months or any specific period, an AHFA official said.

The online entry form includes two main sections: an executive summary describing the company's primary business objectives and environmental accomplishments, and a detailed questionnaire that requests information about sustainable business practices, environmental accomplishments and social impact with specific examples. Eighty percent of a company's overall score comes from these two sections.

Finally, the entry form asks applicants to describe "savings and/or profitable growth experienced as a result of sustainable practices."

"Unfortunately, we have discovered that some companies felt this statement meant that they had to experience ‘profitable growth' in the previous 12 months in order to be eligible to apply for the award," Counts said. "Of course, we recognize that the unprecedented conditions in our national economy have made it difficult for everyone over the last 24 months. But this should not discourage a strong environmental leader from entering the 2010 competition."

There is no cost to enter the Sage Award competition.

Up to three 2010 Sage Award finalists will be honored during the Dec. 1-2 All-Industry Sustainability Summit at the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park in Asheville, N.C. The finalists will receive a complimentary registration to the summit, and the winner will be announced at an awards reception Dec. 1.

The Sage Award is sponsored by the American Home Furnishings Alliance and Cargill's BiOH polyols business. Applicants do not need to be AHFA members nor users of Cargill's BiOH polyols to enter. Neither AHFA nor Cargill are represented on the judging panel. The High Point-based accounting firm of Smith Leonard will tabulate the results.

In addition, the judging panel has been expanded to include experts both inside and outside the residential furniture industry. They include Ray Allegrezza, editor-in-chief of Furniture/Today; Mary Frye, president of Home Furnishings Independents Assn.; Heather Gadonniex, managing partner with MindClick SGM, a San Francisco-based consultancy specializing in sustainable business; Leslie Guevarra, associate editor at Greener World Media; and Susan Inglis, executive director of the Sustainable Furnishings Council.

Also, Robyn Griggs Lawrence, editor-in-chief of Natural Home magazine; Jean Nayer, former editor-in-chief of Woman's Day Special Interest Magazines and author of "Green Living by Design"; Richard Prisco, professor of industrial design at Appalachian State University; Ryan Trainer, president of the International Sleep Products Assn.; and Steve Walker, assistant director of the Furniture Manufacturing and Management Center, North Carolina State University.