With apologies to Liza Minnelli and  Joel Grey,  I’ve have to agree.  And there is some great  news here for project managers.  In a recent article in the Springfield (Ohio)  News-Sun headline, Green Legislation Could Lure Projects to State.  ” The Ohio Senate went “green” in a bipartisan way on Tuesday, May 18, voting 28-4 for legislation aimed at attracting renewable energy projects such as wind farms and the jobs they create to the state.” The legislation provides tax incentives for renewable energy projects.  Ohio is lagging in their amount of renewable energy capacity and part of that problem may be that Ohio tax structure for renewable projects is up to 8 times higher than that of neighboring states.  It gives advantage to those other states competing for “green” projects.

The new incentives would apply to wind and solar projects, clean coal technology, advanced nuclear technology and cogeneration ( the simultaneous production of heat and power in a single thermodynamic process) projects.  It could mean upwards of 700 new jobs in this sector. For us, that’s what it is all about, planet, projects, and putting people back to work.  700 jobs don’t seem like a lot, but multiply that by the number of states who have similar or who will have similar incentives and it is an good start toward recovery of the job market.  Couple that with the indirect benefits of a job (the multiplier) and it could mean an additional 4 or more jobs in support of those workers.  After all, we all need to purchase a pair of Earthkeepers®

Of course, the point is, that every project should have a project manager.  Project managers can keep their ears to the ground and their eyes on EarthPM to see how this “Green Wave” is affecting and will affect the future of our discipline.

That was the title of a recent article in our local paper (The Portsmouth Herald).  It was subtitled “Timberland (one of the companies featured in Top of their Game in our new book) achieves profits while helping the environment.”  It is a good news environmental story for a change and it points out what we are saying, green projects make cents.  According to Timberland sources, “broad corporate social responsibility is the essence of good business.”  We can’t agree more.

“Business success, for us, is defined not not only by the return we earn for our stakeholders but also by the positive impact we have on our community and environment,” said Betsy Blaisdell, Timberland’s senior manager of environmental stewardship as quoted in the article.  Further she says, “Bottom-line results are obviously critical – if we cease to be profitable, we cease to exist – but if we earn them at the expense of our values and commitment to be responsible corporate citizens, we’ve failed.”

Projects like reducing energy, chemical, and resource use at Timberland-owned and operated facilities worldwide are being executed.  Timberland’s goal is also to engage employees, the public, and even challenge competitors to do the same.  Timberland continues to grow in spite of a weak economy.  “Success for us comes from a business model in which commerce and justice are inextricably linked,” Blaisdell explained.  Learn more about Timberland’s environmental stewardship.

We know that project managers are not marketeers, nor vice-versa.

But we also know that project managers need to communicate – in fact some people will assert that communication makes up at least 80% of the PM’s job.  From our perspective of 60 years of PM experience, we agree.

So if you can agree that a project manager’s job is about communication, and that marketing is mainly a form of communications, and if you can further get the idea that it’s important to “market” or communicate the greenality of your project, then we’ve successfully sold you this posting, which is all about a very good artifact we’ve discovered – and we encourage you to download it and have a look.  You’d bee surprised how much this can help you in your project even if you aren’t green, aren’t washing anything, and don’t think you’re into marketing.

If you go here, you’ll be able to download this PDF file from Ogilvy Earth, and understand their principles for communicating the green aspects of your company’s efforts.  This can easily be adapted to help you market the green aspects of your project (its greenality), or actually, any aspect of your project, for any stakeholder.

What you’ll find, should you take our advice and download this piece, is 22 pages of well-illustrated, well-written guidelines for communications in general, marketing communications in particular, and green marketing communications in sharp, specific focus.  Also noteworthy are two short but productive Appendices, one on “Who Monitors Greenwash”, and one called “Further Reading”.  Both are very helpful if you’d like a better understanding of how projects (and of course products and enterprises) make their claims and how those claims are verified.

So take our advice and have a peek at this.  Get in touch with your inner Marketeer.