HIGH POINT, N.C.—Mitchell Gold, co-founder/chairman of the home furnishings manufacturing and retail brand Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, announced that the company has become the first corporate sponsor to reach the top level of the Sustainable Furnishings Council corporate sponsor program by donating $10,000. The Sustainable Furnishings Council is a nonprofit balanced coalition of industry players founded in High Point, N.C. in 2006 to promote sustainable and safe practices among manufacturers, retailers, and consumers alike. Gold is one of the board members responsible for bringing the idea of a corporate sponsorship program to the SFC board back in February where it was approved enthusiastically and set the challenge to the board to recognize corporate sponsors at three levels with board approval necessary for each company.
Gold took a leadership position by challenging other board members to come forward at the $10,000 corporate sponsorship level in the hope that other corporations would follow suit. And they have. LEE Industries, Room & Board, Robin Wilson Home, Harden Manufacturing, Circle Furniture, Naturepedic and others are now on board as corporate sponsors providing SFC with much needed capitol. The three new levels of corporate sponsorship are: Sustainer, $10,000 +; Friend, $5,000 to $9,999; and Colleague, $2,500 to $4,999.
“This Earth Day [was] more important than ever before,” Gold said. “After hurricane Sandy, severe weather conditions throughout the country and other natural disasters—these are all signals that climate change is real and happening. Our industry needs to continue to take this seriously and I felt that it was time to step up and become even more aggressive supporters of SFC and I’m excited to be part of the effort.”
Membership Structure Adjusted
When the corporate sponsorship program was put in place, it was also decided that the membership structure of SFC would change moving forward. In the past, any company that paid dues and was willing to demonstrate some level of commitment to the cause would receive the window decals and SFC website listing indicating that they were a member of the organization, thus implying that every company was at the same place in terms of their level of sustainability practices. The organization will continue to welcome companies in “all shades of green” and to call out as Exemplary those that meet stringent requirements. But now the structure will be changing—there will be Contributing members who simply pay dues, but only Qualifying and Exemplary members will be listed in the Find Eco Friendly section of the company’s site, and receive showroom signage. Contributing members are encouraged to make use of SFC resources to move to the Qualifying member level.
The board began to examine the membership structure more carefully and the Standards Committee has revised the list of best practices. They are working on honing the application and membership verification process to make it more credible. The new membership application was distributed at the April High Point market. The organization also has plans to encourage companies to move to Exemplary.
“I am delighted that Mitchell brought this idea of corporate sponsorship to the board,” said Susan Inglis, executive director of SFC. “It will not only increase our visibility within the industry, but also our stature in the movement. The organization’s growth and evolution that this current effort brings to capitalize on our good work with corporate sponsorships will alleviate our dependence on member dues. It is a very important step that will ultimately increase our effectiveness in the home furnishings industry and the world of sustainability organizations—I am so grateful to Mitchell for the leadership role he has taken on with SFC, his company’s long-standing commitment to the environment, and for his generous corporate financial contributions.”
Go to Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams and SFC.
