The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) and the Institute for Sustainable Development’s Green Plus program today announced the creation of an online help desk to assist U.S. small and medium-sized enterprises with environmental business issues.  The Environmental Help Desk for Business, launched to coincide with Earth Day 2012, will provide clear, accessible advice on green supply chain requirements, green business certifications, and environmental innovations that can reduce both cost and environmental impact.

“Entrepreneurs, business development experts, and small business owners are becoming more and more engaged in “green” business opportunities, processes, tools and techniques,” said Stephen Jordan, founder and executive director of BCLC.  “This is why BCLC is proud to team up with the Institute for Sustainable Development to create the BCLC Environmental Help Desk to research and answer these questions.”

The Institute for Sustainable Development’s Green Plus staff will manage the Environmental Help Desk for Business, with support from business, environmental, and policy graduate students from Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and other universities in the Green Plus network. Additionally, a variety of experts will offer insights about cutting-edge innovations and green supply chain trends.

“The Environmental Help Desk partnership with BCLC is a great way to extend our mission of making sustainable business best practices available to America’s small business community,” said Chris Carmody, executive director of the Institute for Sustainable Development and the Green Plus program. “Being green and sustainable is no longer only a cost-reduction tactic for small business – it’s also the price of admission to competing for business from the world’s largest companies.”

Since 2007, the U.S. Chamber BCLC has managed the Office Depot Foundation-sponsored National Disaster Help Desk for Business. This service has fielded more than 18,000 inquiries from across the nation and has directly served nearly 8,000 small businesses and chambers of commerce by connecting callers with simple and fast information. The success of this original help desk paved the way for the Environmental Help Desk for Business.