Bay of Plenty Regional Council is satisfied it is getting the necessary return from its support of the Sustainable Business Network.

The councillors were given an update of the network last week during its operations monitoring and regulation committee meeting.

Jo Wills says big businesses are joining the Sustainable Business Network.

The regional council has delivered its sustainable business programme through sponsorship of the network for several years.

Council group manager technology and economic development Miles McConway says this has included principal sponsorship of the network's annual awards, events and activities.

'There are some pretty good stories out there about how taking a sustainable business approach adds to the bottom line,” says Miles.

He says the sponsorship meant the council delivered a comprehensive sustainable business programme in a cost-effective manner, engaging with sustainable business operators and other businesses that were looking to change their practices to be more sustainable.

Also, it gave the regional council a high profile in the region and provided opportunities to hear from businesses about how it could support their sustainable business approaches.

Through the sponsorship the council had been able to participate and influence seminar topics and hosted networking opportunities in each of the sub-regions.

In the awards programme, the councillors heard how many of the Bay of Plenty regional award winners had gone on to win national awards.

Other council sponsored activities include a regional seminar on water, GreenDrinks Eastern Bay, the launch of Get Sustainable, an online assessment tool, Rotorua X Greendrinks and an ETS seminar.

Bay of Plenty/Waikato Sustainable Business Network regional manager Jo Wills says a growing number of businesses have recognised sustainability presented not only a more effective way of operating, contributing positively to their bottom line, but also a competitive advantage, represented by productive staff through to innovative products and a loyal values-driven customer base.

'This awareness is moving mainstream, and SBN's membership demographics are highlighting this shift – larger businesses requiring more assistance and guidance to support their sustainable development,” says Jo.

She says Bay of Plenty membership is stable with a current trend leaning towards larger businesses coming on board, notably Port of Tauranga, Waiariki Institute of Technology, Carpet Court, Tauranga and BDO Chartered Accounts and Advisors, Rotorua.