Earlier this year when the snow was still flying and solar panels were trying their best to soak up the sun, I decided to apply for The Washington Campus, which was having a class session in May of 2017. It is an elective class in the capital for 3 collegiate credit hours, and the purpose is to learn about managing business, government and public policy. Being a MBA student at Grand Valley State University, I thought it was a great opportunity. I applied and was luckily accepted! I was also super excited to find out that I could allocate the 3 credits from The Washington Campus towards my sustainable enterprise emphasis at GVSU. The sustainability emphasis is one of five emphasis areas part of the MBA program. In all, eight schools and forty-six students from across the planet participated in the class.
To start, some brief history about The Washington Campus. It was founded in 1978 and led by the honorable Bill Seidman. Seidman was the former Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, an Economic Advisor to three different Presidential Administrations, and Co-Founder of Grand Valley State University. My business college is even named after him, Seidman College of Business. Seidman saw the need for current and future business executives to have a much better understanding of the dynamics of government and public policy, especially the impact on their businesses, industries and on the overall economy. With Seidman in the conductor’s seat, Grand Valley State founded The Washington Campus, and now up to twenty colleges and universities participate and contribute to the program every year.
With the sustainable emphasis in mind, I decided to focus on “5 Things” during my week in Washington. My 5 Things included Knowledge Seeking, Smart Transportation Use, Sound Infrastructure, Healthy Lifestyle and Culture, and National Security:
- Knowledge Seeking
Being the first time setting foot in the capital, I not only had tons of sight-seeing to do, but I had a lot to learn about how the D.C. political engines runs. Our class covered everything from legislative processes, to managing the federal budget, health or tax reform, the role of lobbyist, energy and infrastructure, trade policy, immigration debate, and cyber security. It was eye opening to find out how little I knew about how D.C. and how complex the system truly is, or how it can take fifteen years to reform major policies. We met current and former members of congress and senate, who explained to us the thick levels of checks and balances, and how things can only get done through a collective voice. At Inovateus Solar, we like to call that good old fashion Esprit De Corp, which means teamwork.
The current administration is considering dismantling federal regulations, loosening environmental and waste mining restrictions, deregulating fossil fuels, and delaying a large number of EPA regulations. Some of this may be very alarming to us folk in the clean and renewable energy business. However, I have high hopes that our current administration and government as a whole can reunite and do what is best for our country and Mother Earth. After all, we do have some of the smartest people in the world trying their best to work together in the capital, which the program enabled me to experience first-hand. My one request for the current administration and government is to spend more time at the Library of Congress. The library is the largest in the world, and when I toured it, I was blown away by history, size, and collection of books and resources available to the government. Those resources may offer up a few words of wisdom to our current leaders. A library is a great tool to utilize knowledge. In addition, it provides foundational ideas and direction to solve the world’s problems.
- Smart Transportation Use
When I was planning transportation to D.C., I wanted to be smart and eco-friendly. I ran a report using CoolCalifornia.Org, to compare carbon footprint of flying vs. driving. The four factors I considered were cost, manufacturing, maintenance and carbon footprint. My analysis showed that driving a Ford Fusion Hybrid, at 43 miles per gallon, was friendlier to the environment compared to flying round-trip on a Southwest 737-300 burning aviation kerosene.
Next, I wanted to pick a safe and convenient place to stay for the duration of my visit. I chose the Kimpton Hotel Madera because it was within walking distance of my class building, and most of the popular destinations I wanted to see in the city. I tried to walk as much as possible throughout my time, and I calculated that I walked upwards to 50 miles in seven days.
Smart transportation considerations could be walking, biking, hybrid/electric, efficient vehicle usage and carpooling. Through my observations, a vast majority of people seemed to prefer walking and biking, especially those visiting memorials and the National Mall. Some buses are being converted to diesel/electric, and I noticed a good amount of hybrid or electric taxis. During my visit, I found out that companies such as Uber and Lyft are crippling the taxi companies in D.C. Some cab drivers told me how it has become hard to make a living, and that Uber and Lyft have taken roughly half of the business. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how things shift, and if companies like Uber and Lyft will encourage drivers to convert towards more fuel efficient and eco-friendly vehicles or perhaps traditional taxi companies will evolve in order to compete in a fast-changing industry.
- Sound Infrastructure
In the late 1700’s, when the capital was still in Philadelphia, George Washington commissioned a young Frenchman, Pierre Charles L’Enfant to draft a plan for the new capital city. L’Enfant proposed an innovative plan, a rectangular grid of streets overlaid by broad tree-lined avenues connecting landscaped squares and circles. In 1801, the capital moved to Washington D.C., and L’Enfant’s plan was adopted and built upon the following two centuries. Many cities have modeled city grids after D.C. because of the ingenuity. I did take notice the traffic downtown moved at a better flow compared to other big cities of our nation.
The buildings in Washington are vastly unique, and many of them are built with long lasting natural stone for esthetic appeal and to stand up to time. Some of these stones are sandstone, limestone, marble, granite and slate. It is important that our nation’s capital is preserved and built to sustain human traffic and Mother Nature. The streets and buildings looked to be in great condition as a whole, and we should probably thank those individuals and companies that maintain and preserve the current infrastructure.
One of the more memorable parts of my trip was sitting in on a U.S. Senate Committee hearing on Environment and Public Works, in the Senate Dirksen office building. The Secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao, was there to testify on behalf of the Trump Administration to the Senate in order to encourage allocating one trillion dollars towards improving America’s transportation infrastructure. There was not much push back from the various Senators that came into the room to give their 5-minute pitch. Most of the Senators represented their constituents and talked about major thoroughfares in their home states that needed attention. Ranking member Thomas Carper asked Secretary Chao to look closely at TIGER grants to see if they can be better utilized. Walking away from that committee hearing, I realized how tough it must be to make decisions when dealing with one trillion of tax payer dollars. The government has to make big hairy and stressful decisions every day. I wonder if they are given enough credit for those decisions? We can only hope they are making the best decisions for our environment and for our people.
- Healthy Lifestyle & Culture
Watching the news and following the current Administration closely, it may look and sound like D.C. is somewhat toxic. In some respects, maybe it is, and we can only hope things get better quickly for the sake of our country. However, I offer a different point of view, and one that I gained during my time in D.C. The most important thing I learned is that even if the Trump Administration is toxic and has a poor agenda, the system of checks and balances that was put in place by our founding fathers will protect our nation from anything too erratic. There was not one government official that we met in class that seemed overly nervous or insecure about the state of our federal government, if anything, there was more emphasis on moving forward into more positive and brighter days.
I presumed going into this trip that the people of D.C. would be highly competitive and fast paced. That presumption was correct. However, I was surprised to find out that the competition seemed healthy, and pushed people to do their best. There are certainly some poor sports and those that verbally bash each other, but for the most part, it seemed like people in Washington respect one another even if they are competitors. After all, they should be fighting for our country and what is best for our people, as opposed to fighting against each other. It was a pleasant surprise to see that most Washingtonians looked to be poised, fit, nourished, and ready for more fighting.
In order to compete in a fast-paced environment and do your best, it is important to maintain a sense of balance, something fundamental for humans. For me its nourishing the mind, body, and spirit, something that I learned during my undergrad days at Holy Cross, in Notre Dame, IN. Eating healthful foods, exercising, yoga, meditation, walking in nature, spending quality time with close friends and family, and going to church are some ways I nourish my mind, body, and spirit. There is a big focus this day in age on health and wellness. I think it is important that we focus on our health and being well in order to sustain and live longer and happy lives.
- National Security
It was very impressive to see the large amount of security and law enforcement protecting our nation’s capital. Police, Secret Service, CIA agents, FBI, Military enforcement, you name it, I saw it. I was truly blown away how much security and levels of protection we have set up in Washington. After seeing that, I asked myself, if we can do such a wonderful job protecting our people and buildings of the capital, shouldn’t we be able to protect our nations land and natural resources equally as well? There should be more emphasis put on being stewards and protectors of the realm, and protectors for doing the right thing for this great country. We are a smart country and arguably the most amazing civilization yet to live on earth, and I know we will persevere and preserve it for many generations to come. It is exciting to see how things will progress this next century.
The world is certainly growing and changing fast, and the faster we grow and evolve, our vulnerability increases. In order to keep the train on the correct tracks, and to maintain our balance as a civilization, it is essential that we try our best to do the right thing. At Inovateus, we believe that growing solar power along with other alternatives is a more sustainable path to clean up and smarten our national electric grid. Our team also cares deeply about our natural world, and we do whatever we can to promote cleaner air, water and land. We are going to protect what we believe, keep trekking down the sustainable path, and we will keep trying our best to build a brilliant tomorrow.
If you ever get the chance to go to Washington, do it! Whether your participating in a class, or going on vacation, there is so much to learn and soak up in our nation’s capital. I think it is important and fundamental for every U.S. citizen to spend time in D.C., and I think it allows people to gain a new perspective and will help them decide what individual impact they want to have on their nation. We each have a role to play in building this great nation, and it takes all of us collectively working together to make it more sustainable. Let’s be stewards of earth, protectors of doing the right thing, and innovators of sustainable business ideas and solutions. If we do this, our country and world will be better off for it, and our generations to come will get to enjoy the same beautiful earth we enjoy today.
I thank the Washington Campus for accepting me, and allowing me to participate in a wonderful class that has changed my life for the better. I look forward to getting back to the capital and soaking up more knowledge, just like a solar panel soaks up the sun!
By Tyler Kanczuzewski, director of solar supply, Inovateus Solar
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