Maximize the value Dear subscriber,
Companies both large and small struggle with how to allocate resources and keep up with technology technology. Our stories in this issue focus on how to maximize the value of your infrastructure and squeeze out inefficiencies, whether by retiring legacy applications or putting new tools, such as Microsoft Forefront and Windows Vista, to work. With responsibility for small and mid-market solution strategies at Microsoft, I know your company looks for smart investments to make your organization more effective. I think you'll find these articles provide valuable insight into what technology to upgrade and when. We also welcome your comments to continue to add value to you with his newsletter. Email us at mo-info@Microsoft.com.
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Microsoft
|  | | | | | Spotlight |  | | Brewery puts eco-friendly wheels in motion
Jay Richardson has been in IT long enough to remember the days when companies lured job candidates with luxury cars and other high-end perks. But with almost 20 years of experience under his belt, he says that New Belgium Brewing Co.'s offer of a limited-edition bicycle helped seal his decision to join the company four years ago.
"The bike is an icon for sustainable living, and it's a big part of New Belgium's culture," says Richardson, who is IT director at the Fort Collins, Colorado, beer maker. "It shows you can operate a profitable business in a way that strives to minimize impact on the environment."
This is exactly the eco-friendly mind-set co-founders Jeff Lebesch and Kim Jordan hoped to encourage among employees when they started New Belgium in 1991, after Jeff rode his bike through Belgium. New Belgium, which uses Microsoft Exchange, Forecaster, and Microsoft Dynamics, is the first brewing company to use wind power as an energy source and employs green building practices, including heat reuse in the brewhouse. There is also a process water treatment plant on-site that cleanses process waters and converts the methane byproduct into electrical and thermal energy. (http://www.newbelgium.com/innovation_waste.php).
The company is so zealous about the impact cycling has on the environment that it sponsors bike events around the country and created a bike commuter advocacy program, called Team Wonderbike, to encourage people to bike more and drive less. Richardson and his IT team take advantage of the spare bikes the company has on hand to make technology calls across campus at the water treatment plant.
Richardson says he was "relatively conscientious" about the environment before moving to Colorado, but now incorporates that thinking into both his personal and professional lives. Richardson bikes two miles to work each day and enjoys riding his two-year-old son to school in a trailer hitched to his red-and-chrome cruiser bike, which is named after the company's flagship Fat Tire Amber Ale. "It's our version of the minivan," he jokes. New Belgium presents all employees with a version of the Fat Tire bike after their first year of service at which time they also become employee-owners.
Sandra Gittlen is a regular contributor to Momentum, the Microsoft Midsize Business Center newsletter.
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