Fred Keller is a staunch believer in green business. He feels that companies must do more than simply complying with laws in order to reap long-term benefits. Keller, of Cascade Engineering, was a keynote speaker this past week at a conference on sustainable manufacturing.

Fred Keller

Fred P. Keller is chairman, CEO and founder of Cascade Engineering, a global provider of plastic solutions to the automotive, office furniture, and material handling markets. Keller was “green” before green was cool.

He may not have written the book on sustainability, but for six years, Keller has taught students at his alma mater, Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., about sustainability, innovation and a range of concepts just now reaching the “buzz word” lexicon.

“Six years ago, that was relatively unknown and largely the domain of people who would say, ‘You must be a left-wing tree hugger,’ ” Keller said. “I was pretty adamant at the time that this is something really good for business as well as for the planet and for people.”

Keller built Cascade Engineering to reflect his beliefs about sustainable businesses. He says that equal importance should be placed on the three key types of capital: social, ecological and financial. Not only his sustainable business model, but also his community and environmental programs have earned him wide spread recognition.

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