(Español) Eliminación de tatuajes: Opciones y resultados
A.B. Quintanilla III, Legendary Latin Musician/Record Producer/Songwriter, Set To Perform At House Of Blues Dallas This Friday, June 30, 2017
DALLAS, June 28, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — EKC PR client A.B. Quintanilla III, the GRAMMY winning record producer, songwriter, artist, multi-instrumentalist, and music producer/writer for the late great Selena, will be performing alongside his band Elektro Kumbia at the House of Blues Dallas this Friday, June 30 at 8:00pm. In addition, A.B. will present a special performance by his 15-year-old mentee, Nya, a rising young pop singer who A.B. has been working closely with on new music initiatives.
Continually blowing up the Latin American charts, A.B. Quintanilla III and Elektro Kumbia fuse traditional Cumbia with pop and electronica. This upcoming HOB performance will be celebrating the release of their debut album, featuring Latin flare at its finest.
“I’m so incredibly honored and excited to perform on the House of Blues stage,” says A.B. Quintanilla III. “We will be playing a combination of music from my previous records, as well as songs from our new Elektro Kumbia album which releases the same day. Also, I will be introducing a special young lady, Nya, who I have been producing and writing music for.”
No stranger to developing and guiding up-and-coming singers, A.B. has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide as a producer, songwriter, arranger, and artist, and has won multiple Latin GRAMMY awards. With history like this, he definitely knows a “thing or two” about what it takes to make a successful hit record.
To purchase tickets for A.B. Quintanilla III and Elektro Kumbia (with special guest Nya) at the HOB Dallas for this Friday, June 30, visit here.
For more information, or to interview A.B. Quintanilla III and/or Nya, please contact EKC PR, a full service Branding, Marketing, and Public Relations firm at 310.441.1000 or email [email protected]. Visit www.EKCPR.com.
SOURCE Elektro Kumbia
Race Forward and Center for Social Inclusion Uniting As One Organization
NEW YORK, June 28, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Two leading national racial justice nonprofit organizations, Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation and Center for Social Inclusion (CSI), today announced that the two organizations are uniting under the name Race Forward. Glenn Harris, current president of CSI, will serve as president of the new organization.
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/528908/Race_Forward_Logo.jpg
The decision to combine efforts and integrate the two organizations was borne out of opportunity, abundance, urgency, and a mutual desire for greater alignment and multiplied efforts to deliver on both organizations’ core principles of advancing racial equity and supporting communities most impacted by structural racism.
“Given the urgency of the political moment – a vibrant movement for racial justice across the country, and growing pushback against this movement – we could not pass up the opportunity to explore how coming together will help us rise to this moment,” said Sen, who will be transitioning to the role of Race Forward Senior Advisor after serving 11 years as President and Executive Director.
Both Race Forward and CSI have a long history of significant work on the front lines of the racial justice movement, bringing systemic analysis to complex race issues and helping people take effective action toward systemic racial equity in government, organizing, philanthropy, journalism, and other fields. As the United States stands at the brink of the greatest rollback of civil rights in decades, Sen and Harris recognized a unique opportunity to increase support for communities of color facing a period of heightened persecution and anxiety, while deepening a mutual commitment to build an inclusive democracy.
“Uniting as one organization is about combining our experiences, skills, and talents to address the multiple crises that communities of color face in this country,” said Harris. “Our work remains the same: to transform institutions and to partner with communities to use policy, culture, and narrative to center racial equity.”
Center for Social Inclusion catalyzes communities, government, and other institutions to dismantle structural racial inequity and create equitable outcomes for all. Race Forward advances racial justice through research, media, and practice. Race Forward publishes the award-winning daily news site Colorlines, which will continue to operate under the helm of Harris, and presents the biennial Facing Race National Conference.
Expanded work for the new Race Forward will incorporate CSI’s existing strategy to advance racial equity and will be organized into five functions: transforming institutions; narrative shift; movement and capacity building; policy development; and research.
In the coming months, the two organizations will undergo a strategic integration process, while existing programmatic work will continue in their current forms. Both teams are eager to identify new and innovative ways to continue their institutional work while deepening the new Race Forward’s commitment to partnering with communities to advance equity and foster the next generation of racial justice leaders.
For more information or media inquiries, please contact Xakota Espinoza at [email protected] or 917-633-7932.
Race Forward advances racial justice through research, media and practice. Founded in 1981, Race Forward brings systemic analysis and an innovative approach to complex race issues to help people take effective action toward racial equity. Race Forward publishes the daily news site Colorlines and presents Facing Race, the country’s largest multiracial conference on racial justice.
Founded in 2002, Center for Social Inclusion catalyzes community, government, and other institutions to dismantle structural racial inequity and create equitable outcomes for all. CSI’s core program, the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, is a national network of government working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all.
SOURCE Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation
Labor Commissioner’s Decision Results in $48,860 for Convenience Store Clerk Making Less Than Minimum Wage and No Overtime Pay
YUBA CITY, California, June 27, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — The Labor Commissioner’s Office announced that a Northern California convenience store owner paid a clerk $48,860 in back wages after the wage claim hearing officer ruled that the worker was not making minimum wage and was not paid overtime or double-time.
The clerk for Mike’s Food & Liquor, located in Olivehurst, filed a wage claim on March 17, 2015. His initial claim was for $14,520 in underpaid regular wages from January 1, 2013 to October 31, 2014. The claimant filed his claim without an attorney or other advocate representing him. The Labor Commissioner’s wage claim hearing officer found that the worker was underpaid much more than he originally claimed, determining the clerk was owed $42,980, consisting of $22,162 in regular and overtime wages, $14,707 in liquidated damages, $3,586 in interest and $2,524 in waiting time penalties.
“Workers that are not paid correctly are victims of wage theft and my office can help them get back what they have earned,” said Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su. “This case shows that when workers exercise their labor rights and come forward to report wage theft, they can do so on their own without an attorney, they can receive the wages they are owed, and in some cases even more.”
The clerk worked on average 62.2 hours per week, earning an average of 20.2 overtime hours and two double-time hours for working more than eight hours on the seventh consecutive day of the workweek. Regardless of the number of hours actually worked the employer paid the clerk for 80 hours every semi-monthly pay period, which resulted in an underpayment of regular wages because most months exceed four weeks.
The Labor Commissioner’s Office entered a judgment after the employer failed to pay the award and successfully recovered $48,860, the balance of the award plus post-judgment interest.
Most workers in California, unless exempt from overtime laws, must receive overtime pay of 1.5 times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 8 hours in a workday or over 40 hours in a week, and double the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 12 hours in a workday. Workers paid less than minimum wage are entitled to receive liquidated damages, which equal the amount of underpaid wages plus interest. Waiting time penalties are imposed when the employer fails to provide workers their final paycheck upon separation.
The Labor Commissioner’s Office, officially known as the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, is a division of the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). Among its wide-ranging enforcement responsibilities, the Labor Commissioner’s Office inspects workplaces for wage and hour violations, adjudicates wage claims, investigates retaliation complaints and educates the public on labor laws.
In 2014, Commissioner Su launched the Wage Theft is a Crime multilingual public awareness campaign. The campaign defines wage theft and informs workers of their rights and the resources available to them to recover unpaid wages or report other labor law violations. Employees with work-related questions or complaints may contact DIR’s Call Center in English or Spanish at 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734).
Members of the press may contact Peter Melton or Frank Polizzi at (510) 286-1161, and are encouraged to subscribe to get email alerts on DIR’s press releases or other departmental updates.
The California Department of Industrial Relations, established in 1927, protects and improves the health, safety, and economic well-being of over 18 million wage earners, and helps their employers comply with state labor laws. DIR is housed within the Labor & Workforce Development Agency. For general inquiries, contact DIR’s Communications Call Center at 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734) for help in locating the appropriate division or program in our department.
https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaDIR
https://twitter.com/CA_DIR
http://www.youtube.com/CaliforniaDIR
http://www.dir.ca.gov/email/listsub.asp?choice=1
SOURCE California Department of Industrial Relations
The Alcatel PULSEMIX™ Heads Exclusively to Cricket Wireless
ATLANTA, June 28, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Get in the mix with the Alcatel PULSEMIX™ smartphone, coming exclusively to Cricket Wireless July 21.
The PULSEMIX™ has a large 5.2″ HD screen, sleek all-black design, powerful quad-core processing power and dual cameras, both with flash. Mix, match and boost your PULSEMIX with exclusive SNAPBAK™ covers that bring added power, light, sound and life to your phone.
The Alcatel PULSEMIX™ boosts the fun and function of your smartphone at just $79.99 with activation of a smartphone plan. Bring your number to Cricket, and it’s yours for only $29.991.
What’s cool about it?
Snap. Mix. Match: Make it your own with exclusive SNAPBAK covers to boost your experience (sold separately).
- LightUp SNAPBAK – Grab the spotlight wherever you are! With the LightUp SNAPBAK, customizable, multicolor, flashing LED lights illuminate with incoming calls, messages, e-mails, snaps, likes and mentions. Plus, pick a pattern or customize it to match your favorite color when playing music, playing games, attending a concert or just having fun.
- Sound SNAPBAK – Become the life of the party and transform your PULSEMIX into a portable entertainment system with the Sound SNAPBAK. Get powerful and crisp high quality stereo sound from two 2.5 watt speakers. Amp up watching videos, listening to your favorite music with friends or catching up on your favorite TV shows with DIRECTV NOW, available for download on the Google Play Store.
- Power SNAPBAK – Always running out of juice? Extend your battery life with the slim and easy-to-connect Power SNAPBAK.
Want more ways to make your PULSEMIX uniquely yours?
- Use Color Catcher to express everyday moods. Color Catcher pulls color elements from your favorite photos or what you see around you to create color coordinated themes for your home screens, icons and LightUp SNAPBAK light shows.
- With Private Mode you can keep sensitive data more secure with a separate passcode, even if you’re sharing your phone with your children or friends.
- NextRadio delivers radio like you’ve never heard before. Stay up to date with your favorite radio stations and hear what’s on air in real time. You can even choose from tens of millions of tracks using OneTouch Music with Deezer from Cricket and make the perfect playlist for any occasion.
Who is it a great fit for?
Want to share videos and music with your friends and family? This is the phone you’ve been waiting for! Want a smartphone that has it all – with premium functionality without the premium price? You’re going to love the PULSEMIX. Want to stand apart from the crowd? This phone is definitely for you. Want your school-age kids to think you’re the coolest parents ever? Give them the PULSEMIX. Get the Alcatel PULSEMIX with ultimate customization.
Other Offers
For a limited time, Cricket is offering a $50 bill credit2 to customers who bring their number to Cricket. And with Cricket’s Refer-a-Friend program, customers can earn up to $250 in credits3 each year by remaining a Cricket customer for 60 days, and referring their friends and family to Cricket. You and your friend both get a $25 credit when that friend accepts via the Cricket Rewards app, activates service and keeps service for 60 consecutive days.
For more on Cricket’s monthly rate plans, special pricing and product lineup, go to CricketWireless.com or visit a Cricket-branded store near you.
About Cricket Wireless
Cricket is bringing consumers more value with a simple, friendly, and reliable nationwide wireless experience with no annual contract. The power of Cricket is our nationwide 4G LTE network that covers more than 319 million people;* easy and affordable plans prices that include monthly taxes; and a great selection of phones customers love. Cricket, Something to Smile About. To check out the new Cricket or find a store near you, visit cricketwireless.com. Learn more on the Cricket newsroom and blog. And connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
Cricket is a subsidiary of AT&T Inc. Coverage not available everywhere. © 2017 Cricket Wireless LLC. All rights reserved. Cricket and the Cricket logo are trademarks under license to Cricket Wireless LLC.
1 Req’s port-in & new svc activ. (activation fee up to $25) on qualifying monthly plan (min. $30) w/ first plan payment & tax due at sale; other fees & restr’s also apply.
2 Excludes AT&T ports, basic phones & upgrades. Credit is forfeited if acct cancelled. $9.99 SIM Card Kit & unlocked, compatible smartphone req’d if bringing your device. Other restr’s also apply.
3Restrictions apply. See cricketwireless.com/rewards.
*Based on overall coverage in U.S. Download speeds max of 8Mbps (LTE)/4Mbps (4G). Compatible device required. 4G LTE coverage is not equivalent to overall network coverage
Photo – http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/528785/PULSEMIX_from_Cricket_Wireless.jpg
Logo – http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/451663/Cricket_Wireless_Logo.jpg
SOURCE Cricket Wireless
AT&T, FC Bayern Munich and Inter Milan to Pitch for Golazo Award at Sports Marketing Forum, Sept. 13 in NYC (#Portada17)
NEW YORK, June 28, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Audi Summer Tour/FC Bayern Munich, AT&T/MNT/The Marketing Arm and My Inter Jersey” / Gravity are the Portada Golazo Award finalists who will pitch for the award live on stage during Portada’s Sports Marketing Forum in New York City’s Yotel on September 13.
Portada’s editorial team is curating an outstanding agenda for the Sports Marketing Forum’s (https://www.portada-online.com/events/sports-forum/#Agenda) in order to provide attendees major networking opportunities and new insights.
At the Golazo Award final pitch contest members of Portada’s Sports Marketing Board will ask finalists to provide solutions to specific soccer marketing related challenges. Each finalist will have 5 minutes to present an innovative solution. The official Winner will be announced by the judges of the Sports Marketing Board. In addition to the official winner selected by the judges, Sports Marketing Forum attendees will vote for the “Golazo People’s Choice” Award Winner.
Portada Sports Marketing Board Members
- John Alvarado, VP Brand Marketing, Crown Imports
- Analia Benedetti, Director of Shopper Marketing and Multicultural, Kellogg
- Ed Carias, Sr. Brand Manager el Jimador Tequila – North American Region, Brown-Forman
- Ramiro Crespo, Multicultural Channel Strategy, Sprint
- Jeff Garrant, Senior Partner, Director Sports & Entertainment Marketing, Maxus
- Jorge Inda Meza, Marketing Director Region West, Anheuser Busch
- Daniel Keats, Director Sports and Sponsorships, Consumer Marketing Allstate Insurance
- Ivonne Kinser, AFM Director Digital Strategy & Innovation, Avocados From Mexico
- Michael Neuman, EVP, Managing Partner, Scout Sports and Entertainment
- Felix Palau, VP Tecate, Heineken
- Mike Tasevsky, SVP U.S. Sponsorship, MasterCard
- Kymber Umana, Hispanic Marketing Manager, Sprint
“We are really proud of our 2016 Audi Summer Tour in the U.S., which touched over 395 million people through various channels. Being able to present our campaign to a highly regarded panel at PortadaLat in Miami was a great moment and we are thrilled to be finalists for the Golazo International Soccer Award,” says Benno Ruwe, Head of Partnerships at FC Bayern Munich (Americas).
According to Evgenia Novikova, Managing Director, Gravity UK and Europe, “It was our honor to present Inter Jersey Campaign in Miami and we are happy it received such a high recognition from the panel. Excited to be among the Golazo Soccer Award finalists.”
REGISTRATION:
Register to the Sports Marketing Forum on September 13 in New York City’s Hotel and/or to the 11th Annual Multicultural Marketing Conference on Sept.14:
https://www.portada-online.com/events/sports-forum/#Register
Already confirmed Portada17 SPONSORS
Sports Marketing Forum
Penalty Level
La Vida Baseball (https://www.lavidabaseball.com/)
PM3 (http://pm3.agency/)
11th Annual Multicultural Marketing and Media Conference
Silver Sponsor
CNN (http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/)
Bronze Sponsors
Acuity (https://www.acuityads.com/)
H Code Media (www.hcodemedia.com)
Attendee Bag Sponsor
Fluvip (www.fluvip.com) and Adsmovil (www.adsmovil.com)
Media Partner
PR Newswire (www.prnewswire.com)
To align your brand with #Portada17 (Sports Marketing Forum, Sept. 13 and the 11th Annual Multicultural Marketing Conference, Sept. 14) and connect with Portada’s audience of thousands of brand, agency and media trailblazers, please reach out to Marcos Baer [email protected] or call him at 1347 840 13 11.
Subscribe to Portada E-letters:
https://wp.me/p2SwSw-94z
Photo – http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/528639/SMF_Banner_1800x400_01.jpg
SOURCE Portada
Ismael Cala will go to Madrid to talk about “exponential entrepreneurship,” and to present his book “Despierta con Cala”
MIAMI, June 28, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Communicator, best-selling author and conference-speaker ISMAEL CALA returns to Madrid on July 4th to present his new book “Despierta con Cala,” and to talk about exponential entrepreneurship.
Ismael worked at CNN en Español for 16 years, where he most recently was on prime time with his show “Cala.” The New York Times has called him the “Latin Larry King.”
In his talk on Tuesday, July 4th (at 7:00 p.m., Casa de América in Madrid), the communicator will talk about entrepreneurship, a subject that he has been developing in Latin America, the United States and Canada in recent years.
“More than ever exponential leadership forces a leader to constantly learn and unlearn old thought patterns. We used to think in incremental terms, that is, in how to improve something. Today, exponential creators think about how to do things differently. Not 3% better, but ten times better,” Ismael Cala explained from Miami.
His thesis emphasizes social responsibility, the mentality of abundance, and not punishing failure, which are factors he considers to be “incubators of excellence and innovation.”
“This concept of entrepreneurship is also based on mentoring. I invite people to embrace change and uncertainty, to celebrate their productive failures, because every failure of an entrepreneur is a lesson for their future success, and to create a mentality of leadership, in which resilience becomes the best virtue,” he added.
Entry to Casa de América is free until the venue is full.
Cala is currently involved with several projects, including public and corporate conferences in the United States and Latin America. He is also involved in major annual projects in Costa Rica, the Mayan Riviera, India, the Holy Land, and Panama.
ABOUT ISMAEL CALA
Life and business strategist. Best-selling author on leadership, entrepreneurship and personal development. Ambassador of the concept of productive happiness in Latin America.
He is considered to be one of the most important communicators on the continent, and his message of social entrepreneurship, mindfulness and well-being has impacted millions of people who follow his work in books, seminars, workshops and conferences. Cala has traveled to more than 25 countries.
He is currently an official collaborator on the program “Awaken America,” for the North American Univisión chain, and he writes a weekly column for more than 50 publications in Latin America and the United States.
Author of the best sellers “Despierta con Cala [Awaken with Cala],” “La vida es una piñata [Life is a piñata],” “El analfabeto emocional [The emotional illiterate],” “El poder de escuchar [The power of listening],” “Un buen hijo de P… [A real son of a B…],” and “El secreto del bamboo [The secret of bamboo],” Cala was born in Santiago de Cuba (1969) and has a degree in Art History from Universidad de Oriente. He is coauthor of the book “Beat the Curve,” with Brian Tracy. He graduated from the School of Communication at the University of York in Toronto, and has a Seneca diploma in Television Production.
Cala has worked with grand masters such as Deepak Chopra and John C. Maxwell, and has trained with coaches such as Tony Robbins and Miguel Ruiz. Cala belongs to a group of collaborating professors at Atlantis University and Next University. He is President of Cala Enterprises Corporation and the Ismael Cala Foundation. Visit: http://www.ismaelcala.com/
SOURCE Cala Enterprises
Here’s how Facebook is saying “Thank You” to a community of 2 billion people.
MENLO PARK, California, June 27, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — As of today, there are now two billion people connecting and building communities on Facebook each month. It’s a milestone that wouldn’t have happened without the millions of people and communities who make meaningful contributions every day.
Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8129251-facebook-2-billion-people-connecting-building-communities/
They say love makes the world go round. Every day across the planet, more than 175 million people share “love” on Facebook, over 800 million people “like” something on Facebook, and over 750 million new friendships are made on Facebook. What’s more, over 1 billion people use Groups every month to build communities and connect around shared interests.
To show appreciation for all that people do to support one another on the platform, Facebook will be celebrating you, the global community, with personalized experiences in the coming days, including:
A “Good Adds Up” video: Starting today, you may see in your News Feed a personal video to celebrate bringing the world closer together. You can also access it by clicking “Watch Yours” on a friend’s video that they’ve shared, or by visiting www.facebook.com/goodaddsup. Here’s how it works:
- If you visit the site before your video is ready, you will see a “coming soon” message. You may also have the option to request your video so that it will be ready sooner.
- Facebook will also let you know if you don’t have enough Facebook content to generate a video.
- After watching your video, you can share or edit it to customize the posts and photos that are included. If you choose to customize your video, Facebook will produce a new video for you and post it to your timeline when it’s ready.
A “thank you” for the good you do: After you react to a friend’s post with love, wish someone happy birthday, or create a group, you will see a message in your News Feed thanking you.
A hub for community stories: Facebook is also featuring fun facts about how people are contributing to the community at www.facebook.com/goodaddsup.
And, if you live in the US, you will be able to see inspiring stories of people connecting with one another, contributing to their local communities and helping make the world a better place, like the Moms of Beverly.
While you may be just one human on this planet, Facebook just made it a little bit it easier for you to connect, regardless of where you live, or what language you speak.
Contact: Lisa Stratton | [email protected]
SOURCE Facebook
RENEW Multi-family Program Uses Energy & Water Efficiency to Help Preserve Affordable Housing In Seattle
WASHINGTON, June 28, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Emerald Cities Collaborative’s (ECC; www.emeraldcities.org) innovative RENEW Multi-family program helps preserve the supply of affordable housing by using energy and water efficiency upgrades to reduce owners’ operating costs – lowering utility bills enough to offset the cost of the efficiency improvements.
Launched in Seattle in December 2015, the program (http://emeraldcities.org/renewretrofits/housing) is now paying off.
Several nonprofit owners of affordable apartment buildings are seeing lower energy and water bills, as well as reduced carbon emissions – results that align with ECC’s work at the intersection of environment, economy and equity and its mission to build a sustainable, just and inclusive economy.
To make RENEW Multi-family work, ECC partners with housing owners, state housing finance agencies and local utilities to facilitate up-front financing for the energy- and water-saving measures – loans that are paid off with the resulting energy bill savings.
In Seattle, the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC) is the lender, and municipal electricity utility Seattle City Light (SCL) has agreed that the loan can be paid off via on-bill repayment, or OBR.
Savings Add Up
Since launching RENEW Multi-family in December 2015, EC Seattle Director Steve Gelb has overseen the completion of energy and water efficiency upgrades to 436 affordable apartments in four buildings, two owned by Plymouth Housing Group and two by Bellwether Housing, both nonprofits. As a result, water and energy use and carbon emissions have declined by 4.5 million gallons, 2.3 billion BTU and more than 400,000 metric tons a year, respectively.
Plymouth, Bellwether and their low-income tenants are also realizing monetary savings: more than $140,000 a year on water and electric bills for owners and almost $7,000 a year for tenants.
Now working with Plymouth, Bellwether and several other nonprofit owners of 16 additional affordable multi-family buildings, EC Seattle has nearly 1,000 more apartments at various stages of development. One Bellwether building with 100 units is already under construction; the others range from signed pre-development agreements and initial assessments to project development and bidding and contracting.
Projected total savings for the 1,428 units completed or in the pipeline are:
- Water: 7 million gallons per year
- Carbon: 889,561 metric tons per year
- Owner utility bill savings: $255,599 per year
- Tenant utility bill savings: $7,806 per year
A National Model
The RENEW model could ease the increasing nationwide scarcity of affordable, multi-family rental housing, whose owners struggle to stay afloat in the face of rising operating costs. In aging buildings in particular, those costs often outpace the rents that affordable housing owners are permitted to charge their low-income tenants.
ECC Vice President of Investments Kevin Warner is confident that RENEW can be taken to scale nationally. “Every market, every city, every state has the three critical components: utilities, utility customers – building owners – that could benefit from efficiency retrofit projects and aligned financing partners,” he says. “Our job is to bring them together and facilitate transactions that generate measureable and reliable benefits for all stakeholders.”
Critical Project Development Role
Under RENEW, ECC takes on the critical project development role at no up-front cost to the building owners. EC Seattle’s comprehensive project assistance includes benchmarking of energy and water use, project management, technical assistance, pre-development financial support and facilitation of project financing utilizing multiple community financial resources.
Based on his initial success, Gelb hopes to expand RENEW to up to 30 buildings statewide by next year and possibly add a solar energy component. ECC also is working to launch the program this year in California’s Bay Area, where EC San Francisco Director Avni Jamdar is working to institute OBR.
One Loan, One Bill Customized Approach
Seattle’s RENEW model is notable for aggregating energy and water improvements into one loan from WSHFC and one line item on the housing owner’s monthly electric bill. SCL will simply collect and forward to WSHFC its share of the monthly loan payments.
RENEW’s customized approach is also allowing Plymouth Housing to finance needed non-energy building upgrades, which WSHFC approved because they serve the commission’s interest in preserving affordable housing, whether through energy efficiency or structural improvements.
At the 2015 RENEW Multi-family launch event, Plymouth Housing Group Deputy Director Betsy Hunter praised Gelb and the RENEW team for “working relentlessly to develop a program that will work for Plymouth and other nonprofit housing owners to save on operating costs and raise our awareness about energy use to make the city greener.”
She continued, “We should recoup our investments within just a few years, and we will enjoy the energy benefits much longer than that. That’s the right kind of investment for nonprofits, which pledge to operate our properties for many decades.”
To learn more about ECC’s RENEW Multi Family Program, please visit http://emeraldcities.org/renewretrofits/housing.
Emerald Cities Collaborative (www.emeraldcities.org) is a national nonprofit network of organizations working together to advance a sustainable environment while creating economic opportunities for all. ECC is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and works in “Emerald Cities” nationwide with local and national partners that bring resources and expertise from the community, labor, business and government sectors.
Media Contact
Ronnie Kweller [email protected]; 202-688-0880; 202-276-9327
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/528654/Emerald_Cities_Collaborative_Logo.jpg
SOURCE Emerald Cities Collaborative