On behalf of the Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast (BCONE), we welcome you to an exciting experiment for all of us: the 11th Annual Northeast Sustainable Communities Workshop (NSCW), being held virtually to continue to share actionable education and networking experiences that you expect from us, even during these difficult times.
When you depart NSCW 2020, you will be armed with a wealth of knowledge, insights, and new contacts to help guide decision-making across all aspects of your business. This conference brings together experts and attendees who will discuss the most current, state-of- the-art approaches and strategies from the northeast region you can’t access in one place anywhere else.
For 11 years, the NSCW goal has to break new ground, offer new ideas from across the region, and spotlight new concepts on the topics of sustainability, collaboration and leverage, contamination, resiliency, brownfields, technology, and their impact on community revitalization. Our past events have drawn attendees spanning government, higher education, professional organizations, and laboratories, as well as attorneys, developers, contractors, and consultants.
As you attend our education sessions—which offer the continuing education credits you need in two half-day workshops—you’ll hear from and engage with experts in their fields, starting with not one, but two keynote speakers. The keynote speaker on July 21 is Tim Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), who will be discussing the “Innovate State Programs for Community Revitalization.” On July 22, the keynote speaker is Bruce Rasher, Redevelopment Manager for the RACER Trust, who will discuss “Environmental Remediation and Redevelopment Trusts.” Both keynote addresses dovetail into a trove of education sessions delivered by speakers from many states who hail from academia, industry, and government—providing not only actionable information but varying perspectives.
NSCW 2020 posthumously honors a BCONE originator and longtime brownfield champion, Geoffrey R. Forrest of Dresdner Robin, with the 2020 Outstanding Individual Achievement Award, being presented on July 21, 2020. In future years, the award will be named in Geoff’s honor. The annual Sustainable Communities Redevelopment award is being presented to the Wilmington Sports Complex on July 22, 2020.
NSCW is a microcosm for what BCONE offers urban revitalization stakeholders in the region year-round. BCONE members serve on state task forces on environmental justice and natural resource damages. We work with community environmental commissions to assist them in navigating site remediation and brownfield incentives. We offer annual scholarships in CT, NJ, NY and PA to the next generation of brownfield professionals and have created an applied college level course on brownfields redevelopment, taught by leading practitioners and being offered at City College of New York. BCONE members serve as panelists all major brownfield and economic development conferences. We are offering a larger variety of professional continuing education credits (CECs) from a growing number of states for our educational programming held throughout the year and throughout the region; topics covered include annual federal and state environmental regulatory updates, environmental and social justice, insurance, opportunity zones, and emerging contaminants and their impact on redevelopment.
Please continue to participate in BCONE or join for the first time. Please contribute to BCONE’s scholarship fund, which honors the legacy of Charlie Bartsch, and this year features an exciting wine tasting event. Whatever your involvement, you will be part of the organization that is so proud to be referred to as “…THE expert in Brownfields” recently by the USEPA Region 3 Administrator.
Welcome to NSCW. The BCONE Board of Directors and staff are eager to engage with you. We hope your experience bears significant fruit.
Cordially,