Greening a Company - A Case Study of Cities Management, Inc.

How did Cities Management, a 30-year-old property management company in Minneapolis, increase its profitably to 10-18% in a industry that typically averages 3-6% and realize annual cost savings of $4,300 per employee? By instituting green business practices company-wide, beginning with simple steps like recycling and more efficient use of paper, and that ultimately created a culture that values sustainability. In “going green” not only did Cities Management improve its use of resources, recognize significant cost savings and reduce employee turnover, but it also led to the development of new products for its customers. This report shares the steps that Cities Management took — and shows how your organization might also take action to improve the environment and the bottom line.

This article examines a company that began the “greening” process twenty years ago, marking the organization as a pioneer in the corporate environmental movement. Founded in 1982, Cities Management Inc. (CMI) manages homeowner associations, including communities of townhomes, condominiums, cooperatives, and single-family homes in the Upper Midwest. Key functions involve servicing homeowner and property needs on a 24/7 basis. There are 12,000 homes currently included within the company portfolio. This example of corporate environmental responsibility is somewhat unique. CMI does not produce or market a specific product, but rather provides a range of services at the request of homeowners and homeowner associations. So what might a company like this do to reduce the environmental impacts of its operations? The story of what has been accomplished and how it was done is one of inspired visioning, careful planning, substantial investment, and impressive environmental and bottom-line results. The full story is chronicled in the book Green Your Work, and this article offers a few highlights.

In 2008, Dovetail Partners examined how a company might go about reducing its environmental footprint by “greening” its product line. In that article3 we suggested that as more companies begin to focus on environmental performance and seek a competitive advantage based on reduced environmental impact, firms that have not yet begun to consider their environmental impacts risk losing both market share and profit potential. Companies that overlook opportunities to improve environmental performance may also be missing out on less tangible benefits such as employee morale and performance, company credibility, and an ability to recruit and retain high quality individuals.