Monday, March 15, 2010

Gary Hirshberg, president and CEO of Stonyfield Farm, Inc. — the world's largest organic yogurt company based in Londonderry, N.H., will give a public talk on Mon., March 22 at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The lecture is sponsored by UNCW's Leadership Lecture Series and co-sponsored by the Cameron School of Business and UNCW Student Media.

Hirshberg will discuss "Green Business: The Next Frontier" at 7 p.m. in Kenan Auditorium. He will focus on how companies can help save the planet while achieving greater profits, and how consumers can use the power of conscious consumption to encourage "green" corporate behavior. A question and answer session and booksigning of Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World will follow the lecture.

Hirshberg's formal academic training in climate change in the 1970s launched his career as an environmental activist until he realized that he could be more effective as a businessperson. He draws from his 25 years' experience growing Stonyfield Farm from a seven-cow start-up to its current $300 million in annual sales, as well as the examples of like-minded companies such as Newman's Own. This growth has been built by consistently producing great-tasting products and using innovative marketing techniques that blend the company's social, environmental and financial missions.

In his book, Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World, Hirshberg describes how he built a successful $300 million-per-year business by incorporating environmental principles and practices, and how other companies can accomplish this, too. He argues that making a business "green" saves companies money in the long run while boosting consumer loyalty and reducing advertising costs.

Hirshberg has won awards for both corporate and environmental leadership. The U.S. Small Business Administration named him New Hampshire's 1998 Small Business Person of the Year. Global Green USA gave him its 1999 Green Cross Millennium Award for Corporate Environmental Leadership. The organization is the American arm of Green Cross International, which works to foster a global value shift toward a sustainable and secure future by reconnecting humanity with the environment.

Hirshberg joined Stonyfield Farm a few months after its start in 1983. Initially, he directed the Rural Education Center, the small organic farming school from which Stonyfield was spawned. In 2001, Stonyfield Farm entered into a partnership with Groupe Danone, a Paris-based maker of organic dairy goods, bottled water and other products. In 2005, Hirshberg was named managing director of Stonyfield Europe, a joint venture between the two firms with brands in Canada, Ireland and France.

A New Hampshire native, Hirshberg was one of the first graduates of Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., and has received six honorary doctorates. He is chairman and co-founder of O'Naturals, a natural fast food restaurant company. He served on the advisory panel for Newsweek magazine's Global Environmental Leadership Conference.

BOX OFFICE AND TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets are $9 for the public and free for UNCW students, faculty and staff. For tickets and information, call Kenan Box Office 910.962.3500 or visit www.uncw.edu/presents. Box office hours are noon to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and one hour prior to the event.

About UNCW Leadership lecture Series
The Leadership Lecture Series serves as a forum for intellectual inquiry and discussion offering the campus and community opportunities to discuss and explore the political, cultural and economic trends and issues that shape and affect our communities today. By inviting a speaker to the campus, the university does not endorse any particular position. Expect to be enlightened, challenged and inspired. For more information, please visit the web site at uncw.edu/presents.

Media Contact: Shannon Hooker, 910.962.7600