‘Green’ business gets ready to set down roots in city

Kaitlyn Naples The Bristol Observer 2/17/2012

A company that is concerned with helping other companies do well, is headed to Bristol, with its dual business model of marketing and energy efficiency. Steve Schappert is no stranger to everything “green.” He has an extensive background in energy efficiency, and knowledge of making green profitable. Schappert has been a contractor, an energy builder, a broker, and has been recognized across the country. He has been on the segment “Going Green” on NBC, has been a guest speaker around the country, and has had $1.3 billion worth of projects underway, just before the market crashed in 2008. He had no life savings, no health insurance, and a building, The BIOS Center, that was in the middle of construction. That building was intended to be a green living expo and green conference center, which would one day be a startup spot for his new business.

Schappert had decided to build off his energy efficiency background, and founded The BIOS Organization, LLC., which became the parent company of The Green Marketing Company, the company opening up in Bristol. The BIOS Organization is best described as a “green social business enterprise,” which Schappert explains as “the offspring of a nonprofit and a for-profit, that was raised by Mother Nature.” The BIOS Organization, he said, strives to create a balance between sustainability and profit, for inspiration on healthy living and future generations. “It is about doing well by doing good,” he said, adding doing good deed “adds a powerful, positive influence on society.” He said green marketing “is about doing the right things.”

Schappert combined his passion for energy efficiency and his love of marketing to create The Green Marketing Company, which has a goal of helping other businesses become more energy efficient, which will in turn save money, this in turn can then be used for marketing, with a result of bringing in more customers and increasing revenue. Schappert said the marketing company has started with print shops, which he had gone to originally to print off flyers to market his company. Schappert was able to print off flyers and advertisements, and the printing company had put its information and logo on that same flyer. He said print shops right now are the model for growth in office space, but Schappert said he has every intention of branching out to other industries and companies.

For The Green Marketing Company, Schappert is currently working with about 12 businesses. He has hired 16 regional managers and is looking to hire 25 sales representatives, to fill the five to 10 locations he plans to open within the next few months. It is important, he said, to hire individuals who have different backgrounds so that when it comes time to approach a new industry or business, there is someone in the company familiar with that specific area. He said he doesn’t yet have a specific location in Bristol, however the population and business base is what attracted him. He looked at population and business sustainability in various towns during his search for other locations, with Bridgeport, Hartford Manchester, New London, Norwich, Farmington, and more as future locations.

Schappert said he attended the Home and Business Show, (*pictured here with Victor Cruz of the NY Giants) which is headed by the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce each year, and he felt Bristol could be a great potential spot to set up shop. The Green Marketing Company opened its first location in September of last year, and four more locations in December. Schappert said he eventually wants to be able to cover the entire state, and spread his knowledge and skills of energy efficiency and marketing to help other businesses be more successful.

“We are here to identify things in businesses that will make them more sustainable and more efficient,” he said. Schappert is also known for his BIOS WaterCar Project, which has an intended result of making a 1972 Mustang run on water and solar power, instead of gas. Schappert began the project in 2008, and has driven it across the country, and with its hydrogen generator, has seen a 58 percent increase on gas mileage. “The goal is to get it running completely on water by the spring of this year,” Schappert said, adding that he brought the car to the Home and Business Show in Bristol, last year when he attended.

For more information on, The Green Marketing Company visit www.thegreenmarketingcompany.com , The BIOS Organization visit www.thebiosorganization.org , or the BIOSWaterCar visit www.bioswatercar.com