Big, beautiful business

“The biggest little clean city. Wouldn’t that be great?!”

Executive director of Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful (KTMB) Christi Cakiroglu has made it the organization’s goal to make Reno, and the surrounding areas of the Truckee Meadows, America’s cleanest community.

KTMB has launched the Beautiful Business Program as an effort to engage more businesses in maintaining the community, according to Cakiroglu. She said they have been working on it for a few years, but it has really come together in the last year, especially with the last Great Community Cleanup in May, where volunteers helped remove trash, hazardous waste and invasive weeds at various sites throughout the community.

This cleanup is one of the organization’s largest events that companies can participate in to become a KTMB Beautiful Business. These events are great for company team building and economic development in addition to keeping the community clean.

“We’re trying to sell our community and bring businesses down here,” said Tim Ruffin, Beautiful Business Program Chair of KTMB. “If they go down the road and see garbage stacked up, it would be like someone parking an old car in front of their house in your neighborhood. It’s not going to make your house sell well or look good.”

Cakiroglu believes this program and the cleanups hosted by KTMB are team builders for businesses because it’s a different setting than everyday in the office, and they help build awareness of illegal dumping.

“You get to know people,” Cakiroglu said. “You feel good about yourself, and it’s also a good workout. And you get a sense of ownership. Whenever you drive by, you’re always going to notice that spot, and if someone has let loose a plastic bag, you’re going to be very frustrated with it.”

Within the program, there are different levels of commitment. The first three levels are Peavine, Slide Mountain and Mount Rose—in ascending order of commitment. At the Peavine level, the business has an assigned Great Community Cleanup site and has their banner or sign at the cleanup as well as other benefits. At the Slide Mountain and Mount Rose levels, there are more benefits, like the company name on KTMB shirts, and more commitment to involvement in and/or sponsorship of events and programs. There are other levels within the program that can be customized to best fit the needs of specific businesses.

“But they’re all partners. As long as you’re chipping in, you’re doing your best, we consider you a partner,” said Sean French, Advancement Committee Chair and Board Member of KTMB and Area President of Wells Fargo Bank, a Beautiful Business.

There are no set guidelines for how a company can contribute. Wells Fargo Bank sponsors the Waste Warriors program that educates children about topics like recycling, waste reduction and illegal dumping and is currently developing educational videos for teachers to download and show their students. Signature Landscapes matches KTMB’s annual giving each year. And other companies have sold products and forwarded proceeds to KTMB or committed to internal recycling or trash cleanups on their campuses. KTMB wants to encourage businesses to help them achieve their goal in whatever way they can or wish.

“We want to become America’s cleanest community, and we can do it,” Cakiroglu said.