About the SQA
The Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, the City of Santa Monica, and Sustainable Works have developed the Sustainable Quality Awards (SQA) to identify and recognize businesses in the Santa Monica area that are successfully incorporating sustainable practices into their operations. The SQA is an annual event that promotes the efforts of local businesses that have made significant achievements in the areas of sustainable economic development, social responsibility, and stewardship of the natural environment. By recognizing these achievements, this awards program educates and inspires other businesses to adopt their own sustainable practices, thus helping Santa Monica become a model sustainable community, providing its residents and visitors with a healthy economy and environment.
The Sustainable Quality Award Grand Prize will be given for combined excellence in three areas: Economic Development, Social Responsibility, and Stewardship of the Natural Environment. In addition, excellence awards will be given to businesses with outstanding achievements in any one of the three areas.
SQA History
How it Began
The SQA started in 1995-96. The Santa Monica Chamber President at the time, Dan Ehrler, had the idea from his previous position in the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce. The Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce had a similar program called the 'Sustainable Quality Award’.
The Santa Monica Chamber’s Environmental Affairs Committee liked the idea of hosting an annual awards program and pulled together a subcommittee to develop all of the details – application, review criteria, judging, event planning, etc. We modified and expanded on the Santa Cruz program (with permission from the folks in Santa Cruz, who were happy for us to start the program down here), and it evolved quite a bit over the years to what it is today.
The first SQA was facilitated by the city of Santa Monica and the Chamber of Commerce. The first luncheon had about 12 applicants. Co-opportunity and Gillette were selected as co-winners of the first SQA Grand Prize. Also that year, Cleaner By Nature, First Federal Bank of California, Maguire Thomas Partners, and Western Bank won Honorable Mention Awards (we didn’t have Excellence Awards back then). Co-opportunity and Gillette were lauded by the judges for very high level of achievement across all of the SQA areas –Stewardship of the Natural Environment, Social Responsibility and Economic Development. They set the initial bar for excellence that others had to meet in following years.
How we have evolved
The
SQA has grown in size over the years. It would
draw 250 - 300 people in the early days when the awards
were held as part of the monthly Chamber luncheons.
In 1999, the Chamber decided to hold it as a separate
awards event. Sustainable Works, a local non-profit
organization contracted by the City of Santa Monica to
offer environmental education and action to businesses,
began co-chairing the chamber’s Environmental Affairs
Committee, and their programs brought in more applicants
to the SQA program.
The application process and judging criteria have also evolved over the years. We have tried to make the process as user friendly as possible while giving guidance to the applicants so that the applications are consistent and easy to evaluate for the judges.
We have also evolved to present sustainably manufactured awards and run the SQA luncheon in a sustainable manner (zero waste, more sustainable food choices, provide carbon offsets for the event and attendees, etc), so that we are walking the talk.