Sustainable Furnishings Council names new president
Jeff Hiller takes over
-- Home Accents Today, 3/16/2009 11:41:00 AM
The Sustainable Furnishings Council has named Jeff Hiller its new president.
Going forward, the SFC has very aggressive plans for growth, member benefits, industry partnerships, and educational platforms, and has called on Jeff Hiller to lead the charge as the new president based on his extensive background in the industry, his marketing expertise and his past contributions in growing the organization, where he was one of the founding Board members and for the past two years has served as chairman of the Marketing & Education committee.
Hiller runs his PROaction Marketing Group in Austin, Texas, doing planning, buying, marketing and sales training for a variety of businesses, including many furniture wholesalers and retailers, a business he will continue in addition to his new responsibilities with the SFC.
“The prospects of the SFC are virtually limitless,” Hiller said. “I am assured by Mike Italiano, one of the USGBC co-founders, that we are miles ahead of where they were as an organization at a comparable point, and that is fast company to keep. Even so, there remain tens of thousands of manufacturers, retailers, and designers that we have an opportunity to impact, and it essential that we reach as many as possible.”
Hiller’s goals are to at least double membership over each of the next two years. At the same time, he wants to continue to develop programs that provide immediate benefit to members in improving the sustainability of their operations while helping them make sales now such as the variety of staff training programs and customer invitation events the SFC has been rolling out in recent months. A critical component will be developing closer partnerships with major companies and organizations throughout the home furnishings business that mutually further their own aims and those of the SFC.
“The time is now,” Hiller adds. “By 2011, sustainability will become the dominant topic of the day, as the worldwide economy settles down, the US administration focuses its efforts, and the next UN report on climate change is released. Companies will be scrambling all over themselves to get under the green umbrella then, and those that are doing the work now will be best able to capitalize on the shift. This is not only a moral imperative, but a business imperative as well.”
Next up on the SFC’s agenda is High Point Market, where it again will be presenting a variety of training and educational programs, including the new “GREENleaders” six-hour certification course for manufacturers, retailers, reps and designers who want to gain more meaningful differentiation as expert in the area of green home furnishings.
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