On April 21, 2006 the City Club of Cleveland will host Mr. Peter Garforth, Principal of Garforth International LLC who will present “Green Communities: Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainability in Northeast Ohio.”

Mr. Garforth is the fourth speaker in the five part NorTech technology speaker series co-sponsored by the City Club of Cleveland.

I had the opportunity to speak with Peter yesterday about his talk, and rather than tip any of his thoughts here, I’ll just say that if you miss this presentation, you’ll be missing one of the most insightful and valuable presenters to come our way in a long time. He may not be a household name here yet, but his observations on the region and how a focus on energy might be the key to the revitalization of Northeast Ohio’s economy will certainly make him one soon.

Garforth is based in Ohio and Brussels, Belgium, and helps major corporations, communities, property developers and policy makers develop competitive approaches to reducing the economic and environmental impact of energy use. He has long been interested in energy efficiency as a profitable business and has established successful energy productivity based businesses.

In addition to his role at Garforth International, Mr. Garforth is currently president of the Board of Trustees of Toledo Opera, vice chairman of Downtown Toledo Inc, a non-profit organization dedicated to the revitalization of the city core, and a visiting professor at Purdue University, lecturing on business and economics aspects of energy.

For those who follow TechFutures from outside Ohio, I’ll follow up with details of his presentation after the 21st. All others, you have no excuse not being there in person!