Chamber welcomes TransEco Services
<p>Stacey Stovall is welcomed into the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce at a ribbon-cutting ceremony with her client of the Kalispel Tribe. Also pictured are chamber ambassadors. (Photo courtesy GREATER SANDPOINT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE)</p>
SANDPOINT — The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce recently welcomed TransEco Services.
TransEco Services, Inc., which was started by Stacey Stovall in June 2011, is working with both the Kalispel Tribe and the Kootenai Tribe to protect and restore fish and wildlife habitat.
No stranger to creating policies and strategies that benefit natural resources, Stovall told the chamber she hopes to begin helping organizations and small businesses with creating sustainability strategies.
Stovall’s interest in sustainable development began 30 years ago when she spent her summers and student loans traveling the world.
In 1985, she joined the Peace Corps and accepted a post as a fisheries volunteer in Costa Rica. She managed a fish production facility and taught farmers to grow tilapia. Secondary projects included building stoves in schools and working with her community to secure its first bus service.
Stovall loved the work so much she served an additional term, returning to Idaho in 1989.
Stovall has also taught English as a Second Language, Adult Basic Education, and technical writing classes at Boise State University before landing a job with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game as a research wildlife biologist. She said she found her niche as a wildlife mitigation biologist working in natural resources policy and land conservation, mitigating the loss of wildlife habitat caused by the construction of private and federal hydropower projects. Stovall also served as the wildlife project manager for the Kalispel Tribe for several years.
“I love talking with landowners who have a strong connection and love for the land,” she said. “It reminds me so much of my Peace Corps work. My love for conservation has grown and evolved to the point where now I believe that it’s not enough. It’s time to apply conservation and restoration strategies to the built environment if we are to have any hope of our grandchildren enjoying the natural environment as we know it. The way to get there is with the innovation and entrepreneurship of the business sector.”
Companies can take steps toward becoming more sustainable by becoming more eco-efficient, re-positioning products and services, gaining competitive advantage, and investing in natural and human capital, Stovall said.
“The return on investment is pretty astounding for those companies that implement a sustainability plan,” she added.
Stovall said she’s anxious to start working with small businesses.
“I think it’s important for businesses to figure out what it means to be sustainable and help them design a strategy for how to get there,” she said. “This is not just about recycling or turning the lights off when you leave the room. This is about discovering what your business needs to be healthy over the long run, clarifying the business case for pursuing sustainability, and tailoring a planning process to meet your needs. Sustainability assessments can be part of the larger planning process to help companies track their progress.”
Information: TransEco Services, Inc., 255-4487 or online, www.transecoservices.com.