Sustainable Business in Big Sky

The Big Sky Sustainable Business Achievement program celebrates and promotes Big Sky businesses’ commitment to sustainability and provides resources and support to enhance success. The program is a partnership led by Big Sky SNO, the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce, and Visit Big Sky. The program starts with an inquiry form to let us know that a business is interested. You can then set up a 10-minute casual meeting with  Chamber staff to address any questions and lay out a plan. The 10-minute meeting is optional.

The self-assessment can be found here. The assessment takes about 15 minutes to fill out. Once completed, a SNO team member will review your assessment and send you an email with your score, status, and to schedule a follow-up meeting. The follow-up meeting will review your assessment, see where you are exceeding, and get follow-up recommendations for future attainable sustainability actions. 

Ideally, a manager, owner, or sustainability role within the business. The respondent should be knowledgeable about the entire business. 

There is a one-time participation fee ($150 for Big Sky Chamber members, $200 for non-members). The participation fee covers: Your plaque (both if awarded the Achievement or designated Aspiring), access to tailored resources, promotion in marketing materials, participation in networking events with other local businesses, and personalized support from Big Sky SNO staff to help you reach your goals. Small businesses (businesses with 10 employees and under) qualify for sponsorship. If interested, please contact zskiba@bigskysno.org or bigskysno@gmail.com

Each year, there is a renewal process where your business will retake the assessment to see where your business is scoring. Following your annual assessment, our team will meet with you to highlight growth, consistency, and areas of opportunity in your business from year-to-year renewal. We will provide ongoing support and resources.  There will be a $25 renewal fee for the yearly updated plaque; however, sponsorship opportunities will be available for businesses that need help covering the $25. Please contact hello@bigskysno.org 

Congratulations, you passed the assessment! We want to work with your business to highlight the sustainable actions you are implementing. We will provide you with a plaque as well as watermarks that you can display on your website. We will also highlight your business on social media, blog posts, and outreach community events. 

That's totally ok! If your business is not quite at the achievement level, we do have an aspiring business program. This program will provide your business with the same tools and resources that Achieving Businesses receive, so you can work towards achieving the following year.

A “Big Sky Sustainable Business Achievement” plaque. The plaque can be renewed yearly with subsequent annual self-assessments, showing that your business has been sustainable for many years. We also have many events where we will highlight your business, including the Chamber’s monthly member meet-ups, the black diamond awards, and other SNO, Chamber, and Visit Big Sky events. 

Not only is the SBA a great program to be a part of, but it will also help your business save money in the long run. Many sustainable actions are good for the longevity of our environment and community, and also help save your business money.  We also want to showcase your business, so we will work to highlight you on social media, at community events, and in blog posts. We want to help create a community connection for your business that stems from sustainability actions. 

Energy, transportation, water, waste, community. 

The entire process should take about 2 - 3 weeks.