First public meeting sheds more light on proposed Morristown ‘EcoCenter’

Declaring that “our job is to grow entrepreneurs,” Chris Kogler on Friday described the proposed Morristown EcoCenter as a place where commerce, research and art will come together.

Chris, CEO of the Sustainable Business Incubator that is the centerpiece of the project, and his partners gave Fourth Ward residents a tour of the EcoCenter’s proposed home at 55 Bank St., a former Mini Cooper dealership that also has been a rug store, a public works facility and a stable.

The invitation-only gathering was the first in a series of events seeking to gain support for the project. The public is invited to stop by between 1 pm and 4 pm today, March 19. A future meeting with residents from a neighboring seniors housing complex also is anticipated.

(Please click icon below for captions.)

“This (EcoCenter) is the thing I have dreamed about for 30 years,” said Jonathan Cloud, a senior fellow at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Institute for Sustainable Enterprise, and chairman of the Sustainable Business Incubator. Established at FDU three years ago as a virtual enterprise, the SBI is one of 12 incubators across New Jersey that assist start-up companies by supplying affordable office space and support services.

EcoCenter partners sketched plans for 10,000 square feet of rooftop greenhouses that would grow food for a greenhouse restaurant below. They described this as a living example of the “Farm to Table” movement, which stresses eating locally grown food to reduce environmental impacts of transporting it great distances.

The partners hope to involve Morristown High School students in the greenhouse operation as part of a “Green Academy” curriculum at the school.

Additionally, plans call for a commercial kitchen, a fresh fruits and vegetables retail store, a specialty retail store for ecology-related products and a showcase area for green products and technologies.

The incubator would accommodate up to 10 start-ups, and a “creative space” would be set aside for entertainment events, seminars and workshops.

Also envisioned are three “Research and Discovery Centers” in the basement of the 20,000-square-foot building:

“These spaces will be used primarily to study plant materials and properties that can be incorporated into safe, environmentally friendly products,” according to a statement from Jonathan’s team. “The discovery, development and implementation of environmentally friendly systems, processes and materials supports the three pillars of a sustainable new economy: People, Planet and Prosperity.”

Research projects could involve conversion of nuisance plants like phragmites and switchgrass into air- and water filtration systems and plant-based plastics, explained Bob Dombrowski, chief technology officer for the Sustainable Business Incubator.

Any research work involving potentially noxious chemicals would be performed at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, not in Morristown, added Chris Kogler.

The EcoCenter has been described as a hybrid for-profit/nonprofit venture that will keep the property on Morristown’s tax rolls.

A limited liability corporation, Tipping Point LLC, comprises property owner Jack McDonald, the Sustainable Business Incubator and private investors.

Tipping Point is soliciting “a handful of community-minded investors to kick-start this project with investments of $10,000 or more” to a maximum total of $100,000.  These investors would receive a one-year convertible note with an effective interest rate of 25 percent, according to a statement from the partners, who said they aim to make more than $1 million in energy conservation upgrades in hopes of achieving a LEED Gold certification for the building. (Gold is the second-best standard for conservation, after Platinum.)

Chris said nobody has created anything precisely comparable to the EcoCenter, but a few projects have similar elements:

• The EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park in San Francisco is off the electric grid, with solar power, wind turbines and a green roof.
• Lufa Farms in Montreal has rooftop greenhouses that reduce energy consumption in buildings below by 20 percent
• Eli Zabar’s rooftop gardens on New York’s Upper East Side.

The Sustainable Business Incubator explored Woodbridge, Hoboken, Jersey City and Newark, Chris said, but chose Morristown because:

• The town’s sustainability efforts have been certified by Sustainable Jersey.
• Morristown has its own sustainability coordinator (Paul Miller).
• There is a “Shop Local” mentality.
• The Morristown Partnership’s Festival on the Green, among other events, reflects residents’ community spirit.

“There is a huge focus on localism,” Chris said.

Mary Reilly, a Cranford consultant on the SBI team, tried to help the audience wrap its head around sustainability:

“Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

As if to underscore the point, a new electric-powered Chevy Volt was parked by the front door. It’s owned by Steve Humphreys, a pro bono lawyer on the incubator team.

Officials attending Friday’s event included Fourth Ward Councilwoman Alison Deeb, Councilwoman Rebecca Feldman, and Mayor Tim Dougherty.

“I think it’s exciting,” the Mayor said. “From everybody’s face, I think they’re all excited, too. I think this is going to be a positive impact, and I absolutely love the idea of an organic restaurant.

“I’m absolutely looking forward to seeing what we can put together here, and being really creative. This is what we’re driving for, a sustainable community. Stuff like this is cutting edge, and we’re excited about it,” the Mayor said.

READ MORE ABOUT THE PROPOSED MORRISTOWN ECOCENTER