Andrew S. Winston, corporate environmental strategist and co-author of best-selling Green to Gold, will be the keynote speaker at the Business Outlook Conference Friday, Feb. 20, 2009, at the Poppy Pavilion on the AV Fairgrounds, according to Antelope Valley Board of Trade event chairman Cathy Hart.

Choice of Winston as speaker will spotlight the conference theme "Sustainable Futures." Green to Gold, which Winston wrote with Yale law professor Daniel Esty, highlights what works - and what doesn't - when companies go "green." In the book he explained that strong forces are pushing companies to go green because of natural constrains and stakeholders' concerns about the environment. "What's going on? Why are the world's biggest, toughest, most profit-seeking companies talking about the environment now? Simply put, because they have to. The forces coming to bear on companies are real and growing. Almost without exception, industry groups are facing an unavoidable new array of environmentally driven issues. Like any revolution, this new "Green Wave" presents an unprecedented challenge to business as usual."
As founder of Winston Eco-Strategies, he works with leading companies to use environmental thinking to drive growth. He has consulted with start-ups and Fortune 500 companies such as Bank of America, Reuters, Cisco, HP and IKEA.

Winston is a sought-after and engaging speaker, providing audiences with a timely and dynamic view on how companies turn green to gold. His audiences have included executive retreats with the top management of the world's largest companies, thousands of attendees of industry conferences, associations, and trade groups, and leading non-profits and universities.

As a nationally recognized expert on green business, he has written for or appeared in Time, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Forbes, The New York Times, TheWashington Post, ABC News, National Public Radio, and CNBC.

Winston bases his work on significant on-the-ground, in-company business experience, including executive positions and P&L responsibility at global companies, start-ups, and dot-coms. With the Boston Consulting Group, he helped Fortune 500 companies grow and prosper. He also served as marketing and development director for TIME magazine, director of business development for MTV and VH1, and vice president of marketing and business development for the online arm of a national retailer.

The conference will feature outstanding speakers, video clips of local interest, latest economic roundtable reports and a variety of publications, plus continental breakfast and lunch.

Call the Board of Trade office at 942-9581 or fax 723-9279 for advance reservations.