By David Ball
Staff Writer
Officials at St. Johns Riverkeeper are looking to expand the group’s reach all the way down to the headwaters of the river, and a new business partnership program could give them the steady stream of revenues to make it happen.
Riverkeeper has launched Partnership for a Clean River, where businesses can pledge a percentage of a unit of sales or revenue to Riverkeeper on an annual basis, which organizers hope will create a sustainable and recurring source of revenue for the operational expenses of the non-profit.
“It means Riverkeeper will be able to better forecast every year with our operating capital,” said Riverkeeper Executive Director Jimmy Orth. “For a non-profit, that’s the hardest type of revenue for us to attract. It’s not sexy.”
Orth said Riverkeeper’s current $350,000 annual budget is funded solely by contributions from private donors, memberships, family foundations and business sponsorships. The organization doesn’t receive any government funding.
“While this property tax thing was really tough on a lot of non-profits, it didn’t really affect us,” said Orth. “But at the same time, we’re struggling because we don’t get government funding and we never have. Now more groups are looking for private contributions, so there’s more competition.”
But along with creating a more stable funding structure, Orth said he hopes the program will eventually help the group expand programs and educational offerings as well as expand its reach outside of Northeast Florida.
“We need to add staff, and we need to address other problems we can’t get to,” he said. “The river is 310 miles long. We need to address the problems in Central Florida and down into Vero Beach near the headwaters, and this is the type of program to help us do that.”
Orth said business partners will be rewarded with the ability to use the newly created Partnership logo and display in marketing efforts as a way to differentiate themselves from competitors and notify the public and customers of their environmental commitment.
In fact, the program was initiated by Black Creek Outfitters in Southside as a way for the company to stay intimately involved with a part of the environment that sustains a good portion of its business.
“As an entity that sells products for use in the outdoors and provides these types of services,” said retail and outdoor program manager Keith Keller, “it is critical that we support these movements that are going to sustain our ecosystem. It’s really a no-brainer for a business like us.”
So far, Sadler Point Marina and Kayak Amelia have signed on to donate a percentage of their profits. Orth said Jacksonville University will continue to provide thousands of dollars in office space and other in-kind services as a partner, although that is an exception and other business partners will be required to contribute actual dollars.
The money will fund the many activities of Riverkeeper, with the most crucial being the advocacy role Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon plays when issues arise that affect the St. Johns River. Currently, Orth said those issues include a proposal for Central Florida communities to start drawing drinking water out of the river, and a proposal by the Georgia Pacific paper mill in Palatka to extend a wastewater discharge pipe into the main body of the river.
The Riverkeeper is also involved with educational activities, including the production of two films chronicling the degrading health of the St. Johns ecosystem. The group recently issued a detailed report on the apparent failure of the state Department of Environmental Protection to enforce discharge regulations on some of the biggest polluters of the river.
Coincidentally, DEP Secretary Michael Sole, while speaking at the Florida Chamber’s Environmental Permitting Summer School, announced increased penalties and an overall “tougher stance” on the most serious environmental violations statewide.
“I’d like to think we had something to do with that, but I don’t know if we can take credit,” said Orth. “But the timing was very interesting.”
For more information on the St. Johns Riverkeeper or to find out about the Partnership for a Clean River, visit www.stjohnsriverkeeper.org or call 256-7591.