eROI Grows Greener

Successfully completes green workspace improvements and helps launch the Read Green Initiative

Portland, OR, September 30, 2008 - eROI, a leading web and email marketing company, today announced that they have successfully completed a green, G/Rated, tenant improvement certification with financial support from the Portland Development Commission (PDC) and management from the Zero Waste Alliance (ZWA). Additionally, eROI played a key role in helping leading digital magazine publisher, Zinio, launch a first of its kind online magazine subscription initiative.

Partnering with the PDC and ZWA allowed eROI to meet its goals of reducing its own environmental impact. The end result is a high-performance workspace that reflects eROI’s strong belief in contributing to the community, providing a work environment in which creative employees can excel, and reducing their organization’s ecological footprint by using resources and materials as efficiently as possible.

With at least 50 sustainable companies in its client base, eROI’s emphasis on green components in tenant improvements made excellent business – and environmental – sense. Strategies set in place through the collaboration of eROI, PDC and ZWA include energy-efficient insulation and lighting, low VOC paints and coatings, salvaged materials and utilization of existing infrastructure where possible. The objective was to complete G/Rated Tenant Improvement certification. eROI met this and exceeded it by implementing more than the required minimum of strategies to achieve certification. These included installation of new ultra-efficient windows, 5000 square feet of ceiling insulation and providing employees with subsidized TriMet Bus passes.

“We wanted to do the right thing for the environment, but it also made good business sense,” said Ryan Buchanan, CEO of eROI. “Our goal was to provide a work environment in which our creative employees can excel while reducing our ecological footprint and saving money on energy costs.”

G/Rated High Performance Workspace
G/Rated is an educational and technical tool that gives businesses easy access to green strategies. This initiative was created by the City of Portland, Office of Sustainable Development in January 2004. It is voluntary and self-certifying, providing standards and strategies within a point system for tenant improvement project teams to create high performance workspaces. To achieve the certification the project must achieve 14 required strategies and 14 of the 36 optional strategies. eROI exceeded these minimum requirements, achieving 18 optional strategies for a total of 32 points.

ReadGreen Initiative
Zinio, a digital magazine publisher, launched the Read Green Initiative on September 23rd. Zinio teamed up with many prominent publishing companies, such as Bonnier and Greenspun Media to offer up to 50 million free subscriptions to over 200 publications through the ReadGreen Initiative through the website www.goreadgreen.com.

The project is in response to the finding that one of the main reasons consumers read digital magazines is because they feel like they are doing something good for the environment. This medium coincides with a number of efforts the industry is making to reduce the environmental impact of magazines, including increased recycling of publications and using environmentally-friendly paper.

• eROI partnered with Smith-Harmon (design), Conversen (online relationship marketing), and Media Contacts (search engine marketing).
• eROI produced and built back-end database and connected the site to the digital Zinio Reader.
• eROI helped release new publications as they join the effort and more editions of the magazines are added to the program.

About eROI eROI, Inc. is a leading online marketing agency merging interactive design with powerful email and web marketing tools. The agency helps its clients build community online and convert their prospects into customers. eROI empowers its clients with the creative strategies and interactive software solutions they need for continued success. Clients include Banfield Pet Hospital, CBS Sports, Ivar’s Restaurants, MediaPost, Microsoft, Ogilvy, OHSU Healthcare, Papa Murphy’s, Travel Oregon, Travelocity Business, Wacom Technologies, and Zinio. Ranked on Inc. Magazine’s annual list of the country’s 100 fastest growing advertising and marketing companies and one of the fastest 500 growing companies in the country in 2007.