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By DAVE SIMANOFF | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 15, 2007

Get Ahead:

FORGET Kermit — go green with Cortright

Kermit the Frog always sings about the hardships of being green.

We here at Get Ahead suspect that Kermit really doesn't have a problem with the color of his, er, felt. He's probably cranky because he's the only competent Muppet working on the show and he's tired of being pursued by ham-hocked diva Miss Piggy. Plus, the whole "It's Not Easy Being Green" song isn't about being green anyway. It's about self-acceptance.

We wonder if our pal Joe Cortright has a song about the color green.

Cortright's an economist who has studied the environmentally friendly initiatives — light rail, mixed-use development, and so on — in Portland, Ore., for some time. Now Cortright's heading to Tampa to discuss his study, explaining exactly how those green investments paid real dividends and boosted the Portland economy.

Cortright speaks Oct. 23 at "Tampa's Green Dividend," a lunch hosted by CreativeTampaBay and the Tampa Downtown Partnership. For information, go on the Web to events.tampasdowntown.com.

Expect Cortright to deliver a lot of thought-provoking ideas. Don't expect any Kermit-isms (such as "Time's fun when you're having flies") or accompaniment from Rowlf on the piano (although that would be totally awesome).

SUCCUMB to our reverse psychology

If you're only concerned about the values at the bottom of your company's spreadsheets, don't bother attending the next Business Leaders Roundtable at the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

If you're focused solely on profits, not people, a 90-minute discussion about crafting a more open corporate culture won't interest you.

And that's truly a shame because you won't learn how inclusion and involvement can boost your bottom line.

So don't sign up for "Establishing Core Values." Don't mark down Wednesday, Oct. 24, in your calendar. And don't go to tampachamber.com for information.

Wait — you say you're not just focused on numbers? You care about people? You want to create a great working environment? Well, you know where to go.

GET in the spirit for Oct. 31

Halloween is nearly here. Last year, the Get Ahead desk was judged the scariest, eeriest, most fear-inspiring place in the entire Tampa Tribune officeplex. We didn't decorate.

Want advice for celebrating at work this year? On the Web, check out the About.com guide to Halloween at the Office at tinyurl.com/yovdcg.

SHARE your thoughts

Do you celebrate Halloween in your office? Do you think it's good for workplace morale or a huge distraction? Why? Join the discussion in the Business & Finance group at TBOForums.com.

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