Chris Heinz

Growth Through Energy and Community Health (GTECH) is a newly formed non-profit organization based in Pittsburgh, PA. GTECH Strategies is unique in every way; the innovative company was started as a graduate project for two students attending Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz School of Public Policy. Chris Koch and Andrew Butcher have found a way to create a biofuel commodity by harvesting plants like Sunflowers and Canola that are grown on contaminated sites (brown fields) across Pittsburgh. These sites have become dilapidated over years as populations have dwindled. The houses that once stood on many of the 14,000 vacant lots in and around the city, are now contaminated with asbestos and heavy metals and cannot be built on until the soil is clear of chemical pollutants. The plants that GTECH Strategies harvests, leech the soil of its toxins, giving a rebirth to these sites and allowing for a development horizon timeline, usually 3-5 years. Additionally, GTECH Strategies provides 'Green' job training to young adults living in these marginalized communities. What GTECH Strategies is doing is nothing short of inspiring and phenomenal.