1998

Madison Environmental Group opens its doors November 13, 1998, in our first home at 22 North Carroll Street on the Capitol Square in the heart of Madison, WI.

1999

Madison Environmental Group hires its first employee in February. Projects include textile waste research for Land's End, green space planning for Alliant Energy and event planning.

2000

We grow to a staff of three. New work includes the Healthy Farmer, Healthy Profits evaluation, a wolf management survey and facilitating on-line climate change discussions.

2001
Sonya reads Divorce Your Car, conducts a 6 week trial separation and then sells her car on Memorial Day, all in preparation for the year long carshare feasibility study funded in part by the Department of Transportation. We publish a watershed guide for The Nature Conservancy and continue our green space work for Alliant Energy.

2002
Three additional staff members join the team in the summer and fall. New projects include construction waste management and recycling for Overture Center for the Arts and a Fox River PCB Disposal Communication Plan for the WI Department of Natural Resources.

2003

EnAct, a neighborhood based sustainable living program is launched on the first day of spring. On the Summer Solstice, Sonya forms Crescent LLC to operate the Crescent Building - and we begin green renovations in our new office location on the Capitol Square above the L'Etoile Restaurant Bakery and Market Cafe. On July 4, Community Car LLC is formed -- the result of a successful feasibility study, 2 bank loans, and 6 local investors. On September 1 we move into our new space on the third floor of the Crescent Building. Community Car launches its service on October 15 and shares our third floor office space so Sonya can easily lead both. We celebrate our 5th Anniversary with 200 clients and friends at a party in our building with canapes donated by L'Etoile Restaurant. Madison Environmental Group is now a team of 7 employees with expertise in land and water, green building, transportation and community work.

2004
In February Sonya enjoys a week of fame as the cover story of our weekly paper, the Isthmus. In the spring and summer we renovate the facade of our building using green practices. In May we receive a Dane County Small Business Award for operating a growing business that treats its employees and the community well. In June we were awarded one of three Wisconsin Partners for Clean Air Awards for our work launching Community Car, developing and managing the 2 week Car-Free Challenge, and for our results-driven EnAct program. In September our new website is launched in response to our clients' suggestions gained from our fall 2003 customer survey results.

2005
We narrow the focus of our services to green building, green living and research. We manage our largest deconstruction project to date, Capitol West, encompassing over 300,000 square feet of interior floor space and one entire city block. We also receive a grant to develop a toolkit of technical and financial information to assist Culver's franchise owners in converting diesel vehicles to run on waste fryer oil from their restaurants. This is our second project to earn the Wisconsin Partners for Clean Air Recognition Award. Our Car-Free Challenge doubled its participation and our EnAct program extended into Racine, Wisconsin.

2006
Madison magazine recognizes Madison Environmental Group and Community Car as “Most Meaningful Place to Work.” News3 "Live at Five" coverage of the award includes a tour of our office and interviews with our staff. We begin an exciting new research project to develop a means of diverting deconstruction and renovation waste from area landfills by reusing doors and other items in buildings slated for demolition as the raw material for building affordable, green Fullcircle Furniture and Fullcircle Interiors. The 4th annual Car-Free Challenge is a success, and EnAct continues to spread its conservation culture to area residents. We continue our Transportation Demand Management programs and Construction and Deconstruction Recycling project management and also begin our first carbon footprint consultation project. Finishing the year off by adding a new service, we launch Sustainable Workplace Solutions at the Downtown Madison, Inc. breakfast in December. We sponsor the breakfast, and Sonya moderates a panel discussion on Green Building.