Renae Hesselink announced as Legacy Award Winner

In the early years, she graduated from GVSU with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and with a dual Master's in Leadership and International Business from Baker College. Her career started in Supply Chain and Production Management where she dedicated 18 years before transitioning into a Sales and Marketing Role five years after joining Nichols Paper & Supply.  Renae spent six years as VP of Sales and Marketing and then transitioned into VP of Sustainability.  Nichols was acquired by Imperial Dade in 2021 and Renae continued in that role until her retirement in June 2024. 

Renae has worked on over 100 LEED projects but one that stands out is leading her team at Nichols to achieve LEED O+M at their corporate headquarters in Norton Shores.  They were among the first few LEED EB projects in the state of Michigan and received the certification two additional times (2015 & 2020). Additional accomplishments at that facility included achieving  Energy Star Certification five times between 2009 – 2020 and being recognized as a Michigan Battle of the Buildings winner three times (2014, 2015, 2023). Renae continues to serve on the Sustainability Committee for International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA), the industry trade association, and co-chairs the reporting working group within this committee. They are working towards creating sustainability reporting standards for the commercial cleaning industry.  

Throughout her career, Renae has been a key player in many organizations and groups in Muskegon, Grand Rapids, and the greater West Michigan community.  Renae has been a long-standing member of the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum, was an active member of the Grand Rapids Community Sustainable Partnership for almost all of the years that group existed until the transition to the Community Collaboration on Climate Change (C4), and has been teaching a class at GVSU titled “Sustainability Assessment and Reporting” since January 2020. 

Renae is a founding member of the Muskegon Area Sustainable Coalition and has been involved with the City of Muskegon’s Climate Action Muskegon initiative since 2022. She has spent the past nine years managing Kitchen 242, a commercial incubator kitchen at the Muskegon Farmers Market. After retiring from Imperial Dade, she continued working for the City of Muskegon in the Farmers Market office, furthering her passion for building a more sustainable food system. 

In addition to her work with sustainability organizations, she coordinated guests for two of Shelley Irwin’s WGVU Public Radio shows—Community Sustainable Voices and Getting Green—for over 13 years. Getting Green, an initiative of the USGBC West Michigan Chapter, focused on topics related to green buildings and sustainability. 

In 2015, she was recognized with the Athena on the Lakeshore Award, which honors women who excel in their professions, contribute to their communities, and support the development of other women leaders. In 2016, Renae was inducted into the WM Sustainable Business Hall of Fame, recognizing her contributions to sustainable business practices in the region. Renae was also honored with the 2021 Volunteer of the Year award from WMEAC for her work in launching recycling initiatives in the Muskegon area.

With all of her accomplishments, Renae is most proud of when Grand Rapids could proudly claim the title of having the most LEED buildings per capita in the U.S. for several years. Another highlight was recognizing the importance of not just building green but also focusing on operations and maintenance, culminating in the publication of the Green Buildings of West Michigan case studies project and book. Additionally, establishing leadership in the Green Schools movement and helping transition the U.S. Green Building Council of West Michigan from an all-volunteer structure to hiring our first paid Executive Director stand as significant milestones in our growth and impact.

As a regular volunteer of the program, Renae sees the Michigan Battle of the Buildings continuing to play a vital role in helping organizations reduce energy waste and is committed to supporting its growth and expansion. Additionally, she believes our K-12 schools still face significant challenges in sustainability and would love to re-engage in this area, particularly by working more closely with teachers and students to foster sustainable practices in the classroom. As USGBC-WM evolves, she hopes the organization continues to focus on these impactful programs, helping both businesses and schools create lasting change for a greener future.

People Renae would like to mention are as follows: 

When asked if “there is anyone or anything specific that you have not mentioned that you would like to”, Renae stated the following: 

• Steve Ashkin, the green cleaning guru in the commercial cleaning industry.  Steve encouraged me to get involved in our local USGBC Chapter and has been a mentor for 20 years.
• Former Mayor George Heartwell who lead so many sustainability efforts in Grand Rapids but way beyond that.  Mayor Heartwell asked me to be involved in the Grand Rapids Community Sustainable Partnership and then on the leadership team for the West Michigan Sustainable Community Partnership.
• Norman Christopher from Grand Valley State University who asked me to work with Shelley Irwin to develop the Sustainable Community Voices monthly radio program.  Norman also encouraged and got me involved in creating a Nichols Sustainability Scholarship at GVSU where I have met and stay in contact with many of the students who were recipients of the scholarship.  Meetings with Norman always caused me to stretch my thinking and get involved in sustainability projects.
• Sam Pobst and Keith Winn who were also founding members of our USGBC WM Chapter and mentors for so many years.  
• Mike Olthoff, former owner of Nichols.  Mike allowed me to lead our Nichols team into sustainability when no-one else in our industry was doing anything.  He took a risk and approved us going to LEED EBOM certification on our building, he was also involved as a major funder of our new Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce building which we also helped to achieve LEED.  He allowed me the time to work on so many community sustainability projects.  

What has always impressed her is that “when it came to sustainability efforts, competitors could sit in the same room and share their findings and share best practices so that all could benefit.” Renae has been a driving force for sustainability in West Michigan, and even in retirement, she continues to inspire and contribute to the community. 

To add to her accomplishments, Renae was awarded at our 2024 Annual Party & Leadership Awards Ceremony on December 5, 2024. Hosted by the U.S. Green Building Council of West Michigan, the evening event was held at the High Five in downtown Grand Rapids. The program included a keynote address by Sandra Lupien, Director, MassTimber@MSU, the Leadership Awards Ceremony, and the celebration of this year’s achievements. 

To learn more about the event and to read our 2024 Annual Report visit our Annual Party & Leadership Awards Ceremony Page.