History is the theme for this year’s edition. I saw a bumper sticker that said what the headline says above and knew it’d be perfect for this issue! This is the 20th annual edition and we’ve had quite a history as testified by the founding publisher - my predecessor - below.

As I write this, recent events of history around the world and locally include the Japan tsunami and the rash of tornadoes in the United States.

Every day you wake up, you make history. As I’m writing this, we’ve got new family history starting because I have a newborn nephew! It’ll be exciting to watch Brett grow and learn. Later this year (2011), our daughter (this publication’s Public Relations Director) starts kindergarten!

As I sustain this publication, I’m making history. Technology has drastically changed how The Green Book is produced and promoted.

New this year is a blog where my advertisers get more bang for their buck where I can add articles, videos and photos. Be sure to check for updates at http://smallsiteworks.com/greenbook. The Green Book is also actively on Facebook as well as several other social networking and video sites. Be sure to read further about The Green Book’s history on Facebook and on the blog.

I was promoting the Conscious Entrepreneur since the early 80’s, doing PR for San Francisco-area holistic physicians and a weekly column called The Natural Way.

By 1984, I ended my eleven-year marriage and moved to Ashland and set up health fairs in the Ashland/Mt. Shasta areas. So, in 1991, it was natural to continue promoting natural health and The Green Book was born.

Originally called The Directory of Natural Choices, the directory was like a moving health fair, which appealed to the Conscious Consumer looking for high integrity goods and services.

I remember having my house fairly tidy (two boys and a dog objecting), since advertisers would bring over ads at the last minute! Later, advertisers just emailed a PDF. We attempted inspiration in the Welcome and with cartoons. Many of us who are out to ‘make a difference’ take ourselves too seriously.

For five years, we kept the same name and cover design. Then, in 1996, changed the name to The Green Book – The Directory of Business With Heart. This allowed us to reach more types of folks. We also started BizWithHeart.com.

We glued the directory to large white boards for layout. Now, with the Internet, email and PDFs, it’s a lot easier....but still a lot of work.

Now, our baby has come of age! Long live biz with heart!

Bizwithheart91@aol.com