North Carolina Town Hires Chief Sustainability Officer: 4 Things to Know

The Town of Carrboro, North Carolina, has created an Office of Sustainability, and hired Amy Armbruster as chief sustainability officer.

Here are four things to know about the town's sustainability strategy and Armbruster's experience.

1. Town Background: The Town of Carrboro, North Carolina, has roughly 21,000 residents. The town is part of the Raleigh-Durham/Research Triangle Park area. Moreover, Carrboro is a direct community of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

2. Sustainability Strategy: The town adopted an Energy and Climate Protection Plan (ECPP) in 2014, and a Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP) in 2017. A related 2022 memo described multiple milestones and updates to each plan. The climate action goals also seek to "increase the resilience of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), low-income, and other residents who are disproportionately impacted by climate change," the town said upon hiring Armbruster.

3. Professional Experience: Armbruster previously was sustainability manager for the City of Durham, North Carolina. She was deeply involved in Durham's solar energy strategy, and served as a technical advisor on successful Federal grants that brought more than $9 million to Durham, the Carrboro hiring announcement said.

Earlier, Armbruster was a sustainability program coordinator for the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA). She also held key posts at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Office of Sustainability; the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association; and Triangle Transit.

4. Professional Perspectives: In a prepared statement, Carrboro Town Manager Patrice Toney said: “Amy’s collective professional experience around sustainability and environmental justice initiatives are very well aligned with Carrboro’s climate action and race equity pillars. I look forward to Amy taking the lead on our sustainability efforts and moving us closer to meeting our climate action goals.”   

Added Armbruster: "As a resident of Carrboro, I am particularly excited about the opportunity to serve my hometown. I look forward to collaboration with the Town Manager and community stakeholders to develop high-impact solutions to prevent planet-warming carbon emissions and prepare our community to be more resilient to the impacts of climate change, prioritizing those neighbors who have been hurt first and worst.” 

Chief Sustainability Officers: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

The bottom line: Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO customer needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.