Sustainable Florida Gives First Green Bank Sustainable Green Building Award at 15th Annual Best Practice Awards Banquet

Mount Dora, Fla. --- Sustainable Florida, an independent non-profit organization that promotes efforts to preserve Florida’s environment while building markets for Florida’s businesses, has presented First Green Bank of Mount Dora with its Sustainable Green Building Award. Kenneth LaRoe, chairman of First Green Bank, said the Sustainable Green Building Award recognizes the pioneering role the bank has played in developing its headquarters facility on U.S. 441 in Mount Dora---the second privately owned commercial building in Florida, and the first of two in Lake County to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s Platinum Standard for sustainability and energy efficiency. “Our mission is to encourage more sustainable communities that can rebuild our economy from the ground up,” LaRoe said. First Green Bank was named one of America’s Greenest Banks by the American Banking Association and the Independent Bankers Association. A recent survey of 7,300 U.S. banks by MSN.com ranked First Green Bank one of the 359 safest banks in America and the only Central Florida bank to earn that distinction.