Who We Are
Emerger Strategies is a sustainability consulting firm dedicated to simplifying sustainable business practices and driving positive change. Since 2016, we’ve partnered with small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and industry associations to help them understand, implement, and benefit from sustainability.
We bridge the gap between environmental responsibility and profitability by providing clear, actionable strategies that reduce environmental impact and aligns each client’s sustainability goals with measurable outcomes that support their unique business objectives.
Our vision is a socially just, economically inclusive, and environmentally restorative planet for the benefit of future generations.
Our Mission: To measure and improve your sustainability performance, all while boosting profits.
Our Values: The Golden Rule. Protect What You Love. Sustainability. Conservation.
Inspired by nature and his love for fly fishing, Emerger Strategies was founded in 2016 by Rick Crawford to protect the wild places and fish that he loves. In fly fishing, an “emerger” is a term used to describe a specific stage in the life cycle of aquatic insects, particularly mayflies, caddisflies, and midges, as they transform from water-dwelling nymphs into winged adults. During this stage, the insects rise toward the water’s surface, struggling to break free from their exoskeletons and emerge into their adult form.
Read Our Story, and Contact us to start your sustainability journey!
What We Do
At Emerger Strategies, we partner with brands who sell to big box retailers (Walmart, Target, REI, etc.), industry associations, and fishing & outdoor brands to ensure they are in compliance with regulations, meeting the demands of their customers, and making the business case for sustainability. We provide world-class sustainability consulting services that help our clients integrate environmental and social responsibility into their core operations, products, and packaging, driving long-term growth and resilience. Our services include:
- Retailer Sustainability Compliance: Responding to frameworks like CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), THESIS (The Sustainability Insight System), and Project Gigaton can feel overwhelming. At Emerger Strategies, we specialize in guiding companies through these complex reporting processes. By helping businesses measure and improve their social & environmental impact, we not only simplify the data collection and reporting process but also help our clients see the broader benefits of these initiatives.
- Sustainability Education for Trade Associations: Understanding the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape and the business case for sustainability is tough. We create custom Sustainability Toolkits and sustainability focused webinars for trade associations that align with your industry needs and add value for your members. We also offer Sustainability Boot Camps for member organizations by providing your members with the knowledge and tools to understand the business case for sustainability, reduce environmental impact, and track meaningful metrics.
Sustainability Assessment, Planning, & Reporting: We guide our clients through completing Ecovadis, B Impact Assessment, and others. We create tailored sustainability plans that align with your business goals and industry needs. We create sustainability reports that credibly communicate your sustainability journey.
Carbon & GHG Emissions Management: We help businesses measure, set science-based targets, and reduce their scopes 1, 2 , and 3 greenhouse gas emissions (carbon footprint), supporting climate goals through practical, data-driven solutions.
Waste Management: We support our clients in conducting waste audits, achieving zero waste operations, and sourcing sustainable packaging solutions.
Sustainability Certifications: We help our clients obtain certifications, such as Climate Neutral Certified, TRUE Zero Waste, and other that enhance credibility and customer trust.
By combining industry expertise with a passion for conservation, Emerger Strategies is committed to simplifying sustainability for every business, making it achievable, profitable, and impactful. Learn more about our Sustainability Consulting Services.
Why Choose Us?
Our mission is to measure and improve our clients sustainability performance, all while boosting profits. We help our clients reduce costs, enhance reputation, and increase customer loyalty, but here’s a few other reasons you should choose Emerger Strategies:
- Outsourced Sustainability Team: We save our clients thousands of dollars every year by not having to recruit, interview, train and retain a full-time sustainability team.
- Measurable Results: We improve our clients sustainability performance from an average baseline score of 37% to 80% within the first twelve months of working with Emerger Strategies. We reduced our clients energy costs by $80,000 through energy efficiency and renewable energy in 2023.
- We Walk the Walk: We are a small business that understands your needs as an SME, and we are obsessed fly anglers who started our business to protect what the planet that we love. We have been a proud 1% for the Planet member since our inception, which means we donate a minimum of 1% of our annual sales to environmental nonprofits. We are also committed to net-zero emissions, measure our Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions, have created a Climate Action Plan for emissions reductions, and purchased carbon offsets to achieve climate neutrality.
Clients & Testimonials
As Seen In
2023: Rick Crawford, is named in the “50 Most Influential People” by Charleston Business Magazine.
2022: Rick Crawford is named “one of the fifteen people, places, and ideas forging the South of tomorrow” by Garden & Gun Magazine in the April/May 2022 fifteenth anniversary issue.
Additionally, Emerger Strategies was featured in the 2021 Patagonia film DROP, which follows a single drop of water from its starting point atop the Continental Divide to its final destination in the Pacific Ocean:
