LOCAL BUSINESSES COME TOGETHER TO BUILD ELECTRIC CAR

BEACH BOYS WILL TAKE A SPIN AT VAN WEZEL BEFORE THEIR PERFORMANCE

SARASOTA –Apr 2…Mike Love of The Beach Boys, the No. 1-selling American band of all time (Billboard) will take a spin in Sarasota’s first retro-fitted Electric Car to help raise awareness of “Project Green Machine”. The inaugural drive will happen on Tuesday, April 6th at 4:30pm at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall prior to the performance which begins at 8pm and Burgers on the Bay which begins at 5:30 pm on the Bayfront.

The Electric Car was built in a coordinated effort lead by Forrest Shaw, owner of Pastry Art and the HuB, lead by engineer Pete Hansen. Appropriately called “Project Green Machine”, Forrest and Pete want to demonstrate how local businesses can begin to embrace technology and position Sarasota, Florida as a leader in green initiatives.

The project has been documented on the website www.projectgreenmachine.com where the reconstruction of a 1969 Volkswagen Squareback begins and is retro-fitted with a state-of-the-art electric motor to bring the classic car to the 21st century.

“What we are doing here is demonstrating how easy it is to embrace green technology,” remarks Forrest Shaw. “As a local business, I want to show other businesses how they can take steps to reduce their emissions and preserve our environment”. Pastry Art is planning to use the converted VW Squareback to make deliveries to customers in the downtown area.

Rich Swier Jr, founder of the HuB explains the reason why they invested in Project Green Machine. “At the HuB, we support creative ideas that can really change our community, and this is exactly the type of project we want to support. Bringing together a group of entrepreneurs and executing a vision is what Sarasota is all about. We hope other businesses will get behind this initiative to preserve our beautiful city.”

For more information on the HuB, please visit www.hubsarasota.com or Project Green Machine at www.projectgreenmachine.com. For more information and to buy tickets to the Beach Boys performance, contact the Van Wezel Box Office at 941- 953-3368 or log onto www.vanwezel.org.