Local entrepreneurs shared tactics for getting rich and saving the environment at a symposium on “Entrepreneurship in a Green World” Tuesday night.

Panelists included Thad Balkman, vice president of external relations for Phoenix Motorcars; Michael Bergey, cofounder of Bergey Windpower Co. and Bob Willis, owner of Sunrise Alternative Energy.

“I was a Boy Scout at one time, and I know that we need to leave the earth better than we found it,” Balkman said.

Willis said he has encountered many people with similar ideas about energy conservation who come together to discuss the environmental issues.

“Groups of people who would normally be shooting each other were working together for energy conservation,” Willis said.

Balkman, who works for Phoenix Motorcars, a company that produces plug in electric vehicles that don’t give off carbon emissions, said the U.S. needs to stop relying on foreign oil.

“Electric vehicles are a solution to the problem of depending on oil and the environment,” Balkman said.

Michael Bergey, president of Bergey Windpower Co., told students about how he and his father founded a company and their hardships in finding success.

He said he had to take his company overseas and look for other markets when the price of oil dropped to almost $20 a barrel in 1985.

“We were told in 1986 that we should file for bankruptcy,” Bergey said. “At this time though, we’re glad that we didn’t because exports kept us going.”

Jim Wheeler, executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Students, coordinated the event and said energy conservation is an important issue for society.

“Even though oil is coming down, it could go up tomorrow. People are being conscientious about everything,” Wheeler said. “They are driving less and this topic is like a wildfire and has taken over our culture.”

Wheeler said he hopes students will look back in five years and remember the symposium, with the ideas discussed ringing true.

“We felt a symposium on this topic that dove tails into entrepreneurship would be beneficial,” Wheeler said.

After panelists introduced themselves and their companies, the floor was opened to students for questions.

“I think it is interesting, learning about new things,” said Lauren Eckermann, public relations senior. “It is relevant to know about going green and hearing about it from experts in the field is good.”

The symposium was presented by the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Joe C. and Carole Kerr McClendon Honors College Leadership Center and Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth.