John-Paul Maxfield is the founder of Waste Farmers, a Colorado based recycling and resource recovery company. Prior to starting Waste Farmers, John-Paul founded the "The Inspired Economist", a blog focused on covering the people, places, ideas, and technologies inspiring positive change and redefining capitalism.
In addition, John-Paul served as an Associate a private equity group specializing in small to mid cap service companies. In this capacity he focused on planning, forecasting, budgeting, and performance evaluation of MBH and its designated subsidiaries. Prior to joining MBH, John-Paul was an Analyst with Alvarez and Marsal where he spent the majority of his time on a team that aided Louisiana’s Recovery School District with the restoration of public schools post Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
John-Paul is active in the Colorado community, serving on the Board of the Rocky Mountain MS Center. In 2007 he was selected as one of the “Fifty for the Future” by the Colorado Statesman and is a graduate of the inaugural class of Impact Denver. John-Paul holds a BA from the University of Colorado.
Advantage Capital Partners, a venture capital and small business finance firm, has made an investment in SOMS Technologies LLC, the manufacturer of the microGreen vehicle engine oil filter. The microGreen filter utilizes a patented filter technology designed to keep engine oil cleaner, extending the oil life up to 30,000 miles. Advantage’s investment will be used to support the company’s continued growth.
In response to my previous post, Growing Food to Feed Cars Will Continue to Drive Up the Price of Food, one reader responded, “I wish they could figure out a way to make fuel out of Candy Corn. I hate Candy Corn.” Well said reader, that is one hell of an idea.
Fueled by my own dislike for this impostor candy, my love of the environment, and an earnest desire to make sure that no child ever has to experience the pain of receiving this “candy” during the Halloween season, I did a little research on the market potential for cars fueled by Candy Corn, a ”Feasibility Study”, if you will. At first glance, it seems like a win-win; energy independence, no more disappointed Trick-or-Treaters, and a captive market for Candy Corn producers around the world.
First step in the process, trying to gain an understanding of the existing Candy Corn market. In my extensive research, I discovered that more than 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year. That equates to nearly 9 billion pieces, enough to circle the moon nearly four times if laid end-to-end. 75% of the candy corn produced will be consumed, or at the very least handed out to unhappy children by elderly homeowners, during Halloween. Interesting. It appears as if there is no shortage of supply, seems promising so far.
As the demand for biofuels increases, so too will food prices around the world. The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization’s recent report notes that “the historic linkages between agriculture and the energy sector are becoming stronger and are changing in character. Biofuel demand will continue to exercise upward pressure on agricultural prices for considerable time to come.” Biofuel production based on agricultural commodities increased more than threefold from 2000 to 2007, and now covers nearly two percent of the world’s consumption of transport fuels.
In a time when the domestic economic news is nothing but dismal, it is nice to have a bit of good news. This news come from Mariah Power, a company that recently announced its first high volume manufacturing site in partnership with MasTech of Manistee, Michigan. The plant is expected to begin production within the next 15 weeks. This partnership will create 141 jobs over the next three years at the [...]
Editor’s note: We’re pleased to launch the fifteenth blog in the Green Options Media blog network today: The Inspired Economist. A counterpart to Ecopreneurist and other blogs in our Business & Technology channel, The Inspired Economist will cover the broad world of green and conscious business. Please welcome lead writer and founder John-Paul Maxfield to the GO Media family!
It is my sincere pleasure to welcome you to [...]
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