Green Options » entrepreneurs

Keiretsu Forum: 4th Summer Solstice Meeting

Reenita Malhotra — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:35:12 +0000

Women entrepreneurs, don’t miss the Keiretsu Forum’s 4th Annual Summer Solstice panel discussion tonight about “How Women Investors and Entrepreneurs Will Revive the California Economy.”

The event will bring together the Bay Area’s most talented minds to:

Foster a collaborative atmosphere between women and the angel community
Confront the critical issues facing women entrepreneurs and investors today
Drive the recovery of the California economy
Build businesses and invest in thought out ventures
Explore compelling investment opportunities

In addition to a networking reception, attendees will hear brief presentations and a panel discussion regarding the larger role women investors and entrepreneurs need to play in the California economy. More than ever, the angel community is eager to attract women investors. Women investors are considered a largely untapped market that is critical to “financial and mentoring support for new companies.”

REGISTRATION 

Please register at http://summersolstice.eventbrite.com $25 by June 26, $40 thereafter.

PANELISTS AND KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

The Summer Solstice will feature a unique panel of business women who will discuss a myriad of issues confronting the entrepreneurial community today. The panel itself will be comprised of notable members and entrepreneurs from the Keiretsu Forum and Women’s Initiative.

Agenda

5:30-6:30pm Registration, Networking, and Booth Exhibitors

6:45-6:50pm Welcome and Opening Remarks

6:50-7:10pm Key Note Speaker

7:10-7:20pm Panelist introductions

7:20-8:00pm Panel Discussion

About the Keynote Speakers

Amanda Wallis is the Managing Director, Market Executive for the Northern California and Nevada Regions of U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. Wallis is a member of Bank of America’s San Francisco Leadership Team, comprised of the company’s top executives in the market. The team manages the bank’s ongoing relationships with local community leaders and organizations and makes decisions about how to use Bank of America’s resources to support the San Francisco community.

With more than 30 years of financial services experience, Wallis joined U.S. Trust from American Express in London where she served as executive director, and Europe, Middle East, Africa Region Head of the American Express Private Bank. In that role she led a region with seven international locations. Prior to her role at American Express, Wallis spent over 10 years at the legacy Private Bank of Bank of America. During this period Wallis served in several leadership roles in San Francisco and London.

Wallis earned her undergraduate degree from Smith College and completed the executive program in Leadership and Managing Change at Stanford Business School. In 2007 she was named one of the “20 Most Influential Women in European Wealth Management” by Global Investor Magazine.

Rashmi Sinha is co-founder and CEO for SlideShare, the world’s largest community for sharing presentations and documents. SlideShare is growing rapidly (more than 18 million monthly uniques) letting everyone from marketers, conference speakers and academicians share presentations and connect with others. Rashmi has a PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Brown University and did research on search engines and recommender systems at UC Berkeley. She is a frequent speaker at conferences such as Web 2.0 Expo and Future of Web Apps. She writes a blog at rashmisinha.com about running a startup.

Florida College Grads Now Cleaning Offices

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:23:05 +0000

While your immediate response to the headline may have been “Yeah, the economy’s tough,” or “Hmmm… they must’ve been English, art history, or film studies majors,” Florida Gulf Coast University graduates Kylee Snyder and Michael Brinkman aren’t cleaning “country clubs, fitness centers, office buildings, restaurants and vacation rentals” because they had no other options. Rather, after winning a university business plan competition in 2007, they invested the $500 prize into a new venture: Green Leaf Cleaning.

Two years later, they’re not only still in business; they’re profitable.

In a brief interview with the Naples (Florida) Daily News, Snyder and Brinkman note that green cleaning isn’t just about jumping on a bandwagon: Snyder notes that their services can contribute to better indoor air quality (and fewer employee sick days), and can also contribute to LEED certification points. In the end, though, their most effective pitch involves cost savings: the two entrepreneurs have made sure to keep prices affordable while maintaining high green standards for their clients, and in their own operations.

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Funding Opportunities for Ecopreneurists

Reenita Malhotra — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:47:15 +0000

We have heard too may times now that the dismal economy does not bode well for investments in funds or real estate. And given the credit crisis, people are not regarding their favorite banks as reliable either. However, all this might just be a cloud with a silver lining when it comes to entrepreneurs.
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Environmental Defense Fund: Discovery Channel Special Airs Tomorrow - The Promise of a Low-Carbon Revolution Comes to Life

edfblog — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:47:35 +0000

Alaskan frontiersman Bernie Karl keeps his ice hotel frozen all summer long with the energy of hot springs. For a hundred years, Chena Hot Springs has attracted tourists who come to soak in its healing waters. But Karl — bearded and bursting with can-do spirit — saw the springs as a natural source of untapped energy. “I always knew that the value was in the hot water; I knew I would make electricity,” says Karl, in an original one-hour Discovery Channel TV special premiering Wednesday, March 11 at 10 pm (ET - check your local listings). Though not your typical energy guru, today Karl is considered a pioneer of geothermal energy.

Karl is just one of the many entrepreneurs and inventors profiled in the Discovery special who are creating new ways to power our planet — tapping sunlight, wind and water, and heat embedded in the Earth. Based on the companion book, The New York Times bestseller Earth: The Sequel, the show details the tremendous strides being made across the nation to solve the energy crisis and curb carbon emissions through new technologies. From start-ups harnessing hydro-power from New York’s East River to solar power in New Mexico’s high desert, the show chronicles dazzling ingenuity and possibility.

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Obama: Investing in entrepreneurs a neccessary “down payment”

Olga Orda — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:21:18 +0000

Is your Resolution to Kickstart the Next Clean Revolution?

A post by contributing writer Melissa Chungfat.

I talked to one of my friend’s yesterday and she told me that the staff Christmas party wasn’t nearly as joyful as in previous years. Half of the people who came to the party were let go. There have been record layoffs since the economy has gone south, and it’s hard to talk to someone whose family hasn’t been impacted in some way.

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Microenterprise Leaders Working to Help Small Businesses Affected by US Financial Crisis

Reenita Malhotra — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:20:41 +0000

As credit tightens up and business conditions worsen in what has now been officially declared as a recession, small businesses that rely on funding are the first to suffer.

Responding to the sharp economic downturn facing the nation, a group of seven leading nonprofits that offer lending and support services to small businesses are taking swift actions to help entrepreneurs challenged by higher costs, declining sales, and tightening credit.

Leaders of the seven organizations came together last month in Albuquerque, NM, to share their approaches, including: customizing their counseling and coaching services to help businesses adapt to the economic downturn, implementing new technology and reconfiguring staff to increase loan production, and developing new loan products and financial counseling services for credit-challenged customers.

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5 Tips To Encourage Employees To Go Green At The Workplace

Reenita Malhotra — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:11:58 +0000

Call To Ecopreneurs, Inventors and Innovators - Announcing The Earth Awards

mcmilker — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:09:20 +0000

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The Sustainable Entrepreneur’s Dilemma

mcmilker — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:01:05 +0000

The following is guest post submitted to me by the ecopreneurs over at Grow and Make - The Sustainable Living Store.

When MC Milker at Ecopreneurist asked me to consider sharing some of the writing we had been doing at Grow and Make with her readership, I reflected on what it means to be an entrepreneur in this emerging era of sustainability and the dilemma that we face as both responsible stewards of the earth and successful business people. Grow and Make was founded on the premise that we should create a business which encourages and enables consumers to return to the consumption habits of the 19th century when, through necessity, individuals and families would ‘grow’ and ‘make’ more of their everyday essentials.

Individuals and businesses wishing to adopt more sustainable practices must recognize that minimizing consumption is key to living in a more sustainable manner. Moreover, it is critical for consumers to understand the life-cycle of the goods they consume recognizing that all products leave a significant environmental trail from the cost of conception and production, through the supply chain and into the hands of the consumer, until it’s ultimately discarded and placed in landfill and/or the atmosphere.

While each of these links in the chain can be offset by responsible manufacturers and consumers to some degree, there is no substitute for the benefits of a decision to not consume a product at all.

As an entrepreneur, business owner and consumer, this does presents a dilemma. How to continue to encourage and enable production of goods for consumption while simultaneously discouraging and raising awareness about the perils of consumption?

I believe that the best way to overcome this dilemma is to create best practices for both manufacturers and consumers to consider when creating and consuming goods.

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Does ‘Joe The Plumber’ Represent The Ecopreneurist’s Ideals?

Reenita Malhotra — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:23:09 +0000

Since last night’s presidential debate, all I have heard from everybody around me is ‘What about Joe the Pumber’? Clearly, the most talked about man in the U.S. presidential election is now a 34-year-old Ohio resident otherwise known as Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.

Joe was referenced more than 20 times in Wednesday night’s presidential debate, and has quickly found himself caught in a deluge of media attention, political parody and personal scrutiny. Obama and his running mate, Biden, both criticized Joe as a false idol of the Republican cause.

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Factory Green: Young entrepreneurs roll out shirts with spunk

Olga Orda — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:44:30 +0000

Long hours, an increasingly saturated playing field: it’s not always a walk in the park for young, green entrepreneurs. But Jack Short and Daniel Lyons make it look easy.

The dynamic, 20-something Missouri businessmen run Factory Green, where they roll out sexy and carbon neutral apparel, accessories, and housewares to college students, a demographic that isn’t too hot on green poster products like low-consumption washing machines or hybrid cars.

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A Powerful Way To Help Your Fellow Entrepreneur On The Other Side Of The Planet

Paul Smith — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:37:19 +0000

By now you’ve likely heard of microfinance, and the idea behind it — lending a small amount of money to support a person in the developing world create or enhance a business, and they pay back the money on very palatable terms. A small amount goes a long way, coupled with the ingenuity born of necessity. Sound familiar, entrepreneurs? It sounds like a fine idea, but you haven’t gone there yet. What’s stopping you? Perhaps it still somehow sounds like charity.

Do yourself a favor, and go watch the introductory video on the new KivaB4B site, which makes the most clear, compelling connection between entrepreneurs like yourself, and people in the countries that microfinance serves. It shows, side by side, the similar needs and activities we all have as entrepreneurs — a little boost, a bit of advice, and a lot of encouragement and community.

In a powerful synergy, Kiva, one of the top players in this realm, has partnered with Advanta, a credit issuer that is highly supportive of small businesses, to create KivaB4B. It’s simple really: You as a business owner put money towards someone via Kiva, and Advanta matches it, dollar for dollar, up to $200 a month. This may sound small, but think about it this way: If only 1% of Advanta’s 1.3 million customers put even $50 towards this, that would mean $1.3 million going to these people. Dollars that go a lot farther then they do here, making for a potentially significant positive impact for people just like yourself, really.

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Ecopreneurist: Need Advice on Starting (and Funding) Your Cleantech Business?

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:49:55 +0000

Editor’s note: Many investors see clean technology as a smart bet these days… but how do you get your cleantech business plan in front of the people with the money? Lead Edwards at Ecopreneurist points to one source of advice for clean/green entrepreneurs: universities… and some of this advice is free. This post was originally published on Monday, March 31, 2008.

If you are a scientist or researcher with a great idea for a green business, you should check out what universities have to offer you (even if you are not in school).

As an example of the types of programs available, consider UC Davis’s Green Technology Entrepreneurship Academy (GTEA), which provides a free, week-long intensive for science and engineering researchers. Yes, I did say free, and it’s held at Lake Tahoe, Nevada in July—a very nice plus.

According to UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship Assistant Director, Nicole Starsinic, the GTEA combines classroom learning with a team project, which pairs scientists with business school students and professionals. A number of venture capital firms, law firms, and other professionals, which are listed in the Academy’s schedule, devote time in the hope of discovering the cleantech Google.

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Times They Are a Changing: Green Marketing Tips for Eco Entrepreneurs in 2008

mcmilker — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:55:08 +0000

In a recent Ad Age article Jacquelyn Ottman, president of J. Ottman Consulting, shared four green marketing predictions for 2008 with readers. While her predictions are meant for the big corporate and big agency readers of that magazine, eco entrepreneurs can develop their own marketing strategies based on what the big players see as the major market trends.

1. Ottman predicts, and I wrote about here , that consumers and manufacturers fed up with regulatory agencies’ inaction in the area of eco-labeling. With minimal or mindless standards governing consumers’ choices, big companies are creating their own standards and vying with each other to do the job the FDA, USDA and other government agencies seem reluctant to do.

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Greening the Golden Years: The Importance of Greening Small Businesses

Max Lindberg — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 15:31:54 +0000

Today we’re going to talk about small businesses and their role in laying the foundations for clean and ecologically sensitive industries in this country. Our guest is a long-time advocate of the environment and small business, his name is Byron Kennard, and he is Executive Director of The Center for Small Business and the Environment.

Mr. Kennard has a long list of credits, starting as a community organizer for the Conservation Foundation in the late 1960’s, helping to “lay groundwork for the environmental movement and the subsequent explosion of grassroots action on Earth Day.”. He was awarded the Leadership Medal of the United Nations Environment Program for “distinguished contribution to the cause of the environment.”

He served as National Vice Chair of Sun Day in 1978, National Chair of Earth Day in 1980 and as Special Consultant to the EPA Administrator for Earth Day 1990.

He also authored the book of essays on social and political change, “Nothing Can Be Done, Everything Is Possible.” The Christian Science Monitor called the book “a primer for the modern-day activist.”

Green Business 101: How to Make Your Green Business Profitable

Cassie Walker — Tue, 15 May 2007 20:28:34 +0000

Everyone's talking about the potential of green business to reshape the planet, but what does "green" really mean in the business world? If you've talked with any green entrepreneurs lately, or are one yourself, you know that vision and passion are in abundance. The question is how does a green start-up turn personal commitment into sustainable profit?

To find out the answers to these and other key questions, listen in when Linda Feinholz of Feinholz & Associates interviews green business expert Jeff Hayes, Principal of The Vector Group, on Thursday, May 17th at 10am (PDT). It's a free conference call, but you do need to register in advance (registration link is at the bottom of the page).

They will spend the hour discussing topics of importance to this growing segment, including the "gotchas" for emerging green businesses, such as how to seek the right kind of investors. They will also talk about how business service providers like CPAs and attorneys can intentionally attract a green clientele. One tip: green clients expect you to walk-the-walk. Just being able to spout the latest green catch phrases won’t cut it.

Having served small businesses since 1968, The Vector Group now helps their clients improve all three elements of the triple bottom line: profit, people, and planet. The company boasts experience in many varied industries, from a skateboard manufacturer to a beer producer to an exotic surf travel business.

Some of The Vector Group’s clients have seen revenues jump 40% in less than 12 months, and are now singing the company’s praises. Tony Guido of the industrial design firm grow-design calls Hayes "a personal trainer for green business" and Caroline Duell of Elemental Herbs just calls Hayes "my boss". If these testimonials are any indication, one hour of your time might just make a big difference in the success of your green business.