Investors’ Circle is pleased to announce the selection of 23 companies set to present at the upcoming Spring Conference & Venture Fair, May 5-7 at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco, CA.
Investors’ Circle hosts two venture fairs a year where companies that address a social or environmental issue present to over 150 investors who are looking for socially responsible investments. Over the past 15 years, Investors’ Circle members have invested over $120 million in 190 deals.
The Investors’ Circle network has previously invested in ZipCar, Seahorse Power Company, Niman Ranch, Equal Exchange, Virgin Money USA, Indigenous Designs, TerraCycle and many others. Over 300 companies applied to present at this year’s Spring Conference & Venture Fair, which was the largest field ever for Investors’ Circle. Our selection committee has narrowed the field to just 23 presenters, representing the best of scalable, high-impact solutions in areas such as food & organics, health & wellness, and energy & environment. Presenting ventures include:
TerraCycle’s CEO, Tom Szaky said, "I owe endless gratitude to Investor’s Circle. Without their programs and investors my young company may not have survived. They are probably the only investor group that focuses entirely on environmental and socially beneficial companies. They realize that there is much more to a company than a bottom line and a profit margin."
Via: (Investors’ Circle)
For several years, the building and construction trades industries have been aligning with the environmental movement in order to address growing threats to our natural ecological systems posed by irresponsible real estate development and poor land-use planning. New Jersey has been particularly and negatively impacted by the interrelated processes of suburban sprawl, the economic decline of major urban centers, and the need to accommodate a growing population. It has been predicted that New Jersey will run out of developable land and property within the next 20 to 40 years and some experts in the field are forecasting New Jersey’s population to double by the year 2050. So, it is a good thing to know that there is a ‘parallel alignment’ between builders and environmentalists (the ‘status’ professions), as this arrangement is spurning what has come to be known as the “sustainable design or green movement”.
However, what may be a vital and missing component is a “vertical or perpendicular alignment” between the real estate and land-use planning professions and the people who are impacted by the decisions and plans made by a small, well educated, and highly technical group of specialists. In other words, the common people (the market) must be in position and prepared to receive the product -homes, businesses, offices, retail and recreational spaces, etc. As it stands now, the market is not ripe for the product and this is evidenced by the recent home mortgage and consumer credit crisis. Many proposed private redevelopment and public works projects have either been put “on hold” or abandoned all together as a result of the market not matching up with the product, even if the production is “green”. How “smart” is it in reality? What is needed is the creation of a positive climate for renewed capital investment to spur the resumption of real estate and economic development that addresses growing populations, mitigates negative environmental impacts, and creates a broader range of family-supporting jobs, permanent careers, affordable and energy-efficient housing, and relative continued education.
In addition to suburban sprawl and environmental degradation of areas vital to maintaining our vital water, energy, food, and natural ecological systems, land use planning and building trades practitioners have been attempting to steer real estate development and economic growth into areas that already have good housing stock and infrastructure needed to support an influx of people and business. These older, largely former industrial, areas are replete with social and economic problems caused by decades of middle-class flight, job loss, and otherwise backward economic and population growth patterns. Local officials and their constituencies are very often and rightly skeptical about moving big projects through the approval process without having clear plans that address issues such as housing affordability, environmental impacts, abatement of contaminated sites, and cost of use and expansion of public utilities and services, and whether to demolish or preserve historic sites. Prevailing social problems pose another concern High rates of crime, un- and underemployment, poverty, low home-ownership rates, and under-performing public school systems have made financial institutions hesitant to risk capital investment for these new or emerging market redevelopment projects – thus another formidable hurdle to effectively accommodate growth much be remedied.
What is needed the empowerment of local community stakeholders in the planning and decision-making processes, the development of local leadership that can plan and carry out smaller scale projects, and the establishment of a climate for positive change to make investment in larger scale redevelopment projects more attractive. Empowering diverse and multiple localized teams for citizen-lead initiatives will prove to move us beyond these barriers.
Building Open Opportunity Structures Together (BOOST) was formed in 2005 in direct response to redevelopment and from then until now, has had success in the developing, promoting, and coordinating dozens of educational forums highlighting the need for local community inclusion in the real estate planning and decision-making processes that affect and impact them. The efforts have included Community Building Forums, policy workshops; focus sessions, redevelopment site tours, and real-time and on-line social networking activities and all have included citizens, real estate developers, public officials, academics, and industry-specific professionals. We have covered such topics as workforce development, smart growth, green building, sustainable community design, eminent domain, arts as a driver of urban renewal, greening practices for homes and businesses, and community benefits agreements (CBA’s).
Recently, BOOST has received inquiries from community and organizational leaders from various cities throughout New Jersey and our Green, Smart and Sustainable Stakeholder Education and Training (GSS-SET 2008-09) is the natural outgrowth of our past successes and our response to request for programming that is designed to strengthen communities from the “inside out”. GSS-SET will equip civic sector leaders with the leadership and organizational skills needed to effectively plan, develop, and implement programs, projects, and policy work that highlight, promote, and advance green building, sustainable community design, smart growth, and environmental economic initiatives.
GSS-SET 2008-09 will provide enrollees from around the state of New Jersey with customized education and training that will help them in choosing, developing, and deploying individual and group projects to be implemented for their respective organizations, and in their home-town communities and neighborhoods. Model projects/programs will include, but are not limited to: sustainable neighborhood plans; urban science/career paths for high school students; clean energy retrofits for nonprofits, churches, and small businesses; advocacy for community and environmental benefits agreements; eco-entrepreneurial ventures; green business and industry inventory and data centers; sustainable design assessment teams; and unionization of the emerging green collar workforce. Partners and resources have been identified for GSS-SET graduates who choose one or more of these areas of post-program focus.
BOOST and Partners will launch this series of public awareness forums and workshop series on Saturday, June 7 from 11am noon until 4pm at Classics Used and Rare Books located at 117 South Warren Street. This event is free to the public and will feature a screening of Sundance TV’s “Big Ideas for a Small Planet, the Build” episode and a special appearance by Mitchell Joachim, principal with Terreform, a nonprofit philanthropic architectural design collaborative that integrates ecological principles in the urban environment. The GSS-SET launch will coincide with Classics Book Fair and Trenton’s 30th annual Heritage Days Celebration. BOOST is also pleased to be able to offer FREE signed copies of “From Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage to the first 30 individuals to register for the ten-month series of community capacity building seminars.
For more information about GSS-SET, please call our voice-mail/fax center at (206) 202-2883 and email us at [email protected].
For several years, the building and construction trades industries have been aligning with the environmental movement in order to address growing threats to our natural ecological systems posed by irresponsible real estate development and poor land-use planning. New Jersey has been particularly and negatively impacted by the interrelated processes of suburban sprawl, the economic decline of major urban centers, and the need to accommodate a growing population. It has been predicted that New Jersey will run out of developable land and property within the next 20 to 40 years and some experts in the field are forecasting New Jersey’s population to double by the year 2050. So, it is a good thing to know that there is a ‘parallel alignment’ between builders and environmentalists (the ‘status’ professions), as this arrangement is spurning what has come to be known as the “sustainable design or green movement”.
However, what may be a vital and missing component is a “vertical or perpendicular alignment” between the real estate and land-use planning professions and the people who are impacted by the decisions and plans made by a small, well educated, and highly technical group of specialists. In other words, the common people (the market) must be in position and prepared to receive the product -homes, businesses, offices, retail and recreational spaces, etc. As it stands now, the market is not ripe for the product and this is evidenced by the recent home mortgage and consumer credit crisis. Many proposed private redevelopment and public works projects have either been put “on hold” or abandoned all together as a result of the market not matching up with the product, even if the production is “green”. How “smart” is it in reality? What is needed is the creation of a positive climate for renewed capital investment to spur the resumption of real estate and economic development that addresses growing populations, mitigates negative environmental impacts, and creates a broader range of family-supporting jobs, permanent careers, affordable and energy-efficient housing, and relative continued education.
In addition to suburban sprawl and environmental degradation of areas vital to maintaining our vital water, energy, food, and natural ecological systems, land use planning and building trades practitioners have been attempting to steer real estate development and economic growth into areas that already have good housing stock and infrastructure needed to support an influx of people and business. These older, largely former industrial, areas are replete with social and economic problems caused by decades of middle-class flight, job loss, and otherwise backward economic and population growth patterns. Local officials and their constituencies are very often and rightly skeptical about moving big projects through the approval process without having clear plans that address issues such as housing affordability, environmental impacts, abatement of contaminated sites, and cost of use and expansion of public utilities and services, and whether to demolish or preserve historic sites. Prevailing social problems pose another concern High rates of crime, un- and underemployment, poverty, low home-ownership rates, and under-performing public school systems have made financial institutions hesitant to risk capital investment for these new or emerging market redevelopment projects – thus another formidable hurdle to effectively accommodate growth much be remedied.
What is needed the empowerment of local community stakeholders in the planning and decision-making processes, the development of local leadership that can plan and carry out smaller scale projects, and the establishment of a climate for positive change to make investment in larger scale redevelopment projects more attractive. Empowering diverse and multiple localized teams for citizen-lead initiatives will prove to move us beyond these barriers.
Building Open Opportunity Structures Together (BOOST) was formed in 2005 in direct response to redevelopment and from then until now, has had success in the developing, promoting, and coordinating dozens of educational forums highlighting the need for local community inclusion in the real estate planning and decision-making processes that affect and impact them. The efforts have included Community Building Forums, policy workshops; focus sessions, redevelopment site tours, and real-time and on-line social networking activities and all have included citizens, real estate developers, public officials, academics, and industry-specific professionals. We have covered such topics as workforce development, smart growth, green building, sustainable community design, eminent domain, arts as a driver of urban renewal, greening practices for homes and businesses, and community benefits agreements (CBA’s).
Recently, BOOST has received inquiries from community and organizational leaders from various cities throughout New Jersey and our Green, Smart and Sustainable Stakeholder Education and Training (GSS-SET 2008-09) is the natural outgrowth of our past successes and our response to request for programming that is designed to strengthen communities from the “inside out”. GSS-SET will equip civic sector leaders with the leadership and organizational skills needed to effectively plan, develop, and implement programs, projects, and policy work that highlight, promote, and advance green building, sustainable community design, smart growth, and environmental economic initiatives.
GSS-SET 2008-09 will provide enrollees from around the state of New Jersey with customized education and training that will help them in choosing, developing, and deploying individual and group projects to be implemented for their respective organizations, and in their home-town communities and neighborhoods. Model projects/programs will include, but are not limited to: sustainable neighborhood plans; urban science/career paths for high school students; clean energy retrofits for nonprofits, churches, and small businesses; advocacy for community and environmental benefits agreements; eco-entrepreneurial ventures; green business and industry inventory and data centers; sustainable design assessment teams; and unionization of the emerging green collar workforce. Partners and resources have been identified for GSS-SET graduates who choose one or more of these areas of post-program focus.
BOOST and Partners will launch this series of public awareness forums and workshop series on Saturday, June 7 from 11am noon until 4pm at Classics Used and Rare Books located at 117 South Warren Street. This event is free to the public and will feature a screening of Sundance TV’s “Big Ideas for a Small Planet, the Build” episode and a special appearance by Mitchell Joachim, principal with Terreform, a nonprofit philanthropic architectural design collaborative that integrates ecological principles in the urban environment. The GSS-SET launch will coincide with Classics Book Fair and Trenton’s 30th annual Heritage Days Celebration. BOOST is also pleased to be able to offer FREE signed copies of “From Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage to the first 30 individuals to register for the ten-month series of community capacity building seminars.
For more information about GSS-SET, please call our voice-mail/fax center at (206) 202-2883 and email us at [email protected].