Academy for Green Microenterprise Development Peer Network

Funded by the U.S SBA Program for Investments in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME) Program

Guest Presenters

• Anthony Tsai, Green Business Program Manager with Urban Solutions in San Francisco, CA

• Lisa Panaccione, Business Consultant Community Development Partnership, Eastham, MA

• Jodi Peterson, Green Business Development Specialist with META in Boise, ID 

• Danny Issacs, Project Specialist with MACED in Beriah, KY

Community Development Partnership, Eastham, MA

1. Three Partners2. Three Concepts3. Three Workshops

Merging Marketing Opportunities with Environmentally Sustainable Business

PracticesMerging Marketing Opportunities with Environmentally

Sustainable Business Practices

Presents

Cape & Islands Green on the Lower Cape

Merging Marketing Opportunities with Environmentally Sustainable Business Practices

1. Three Partners2. Three Concepts3. Three Workshops

Merging Marketing Opportunities with Environmentally Sustainable Business Practices

1. Three Partners

2. Three Concepts Economic Benefits Community Involvement Environmental Sustainability

3. Three Workshops

Merging Marketing Opportunities with Environmentally Sustainable Business Practices

1. Three Partners

2. Three Concepts

3. Three Workshops #1 Conservation #2 Energy Efficiency#3 Renewable Energy

Community Development Partnership

Community Development Partnership

Community Development Partnership

•Strong Program Content W#1•Level 1 verification•Visual branding•Marketing Tools for SBO through

C & I Green Program, Cape Cod Chamber, CHA Magazine Local Chambers.

•Strong Program Content W#1•Level 1 verification•Visual branding•Marketing Tools for SBO through

C & I Green Program, Cape Cod Chamber, CHA Magazine Local Chambers.

Community Development Partnership

• Strong program content Workshop #2

•Existing relationship with SBO energy audit

program• FTHB Workshop series • Dovetails with our goals

and strategic plans

• Strong program content Workshop #2

•Existing relationship with SBO energy audit

program• FTHB Workshop series • Dovetails with our goals

and strategic plans

Community Development Partnership

• Strong program content Workshop #3

• Workshop #3 tomorrow • Building on relationship • Partnering as opportunities arise. • Note: Workshop #1 SBO

enrolled in #3.

• Strong program content Workshop #3

• Workshop #3 tomorrow • Building on relationship • Partnering as opportunities arise. • Note: Workshop #1 SBO

enrolled in #3.

Community Development Partnership

Community Development Partnership

Community Development Partnership

Community Development Partnership

Outcomes So Far

• Out of our first trial run of 12 businesses 10 have completed all three educational components. The remaining two are scheduled to complete the program in the May session.

• 18 businesses Cape wide have completed level 1 our Lower Cape  month old program has cleared 1 with another days away.

• Our other 10 are in the pipeline and ready to go.

• Environmental responsibility meets a great marketing opportunity.  

Sustainability Consulting

• Mission: Making green accessible to small and medium-sized businesses

• Target audience: Class B and C commercial property owners, managers, and tenants

• Services provided: • Comprehensive on-site green audit • Finding and securing incentives• Green Certifications• Solar feasibility assessment• Project financing

Industries served and sample services:

Offices – • HVAC and office equipment efficiency• office recycling and compost bins• landscape efficiency• staff and janitorial training

Restaurants – • cooking equipment and ventilation efficiency and

maintenance• front-and-back of house composting and recycling

training• green operating behavior training (e.g., turning off vent

hoods, soaking dishes, high-pressure pre-rinse nozzles)• organic / local sourcing

Industries served and sample services:

Hotels – • HVAC / lighting / appliance efficiency• bathroom water efficiency• solar feasibility

Retail• lighting and HVAC• green customer loyalty incentives• green purchasing• green certification

Light industrial / manufacturing• one-off needs – potato salad maker

Typical Client Questions/Challenges

What greening opportunities are available? What does it cost and how long will it take to implement?

Does opportunity make good business sense? What’s the environmental impact?

How do I know I’m making apples-to-apples comparison of solar bids from different contractors?

How will new laws (e.g., grease trap for restaurants, building efficiency benchmarking for all commercial building owners) affect my business?

Where can I find funding to make projects happen?

Outcomes

• Clients: 60• Financial impact: Savings equivalent to $1.2M in

additional revenue per year• Water savings: 1.3M gallons / year – enough to fill

2 Olympic-sized pools• Waste: diverted 62,000 gallons of waste from

landfill• CO2 reduction: equivalent to removing 31 cars /

SUVs per year• Energy savings: Enough to power and heat 8

homes per year

Lessons Learned

Clients• Importance of project financing • Creating sense of urgency: batting client priorities and

unexpected delays • Reaching target client demo can be challenging

Program • Foundations vs. corporate grants: being flexible during

turbulent funding times• Federal grants• Long-term vision: scaling up• Policy and implementation: a little this – a little that

Growing Green Business Project

• In 2011 META received a grant from The Northwest Area Foundation that specifically targets Green Micro loans for low to moderate income entrepreneurs.  

• Green Businesses would include eco-friendly, food or products that are grown, raised or produced locally in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, improvements to existing businesses to help green their operations and new green products or services.  The maximum loan amount is $5,000.00.

• Business assistance includes quarterly business lunch workshops on green topics; one-on-one consulting, "match-making" B2B activities, and other marketing activities.

Success Stories

• Lee Rice, of Rice Family Farms, is adding 13 acres to his property to start growing processing tomatoes for local producers. 

• David McCown, owner of Treasure Valley Salsa in Boise, has agreed to purchase 5000 lb's of roma tomatoes from Lee for this next production run.  Lee will be adding at least two more employees onto this new parcel and David will be cutting down on the amount of ingredients he has trucked in from out of state to make this local salsa.   David is also moving from retail only to wholesale as well to increase in production.  META got him and Lee both into Boise State University Dining on a trial basis.

Success Stories

• Homestead Natural Foods: Grass-fed beef cooperative with four ranching families. To help stablize their business we are adding a new product line to their offerings. 

• Homestead is introducing the first 100% grass-fed Old Fashion Beef Frankfurter to Idaho.  This product allows them to sell more of the cow which will balance their sales out. 

• Many of their customers right now only want the primals which leaves several pounds of great quality meat unaccounted for. By making the frankfurters they have a new use for the product and the cost is competitive with other beef franks.

Outcomes

• The goal is to create 20 new jobs in thiscalendar year.  Currently working with 20 clients and we have $16,000 in loans. 

• Clients range from Local farmers, ranchers and producers, to solar webhosting, solar screens for buildings and a Farm that makes a totally local quiche from duck eggs called a Quack Quiche. 

Lessons Learned

• The most amazing lesson we have learned is how much support the Green Community can lend to each other.

• There is such a cross-over with several of our clients we are able to support them in a very cooperative way.

• The market is definitely opening up a lot of new opportunities for our local producers and the timing just seems perfect for introducing these new products and partnerships.

MACED, Beriah, KY

Energy Efficient Enterprises

• MACED has been testing out approaches to energy lending for over five years. This has resulted in the development of two demonstration projects and the development of numerous loan products.

• Our two demonstration projects include our Energy Efficiency Enterprises (E3) project and our How$martKY project.

E3 Project

• The E3 project works directly with businesses, non profits, and local governments to identify energy efficiency and renewable energy options for those entities to consider assisting them with their desire to reduce their utility cost.

• Their services include providing energy assessments and audits, utility bill analysis, and developing action plans for entities to undertake.

• In addition the E3 project also assists in the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy contractors by providing technical assistance and an equipment library.

How$martKY

• How$martKY addresses the primary barrier to investment in energy efficiency by homeowners, small businesses and enterprises: the necessity for upfront funding to pay for improvements.

• Customers will pay for efficiency upgrades each month out of the average energy savings generated by the retrofit.

• By providing retrofit services on the electric bill utilities can put energy efficiency in the reach of those who need it the most, but have previously been unable to make the upfront investment to start saving money on their energy bills. MACED is working with four partner electric cooperatives who will pilot retrofits among their customers.

MACED’s Enterprise Development program

• We have several energy specific loan products including a solar thermal water heater loan for residential and commercial purposes, an energy microloan for appliance and small energy efficiency retrofits, and a grocery refrigeration loan.

• The savings from the retrofit is factored into repayment of the loan. MACED is currently exploring options with wood products companies and Laundromats.

• In addition to loans MACED has a Certified Energy Manager on staff who is able to review all energy request and make additional energy related recommendations as needed.

Outcomes: May 2010 – March 2011

• Energy Loans: 7 loans• Energy Loans: $507,389• Number of Contractors Served: 34• Number of Business Served: 44• Number of Retrofits Completed: 14

MACED’s Success Stories In Action!

Lessons Learned

• Although the energy lending has several positive impacts, reception and implementation of recommendations still see cost and savings as the key decision maker.

• Only 20% of the clients we work with and provide energy audits and assessments to actually move forward with the project.

• We try to eliminate financing as the barrier for adoption but often clients choose not to undertake the retrofit because of a longer payback period than they would prefer. Anything beyond a 5 to 7 year payback is considered too long.

Lessons Learned

• Our lending also focuses on forestry, low income entrepreneurs, MWBE owned businesses, and general economic development.

• Energy lending works well with our other programs but there are times were financing has to be specific to the project being financed because of the repayment method.

• Often we extend the terms of notes beyond the traditional terms offered to match the payment with savings. This is something that we have had to be conscious about with the energy lending work.