Venture Local: October 27 at the Asheville Rennaisance

We're excited to announce Venture Local, a Blue Ridge Entrepreneurial Council Forum focused on local entrepreneurship opportunities across Western North Carolina. From food to fiber, energy to technology, and beyond, the WNC region is making great strides in cultivating thriving local businesses that create quality jobs. Venture Local will spotlight success stories, promote opportunities for new ventures, discuss best practices, and as all BREC Forums do, connect entrepreneurs with each other, investors and the resources they need to succeed.

Join us Thursday October 27, 1-6pm at the Asheville Renaissance (1-5pm program followed by a 5-6 farm-to-table reception). Tickets are $20. Get your tickets now »

Erin Erenberg, IndieGoGo

www.indiegogo.com
Erin Erenberg joined IndieGoGo to head up business development. IndieGoGo is a "crowd funding" platform that was established in 2008. Crowd funding draws on the power of social media and web 2.0 to fund creative projects that might otherwise lack the capital to advance their idea. You design a project (always keeping 100% ownership), create a funding pitch, offer unique perks, or tax deductions to your contributors in lieu of offering profit, and then get the word out!! IndieGoGo especially supports entrepreneurial startups.

Christine Ageton, BALLE

www.livingeconomies.org
Christine Ageton, is a Managing Director at BALLE –The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. BALLE is a non-profit comprised of 80 regional networks in the US and Canada that are connecting independently owned, local businesses to address their communities’ toughest challenges in the smartest ways, with a goal of achieving real prosperity by building values-based regional economies. Christine’s focus areas at BALLE include strategy, program development, and oversight of BALLE’s Fellowship program aimed at finding, supporting and resourcing top local leaders.

Kevin Jones, Social Capital (SOCAP)

www.socialcapitalmarkets.net
Kevin Jones is one of the founders of Social Capital. SOCAP recognizes that a new form of capitalism is arising that requires our ability to direct the power and efficiency of market systems toward social impact, leading to a more balanced set of "returns". SOCAP is a multi-platform organization dedicated to the flow of capital towards social good.

David McConville, Buckminster Fuller Institute

www.bfi.org
David McConville is President of the Buckminster Fuller Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the development and deployment of solutions which radically advance human well-being and the health of our planet's ecosystems. The Institute's programs facilitate convergences across design, art, science, and technology to identify and cultivate transformative strategies based on a crucial synthesis of whole systems thinking, Nature's fundamental principles, and an ethically driven worldview.

Jennifer Lapidus, Carolina Ground, L3C

ncobfp.blogspot.com
Jennifer Lapidus is a local baker and food activist who saw a need in her community to bridge the gap between farmer and baker. This realization led to the development of Carolina Ground. This project aims to link the farmer, the baker, and the miller in North Carolina with the goal of providing a viable market for organic hard and soft wheat and other small grains.

Dr. Frank King, Carolina Bison

www.carolinabison.com
Located in the lush Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, Carolina Bison raises its herd on top-quality grasses and pure mountain spring water. Founded by Dr. Frank King in 1985, Carolina Bison is proudly one of the largest bison ranches on the east coast. Dr. King has been actively promoting sustainable food systems for over 25 years.

Daniel Sanders, Spiritex

www.spiritex.net
Co-founded in 1991 by the Daniel Sanders, Marylou Sanders and Edward Mandeau, Ecosport was the first company to mass produce garments from organically grown cotton. The company enjoyed immediate success as it was a major catalyst in spawning the ecologically responsible fashion industry. Ecosport became known as an industry pioneer and for innovative fiber blends combining organic cotton with hemp, flax, tencel, recycled cotton and ecospun (recycled soda bottles). Daniel and Marylou eventually sold Ecosport and opened Spiritex to further this mission of developing sustainable apparel.

Brian Boggs, Boggs Collective

www.boggscollective.com
Brian Boggs is a furniture maker steeped in the great traditions of North Carolina furniture making, but with a modern sustainable twist. Inspired by the forest itself, they strive to create work with a balance of sustainability, integrity, and art. Think of it as putting the tree back together so that in its second life its beauty and durability are honored. Towards this end, only sustainable wood harvesting methods are used by the Boggs Collective.

Woodrow Eaton, Blue Ridge Biofuels

www.blueridgebiofuels.com
Woodrow Eaton is one of the founders of Blue Ridge Biofuels. They are an employee owned business that produces and distributes biodiesel for Asheville and Western North Carolina. All of their biodiesel is produced at a facility in Asheville from waste cooking oil.

Shaw Canale, Mountain BizWorks

www.mountainbizworks.com
Through lending, consulting and training, Mountain BizWorks helps smaller businesses grow, and larger businesses thrive. We provide a continuum of services to help businesses in Western North Carolina grow from pre-launch ideas to durable businesses that create permanent, family-wage jobs.

Jane Hatley, Self-Help Credit Union

www.self-help.org
Jane Hatley is the Business Development Officer at Green Lending for Self-Help Credit Union. Self-Help is a community development lender, credit union, and real estate developer that works with individuals, organizations and communities traditionally underserved by conventional markets.