Entrepreneurial Ventures for the Arts

PETA to launch porn site in name of animal rights

2011-09-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

Nonprofit to launch a porn site? Not a headline one would expect to see, but definitely an attention-grabbing one. More interestingly then the generated pr or crtiticisms and rolled eyes with this recent PETA action is the business impact of this idea. This does seem to have an entrepreneurial nature to it, but definitely not something to hang your hat on. It is worth looking at as a case study, but don't take this as a recommendation for visiting PETA's new .xxx domain.

As the article relates:
An animal rights group, which is no stranger to attention-grabbing campaigns featuring nude women, plans to launch a pornography website to raise awareness about veganism.

The nonprofit organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) whose controversial campaigns draw criticism from women's rights groups, said it hopes to publicize veganism through a mix of pornography and graphic footage of animal suffering.

"We're hoping to reach a whole new audience of people, some of whom will be shocked by graphic images that maybe they didn't anticipate seeing when they went to the PETA triple-X site," said Lindsay Rajt, PETA's associate director of campaigns.

PETA has been accused of campaigning for animal rights at the cost of exploiting women. A Facebook group, Real Women Against PETA, was launched after the organization paid for a billboard showing an obese woman with the message: "Save the Whales. Lose the Blubber. Go Vegetarian."

Another critical Facebook group is called, "Vegans (and Vegetarians) Against PETA."

"PETA is extremely disingenuous," said Jennifer Pozner, executive director of the New York-based advocacy group Women In Media & News. "They have consistently used active sexism as their marketing strategy to garner attention. Their use of sexism has gotten more extreme and more degrading.

"This may be in their minds the only thing left at their disposal to lower the bar," she said.

PETA has filed paperwork to launch its pornography site when the controversial new .xxx domain becomes active in early December. While many nonprofits and corporations are scrambling to protect their website names from being hijacked by a pornographer slapping on a .xxx domain, PETA is embracing the new domain as just another way to conduct business.

"We try to use every outlet that we can to speak up for animals," Rajt said. "We anticipated that this new triple-X domain name would be a hot topic and we immediately decided to use it and take advantage of it to try to promote the animal rights message."

Jill Dolan, director of the program in gender and sexuality studies at Princeton University, was critical of the PETA campaigns.

"Exploiting porn to get people's juices going seems lame; exploiting pornographic images only of women to make their point is retrograde and misogynist," Dolan said in an email. "Come on, PETA. Don't be Neanderthals."

Rajt denied that PETA has been insensitive to women.

"Our demonstrators, the models, all chose to participate in our campaigns . . . It's not a very feminist thing to do to turn to women and tell them whether or not they can use their voices, their bodies to express their voice."

Visitors to the X-rated site will initially be presented with pornographic content as well as images from PETA's salacious ads and campaigns, Rajt said. Those images will be followed by pictures and video shot undercover of the mistreatment of animals. The site will also include links to vegetarian and vegan — using no animal products — starter kits as well as recipes.

PETA's ad campaigns have featured adult film stars Sasha Grey, Ron Jeremy and Jenna Jameson. In 2008, the organization's YouTube account was temporarily shut down after showing racy videos of celebrities and others posing nude.

"When people first visit the site, it will be very enticing and once they go just a little bit deeper, that's when they'll be confronted with images that we hope will make them stop and think and get them talking and hopefully encourage them to make a lifestyle change to a plant-based diet," Rajt said.

Read more: http://www.windsorstar.com/news/PETA+launch+porn+site+name+animal+rights/5424516/story.html#ixzz1YVNCq8aG

Philanthro-teens delving into nonprofit world

2011-02-01T08:06:00.000-08:00

Crain's New York Business reported that kids raise the bar on giving with Facebook fundraisers, even their own foundations.

When Shannon McNamara was 13, her parents took her and her siblings to Peru during summer vacation to volunteer in an orphanage.

“At the beginning of the trip, I was thinking, 'Why can't I be on a cruise ship instead?' ” said Ms. McNamara, now 17 and a senior in high school in Basking Ridge, N.J. But the experience was “worth more than any cruise or trip to Disneyland could give you,” she said.

The family took a similar trip to Africa three years ago, and Ms. McNamara started her own nonprofit, Share (Shannon's After-School Reading Exchange), shortly after to help educate African girls. She has since volunteered in Tanzania every summer, and has collected 23,000 books and shipped them to schools there. She has also begun raising money for scholarships.

Meet the teen philanthropists. Armed with new technology and an awareness of global issues, post-Millennials are engaging in social entrepreneurship in previously unimaginable ways. Though still materialistic, these teens and even preteens want to do something more significant than acquire the latest i-Pod Touch or Wii.

Looking for a purpose
Borrowing from trends in celebrity charity, kids are mobilizing their peers to address everything from infant mortality in developing nations to neighborhood concerns. They're donating presents to charity, and they're establishing their own nonprofits.

“The number of kids creating their own organizations and taking action for causes they care about is skyrocketing,” said Nancy Lublin, chief executive of DoSomething.org, a New York-based nonprofit that helps young people to engage in philanthropy.

“Kids today just saw their parents go through a recession, get laid off and struggle,” Ms. Lublin said. “They look around and say: 'What's the point? I don't just want a second car in my driveway. I want a life of purpose.' ”

In the past year, 79% of girls in the United States have contributed food or clothing, 53% have given their own money, and 66% have asked family or friends to give or volunteer, according to research commissioned by the United Nations Foundation.

READ MORE HERE.

New Start Up Resource

2010-12-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

The name Wicked Start, while irreverent and fun, is also a play on a slang definition of “wicked,” meaning masterful. A "wicked start" is a masterful way of starting a business. At Wicked Start, we believe entrepreneurs and small business owners are on the forefront of business today, leading change and innovation with great ideas.

Starting a business is one of the biggest decisions that you will ever make, and it can be as daunting as it is exciting. To be successful, you must take lots of personal, financial and planning considerations into account. At Wicked Start, our objective is to combine a practical, manageable business approach with a dose of “heart” to manage these considerations during the entire start-up process. This “heart” is compassion, which plays an instrumental role in how you create, drive and build a successful business on based on principles, integrity, and best practices. By injecting compassion into your solutions, you will find a healthier business in the long term and a healthier bottom line.

For Artists’ Fund-Raising, a Social Network Site

2010-12-07T22:15:00.000-08:00

The NY Times featured an article about United States Artists, a nonprofit group founded by foundations and wealthy art donors to broaden support for working artists, and their new Web site that solicits small donations from regular people to help underwrite specific artworks.

Part social network, part glossy brochure, part fund-raising mechanism, the site seeks to democratize arts patronage as government support for the arts continues to decline and private sources of financing also shrink.

“What we’ve tried to do is take the good ideas about microphilanthropy and the good ideas about social networking and put them together in a way that people can learn about artists and learn about their projects and how they work,” said Katharine DeShaw, the organization’s executive director.

In testing, the Web site attracted roughly 36,000 unique visitors and raised a total of $210,000, with an average of $120 from each of 1,500 small donors, Ms. DeShaw said.

Artists like Zoe Strauss, a photographer, who have received United States Artists grants in the past were asked to participate in the test, and 47 did so. Ms. Strauss sought $4,000 for a project to document the effects of the BP oil spill on the Gulf Coast and its people, and to make a book of her photographs.

Ms. Strauss said about fund-raising, “I would rather have someone stab me in the face.” She added, “I’m totally unskilled in how to hustle money and totally repulsed by the idea of asking people for it, so this site was a dream come true for me.”

She ended up raising $5,185, which is helping her make additional trips to the region to take more photos. “I probably would have had to stop at the one trip I made because I couldn’t afford anymore,” she said. “By making one or two more trips down there, I will have much more to choose from for the book.”

Ms. Strauss said she also appreciated the social networking aspects of the site. “I work very much by myself, and so the ability to talk back and forth with other artists and see how they go about raising money and talking about their work is great.”

Thomas Allen Harris worried it might be too much work. But he decided he could use the test to raise money for a documentary that grew out of his work on Digital Diaspora Family Reunion, a multimedia project that asks blacks to share their family photos as a means of broadening the historic record of the black experience in America. As part of that project, he interviewed Byron Rushing, a Massachusetts legislator who had played a pivotal role in the state’s debate over gay marriage, and saw a way of tying that issue to the civil rights movement in a film.

Using the new Web site and other resources, Mr. Harris raised $11,600, 16 percent more than he had sought, to pay for archival materials, a composer and other postproduction costs.

“In first week or two, all I raised was $25, and I started wondering what would happen if people started thinking about this as a failure,” Mr. Harris said. “I’m used to sharing my creative process, but sharing how I’m actually raising money in such a public way introduces another level of vulnerability.”

Bill Frisell, a jazzss guitarist, said he, too, was uncomfortable with so publicly soliciting money. “I’m not rich but I make a living, and so for me to say, ‘Please, please, please give me money,’ it felt a little embarrassing,” Mr. Frisell said. “I had to get over that.”

He raised $20,300 through the new site, which will be used to complete a program called “The Great Flood,” a suite of original music composed by Mr. Frisell and accompanied by a film by Bill Morrison about the Mississippi River flood in 1927 and its effect on society and music.

The money will enable him to take the band that will perform the music on a tour along the Mississippi River. “We’ll play in various places,” Mr. Frisell said, “set up on the street and play or get smaller gigs that wouldn’t pay enough to cover expenses without this money.”

Ms. Strauss, Mr. Harris and Mr. Frisell say they anticipate that the kind of incremental fund-raising on the site will become more and more important to sustaining art. Mr. Frisell said, “We have to try new things.”

Helping 1,000 startups in 2,000 days

2010-12-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

Veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur Martin Babinec is looking for an Albany-area university to team up with him.

Babinec, of Little Falls, N.Y., founded Upstate Venture Connect in January and already has partnered with Cornell University, Syracuse University and LeMoyne College in Central New York to make it easier for technology startups to succeed.

Babinec formed UVC with a goal of helping entrepreneurs team up with advisers and find access to investors to increase their odds of survival. UVC seeks to help create 1,000 technology startups in upstate New York over the next 2,000 days.

“For entrepreneurs to get connected here is extremely difficult,” Babinec said.

UVC, a nonprofit, is developing a database and social network for mentors, advisers, startup companies, incubators and investors.

Teaming up with upstate universities to create a network of resources to help entrepreneurs solve funding, marketing, sales and commercialization problems is a key that Babinec said will help upstate encourage the development of more startup companies.

The resident of Herkimer County, N.Y., spent 22 years building TriNet HR Corp., a San Leandro, Calif.-based human resources outsourcing company, into a national firm with $200 million in annual revenue and more than 2,800 clients in the Unites States.

Babinec, who remains on the TriNet board and is the second-largest shareholder of the private company, said he is dedicating the next 10 years to bringing some of Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurship culture to upstate New York.

UVC is run by Nasir Ali, president of The Tech Garden in Syracuse.

Last month, UVC opened an office in Saratoga Springs. Greg Gibson, an entrepreneur who moved to Saratoga Springs from Boston two years ago, is running the local office.

“Upstate has many of the assets necessary to build an innovation-oriented economy,” Babinec said. They include 113 universities and colleges, roughly 500,000 students who attract more than $3 billion in research funding each year.

Those assets are spread out and do not work together as much as they should.

By partnering with universities throughout upstate, Babinec said he hopes to start changing the entrepreneurship culture here.

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Read more: Helping 1,000 startups in 2,000 days The Business Review

Connecting Entrepreneurs in Central New York: New Website

2010-09-23T06:11:00.000-07:00

Enitiative, a coalition of six campuses in Central New York that promotes student and community entrepreneurship, has a new website aimed at connecting Central New York entrepreneurs with the resources available to help them launch and grow their ventures.

Students, faculty, staff and community members can visit www.cnyentrepreneurship.com to find resources they might need at any stage in their business. From conducting basic market research to forming legal structure and designing a marketing campaign, fledgling and established business owners can find both university and community resources that are there to help them succeed.

“There are many organizations, college courses and seasoned entrepreneurs in Central New York that offer services, knowledge and experience to those entrepreneurs who are just starting out or who want to take their business to the next level,” says Bruce Kingma, associate provost for entrepreneurship and innovation at Syracuse University. “We wanted to provide a single place for entrepreneurs to get this important information.”

Enitiative worked with organizations and colleges across Central New York to compile the resources listed on the website. Any organization that would like to be included on the website as a resource for entrepreneurs should email the Enitiative office at excel@syr.edu.

The SU-led Enitiative is funded by a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Mo., focusing on entrepreneurship in the arts, technology and neighborhoods. SU’s academic and community partners in this initiative include Cayuga Community College (CCC), Le Moyne College, Morrisville State College, Onondaga Community College (OCC), the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), the Central New York Community Foundation, the Gifford Foundation, CenterState CEO, Messenger Associates Inc. and National Grid.

TED Talks

2010-09-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Check out TED Talks, a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer -- TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.

Profits for Nonprofits

2010-08-18T12:49:00.001-07:00

The Nonprofit Newswire offered this recent view on an article in the Wall Street Journal, which highlights an idea that should be given more consideration: win-win business partnerships between nonprofits and for profits.

Recent Newswires in North CarolinaAugust 3, 2010; Source: Wall Street Journal For those of you that do not already know, the Wall Street Journal now prints a “Donor of the Day” column that has become a must read for many. Yesterday Suzanne Sunshine was profiled. This author knew Ms Sunshine at LISC where she was the unsung hero in LISC’s program for helping CDCs develop supermarkets in low-income neighborhoods.

Last year, she started a private, for-profit real estate brokerage and consulting firm specializing in nonprofit office space. In an era of much-hyped, short-on-evidence innovations, S. Sunshine & Associates LLC operates on an innovative model. On every deal, she arranges for 10 to 50 percent of her real estate commission to be returned to the client or an associated charity. In her first year of operations, she has made a profit and returned over $100,000 to New York charities. Read more here.

Panera's new model of nonprofit restaurants

2010-06-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

Syracuse.com offered the following national story:

As the first crowd of customers filed into Panera Co.'s nonprofit restaurant here, only the honor system kept them from taking all the food they wanted for free.

Ronald Shaich, Panera's chairman, admitted as he watched them line up that he had no idea if his experiment would work. The idea for Panera's first nonprofit restaurant was to open an eatery where people paid what they could. The richer could pay full price-or extra. The poorer could get a cheap or even free meal.

A month later, the verdict is in: It turns out people are basically good.

Panera, which operates 1,400 franchised and corporate-owned bakery-cafes across the country, plans to expand the nonprofit model around the nation, opening two more locations within months.

"I guess I would say it's performing better than we even might have hoped in our cynical moments, and it's living up to our best sense of humanity," Shaich said in an interview.

Its cashiers tell customers their orders' "suggested" price based on the menu. About 60 to 70 percent pay in full, Shaich said. About 15 percent leave a little more and another 15 percent pay less, or nothing at all. A handful have left big donations, like $20 for a cup of coffee.

The restaurant took in $100,000 in revenue its first month. He declined to say what kind of margin this left between total costs and revenue, but he predicted the restaurant will be able to cover its costs within months and eventually generate extra cash for charitable programs.

Panera's nonprofit plan is the largest example yet of a concept called community kitchens, where businesses operate partly as charities. Customers who need a discount, or even free food, can get it with no questions asked.

Shaich borrowed the idea from a restaurant in Denver and then connected with Denise Cerreta, who runs The One World Salt Lake City restaurant with a sliding scale menu. Cerreta's community kitchen and others he looked into were impressive, Shaich said, but operated on a smaller scale than Panera could afford to run.

The Clayton store is run under the company's St. Louis Bread Co. banner by a nonprofit organization called Panera Cares that publicly traded Panera Co. supports. But Panera won't bear the nonprofit's losses if the experiment fails. For the expansion, Panera spokeswoman Kate Antonacci said, the nonprofit is considering locations that, like Clayton, are upscale but accessible to lower-income customers. In Clayton's case, St. Louis County's offices and court house are nearby. Read more here.

Looking to jump-start your business? You might try entering a contest.

2010-06-21T13:05:00.001-07:00

The Wall Street Journal reported that a growing number of corporations, nonprofits and universities are giving small companies a chance at a big break—by holding contests.

Covering a broad range of categories, from the most promising women entrepreneurs to the strongest tech ideas, these competitions offer a number of powerful lures. Some offer cash prizes that can range into the six figures. Then there are longer-term rewards, such as increased exposure and grist for future marketing campaigns. Even if they don't win, entrepreneurs often come away with valuable critiques from expert panels of judges.

But there's an art to deciding which contests to enter and making the best case for your company. Here are some keys to finding, entering and winning these competitions.

The best place to start looking for contests is www.AwardSync.com, a site that helps groups publicize their awards. Once you've focused in on some competitions, the groups' own sites can be valuable. For instance, you could scour their sites for more information about what they do—which might give you ideas about what to highlight in your presentation.

At the outset, start small with awards from, say, local chapters of national organizations. This has a number of benefits. You can refine your case and practice your presentation without as much at stake. You also stand a better chance of winning a smaller contest—and judges of larger events like to see that you have some victories under your belt.

Once you've homed in on some contests, network like crazy. Call previous winners to see what worked for them; more than anyone else, they'll understand why you're in the hunt—and typically they have nothing to lose because they're ineligible to win again. If you can get into the audience for an award's oral presentations, go do it one year, see what makes the finalists stand out, and then apply the next year. Read more here.

Foundations Offer Loans to Nonprofits: Possible Idea of Seed Funds

2010-05-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

The Buffalo News reported that a $650,000 check in 2008 from the Community Health Foundation of Western and Central New York for a new program to assist the frail elderly in Cattaraugus County came with a caveat: Trustees of the foundation wanted the money back, with interest.

A single grant of that size was beyond the capacity of the foundation, so trustees decided instead to make it a loan.

The money allowed Community Care of Western New York to launch a program that will keep more than 200 rural elderly people safely in their homes. Without it, the project probably would have stalled.

"It would not have opened without us, and what is a really promising model for elder care in a rural community would have been lost," said Ann Monroe, foundation president.

Increasingly, foundations in Western New York and across the country are turning to loans, loan guarantees and other measures as a way to aid needy nonprofit organizations without giving away the store.

The John R. Oishei Foundation, the area's largest private foundation, currently has more than $12 million — nearly 4 percent of its $280 million asset base — being used in this fashion. And at least two other local foundations, the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation and the Joy Family Foundation, have experimented with alternative financing.

Known as "program-related investments," or more popularly "PRIs," the loans and loan guarantees are serving a dual purpose for foundations hammered by stock market losses in 2008.

PRIs, like grants, put money toward projects that might not otherwise get off the ground. Read more here.

6 qualities of successful social entrepreneurs

2010-04-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

As related in The Nonprofit Times e-mail newsletter:

So, what makes a successful social entrepreneur? In his book “How to Change the World,” David Bornstein disputes the common assumption that highly successful entrepreneurs are more confident and persistent than most others.

Instead, he found that what distinguishes successful social entrepreneurs is the quality of their motivation; they were the ones who were most determined to achieve a long-term goal that was deeply meaningful to them.

With this, he sets out six qualities of highly successful social entrepreneurs.:

Willingness to self-correct. Inclination to self-correct stems from the attachment to a goal rather than to a particular approach or plan.

Willingness to share credit. A willingness to share credit lies along the “critical path” to success, because the more credit entrepreneurs share the more people will want to help them.

Willingness to break free of established structures. By doing this, entrepreneurs can gain the freedom to act and the distance to see beyond orthodoxy in their fields.

Willingness to cross disciplinary boundaries. Independence from established structures not only helps social entrepreneurs break free of prevailing assumptions but also gives them latitude to combine resources in new ways.

Willingness to work quietly. Many social entrepreneurs spend decades steadily advancing their ideas.

Strong ethical impetus. At some moment in their lives, social entrepreneurs get it into their heads that it is up to them to solve a particular problem.

Entrepreneur to hear business pitches on Quadby Kevin Tampone

2010-04-04T19:52:00.000-07:00

John Liddy, entrepreneur in residence at the Tech Garden in downtown Syracuse, will spend a few hours Tuesday afternoon handing out cash on the Syracuse University Quad.
Students will have to earn the money though.

Liddy will listen to business ideas from any student and hand out vouchers for $5 in cash. Students must show up to an event for young entrepreneurs scheduled for April 28 at the Tech Garden to claim the money.

And the idea must be real, says Paul Brooks, vice president for entrepreneurship programs at the Tech Garden. Liddy will vet the concepts and only distribute the cash vouchers to students with top ideas.

The April 28 event will bring together student entrepreneurs from various SU schools, investors, and potential mentors for a program on entrepreneurship and emerging companies, Brooks says.

Liddy will be on the Quad from noon to 2:30 p.m.

New York Entrepreneur Week April 12-16

2010-03-16T23:06:00.000-07:00

New York Entrepreneur Week (NYEW) is a non-profit movement formed around a single belief: entrepreneurs change the world. And now is the time for entrepreneurs who have the will and drive to prove they can achieve anything, to stand up and come together in New York State for another groundbreaking NYEW event.

With over 100 speakers from 40 cities, 15 states and 3 continents, NYEW unites the state’s diverse entrepreneurial community; giving you the opportunity to connect with and learn from New York’s best and brightest entrepreneurs who are relentless, driven and dedicated to improving your business and the economy. View the full agenda here.

New York Entrepreneur Week encompasses five days of innovative and hyper-targeted events, including:

* Inspiring keynote speeches from recognized business leaders
* Riveting panels delivering relevant mission-critical advice
* The flagship RELENTLESS business plan competition

Need Ideas for Your Venture? How About Recycling Soap?

2010-03-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a great example of an entrepreneurial start up that an individual developed. Although this is a stand alone nonprofit, tourism-focused nonprofits could have (or maybe still can) developed this type of program and partnership with local accomodations. Here is some info from a recent article:

Children in earthquake-devastated Haiti may already be washing their hands with Mickey Mouse soap from a Walt Disney World hotel.

The giant Disney resort recently signed on with Clean the World Foundation Inc., a year-old nonprofit group that hopes to improve hygiene in impoverished parts of the world by recycling soap and shampoo from tens of thousands of local and out-of-state hotel rooms.

The nonprofit group collects the used toiletries, which hotels previously tossed in the trash, sanitizes them and then redistributes them to people in need around the world. Read more here.

Look at your organization. What opportunities do you have, or can you create with your partners or supporters? Have your own ideas? Share them here.

Your Money New York: Resource for New Businesses

2010-03-09T06:13:00.001-08:00

A new website has been launched in NYS to support businesses and potential new businesses with information and resources. As the website, Your Money New York, relates:

Welcome to Your Money New York, part of a multi-faceted initiative at the Office of the State Comptroller to promote financial knowledge and education. This program is designed to give New Yorkers the information and tools they need to face the broad variety of money-related issues that may arise over the course of their lives -- whether it is getting out of debt, looking for a job, saving for college or retirement, or buying a car or home.

These are difficult economic times. Confidence in our financial system has been shaken. Fewer employers are offering traditional pension plans with guaranteed retirement income. Scams and frauds designed to separate you from your hard-earned money are on the rise. These things contribute to making our financial lives more complex, and make it more important than ever that we take steps to protect ourselves and secure our future.

New Yorkers need access to useful and reliable financial information. The goal of Your Money New York is to serve as a centralized, coordinated access point for this information, and to connect you with programs and resources to meet whatever financial challenges you may be facing. Please consider Your Money New York as your partner in pursuing your financial goals. Working together, we can make a strong, bright economic future a reality for all New Yorkers.

Southern Oregon Historical Society Looks to the Past for a Future

2010-02-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

The NY Time reported on this Historical Society's plans to sell some of its historic properties. As the article relates:

They say economic collapse is what froze this place in time, a gold rush relic all but abandoned when the railroad passed it by. Decades later, that chance preservation positioned Jacksonville to benefit from new interest in the past. Boutiques moved to quaint California Street. Californians soon moved to town.

The U.S. Hotel building in Jacksonville, Ore., is one of the 19th-century buildings that a historical society has proposed selling. A high-end housing development, Nunan Square, is a recent addition to the historic town.

History sells, but now Jacksonville may learn that, the hard way.

The Southern Oregon Historical Society, which controls five of the most prominent historic properties in a town that is itself a historic district, has proposed selling some of the sites as a way to prevent the organization’s own economic collapse. After changes in state and county tax policies left it without a clear revenue stream in the 1990s and several short-term measures since then have run their course, the society says it is essentially out of money.

Last September, the society shut down the Jacksonville Museum, housed in a former courthouse from the 1880s. It has also closed the rectory of a local Roman Catholic church, built in the 1860s, and Beekman Bank, which still houses scales used to weigh gold. The rectory and the bank, as well as the U.S. Hotel, built in the 1880s, are among the properties the society said it hoped to sell. Read more here.

This is a trend across the country. Museums and cultural organizations have found themselves in the position of multiple properties with no way to sustain them, let alone maintain them. With facilities literally bleeding these organizations dry, what other alternatives do they have? Have your comments on this article? Share them here.

New nonprofit aims to spark growing firms

2010-02-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

The Central NY Business Journal reported that a new nonprofit group has launched to encourage the development and growth of more small, innovative companies in upstate New York.

The organization, Upstate Venture Connect, aims to increase connections among mentors, entrepreneurs, and those interested in working for young, growth-oriented firms. Group leaders also want to spark more collaboration among business groups, universities, and economic development organizations.

Upstate New York isn't likely to generate major job growth by attracting large companies that will hire hundreds or thousands of people, says Martin Babinec, founder and chairman of Upstate Venture Connect, which started in January.

"That's yesterday's industrial model," he says. "But it's not reality with the way things currently work."

A better path, Babinec says, is to focus on developing numerous smaller companies. The group will concentrate on firms that can attract private-equity financing since they tend to be those with the best shot at growth. Read more here.

Museum Offers New Venture Idea

2010-01-24T18:10:00.000-08:00

The NY Times reported about one history museum's new approach and plan to engage audiences and increase visitation. Great example of new ways of thinking and an entrepreneurial approach. As the article relates:

When thinking of ways to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon, studying history is not high on the list for most families. Now, in a bid to make history more vivid, alluring and accessible for the Wii generation, an interactive “museum within a museum,” focusing on the lives of young New Yorkers, will open in November 2011 on the lower level of the New-York Historical Society, museum officials said.

The DiMenna Children’s History Museum, as it will be known, is part of the $60 million renovation of the historical society building on Central Park West, Louise Mirrer, the president and chief executive officer of the museum, said this week. The roughly 4,000-square-foot museum has been designed by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture & Design Partnership with a $5 million donation from Joseph A. and Diana DiMenna.

The new museum will focus on the stories of children, from famous figures like Alexander Hamilton, who came to New York as a teenage orphan to attend college, to the boys and girls who hawked newspapers on city streets 100 years ago.

“In schools, history tends to be about figures once they have matured and become important,” Ms. Mirrer said. “But if we want history to become alive for children, what better way to teach them than showing them children from other periods? We want to be on the permanent agenda of children and families in New York.” Read more here.

Famous Entrepreneurs Series (FES): Central NY Resouce

2010-01-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Famous Entrepreneurs Series (FES) is a business membership organization created to fuel the entrepreneurial flame in the Greater Syracuse and Central Upstate New York region. Through FES, admired CEOs and management thought leaders join us to share their successes, failures and bold visions in an effort to create inspired discussions within our local community.

4th Annual Series Continues
with
Vijay Govindarajan,
author of "Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators"
Wednesday, March 24
Onondaga Community College
Storer Auditorium, Ferrante Hall

Inventing as a way of business

2010-01-14T12:40:00.000-08:00

Business First of Buffalo reported that ideas lead to inventions and, sometimes, a business. As the article relates:

“But that’s just a starting point on a long journey,” said registered patent attorney Vincent LoTempio of the law firm Kloss, Stenger and LoTempio.

On Jan. 19, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Buffalo State College auditorium, LoTempio and other area experts will host entrepreneurs with big ideas and explain what to expect throughout that journey.

The event is called Product Idea Expo, where attendees will get overviews on writing business plans, starting a business and creating prototypes.

Local entrepreneur Richard Conway is scheduled to discuss his experiences in how to bring a product to market.

In 1998, Conway developed the Balance Buddy, a U-shaped handle that attaches to the rear axle of a child’s bicycle.

“It works like a stroller, so parents don’t have to bend down and struggle as they teach their kids to ride a bike.” Conway said.

Patented in 2001, Conway estimates he’s sold more than 100,000. The product can be found at Target, Toys R Us and Amazon.com.

Other sessions include how to avoid the common mistakes inventors make, how to sell a product and what retailers look for in products. “The program is open to anyone who has an idea and wants to market it,” said William Grieshober, business adviser at the Small Business Development Center at Buffalo State.

The event is co-sponsored by the college, New York State Small Business Development Center and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Besides LoTempio and SBA representatives, presentations will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Scheduled to present are SBDC counselors, as well as professionals with experience in customs, advertising and marketing.

For more information or to register, visit www.wnyinvents.com.

Entrepreneurship study ranks New York near the bottom

2010-01-10T19:21:00.000-08:00

The Albany Business Review reported that New York continues to be among the three least entrepreneur-friendly states, according to a new report by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

New York ranked No. 48 in 2009, followed by California and New Jersey. The District of Columbia ranked last as a region.

The council’s 14th annual “Small Business Survival Index,” released Tuesday, considers 36 costs to small businesses that are imposed by or reported by the government. Most factors are taxes, including personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, property taxes, unemployment taxes and health insurance taxes.

Also factored in are energy costs and crime rate.

The top five most entrepreneur-friendly states are South Dakota, Nevada, Texas, Wyoming and Washington.

The Oakton, Va.-based Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council is a nonpartisan, nonprofit small-business and entrepreneurship advocacy group.

To read the study, click here.

Recession Brings Out Entrepreneurial Spirit

2010-01-10T17:43:00.000-08:00

The NY Times offered an article about the recent entrepreneurial focus in Detroit. As the article related:

With $6,000 and some Hollywood-style spunk, four friends opened this city’s only independent foreign movie house three months ago in an abandoned school auditorium on an unlighted stretch of the Cass Corridor near downtown.

After the unlikely hoopla of an opening night, red-carpet-style event in an area known for drugs and prostitution, exactly four customers showed up to see a film.

Since then, the Burton Theater has had a few profitable nights. But, the owners say, this adventure in entrepreneurship was never completely about making money. It was also about creating a more livable community.

“Nobody could comprehend why we’d start a theater,” said an investor, Nathan Faustyn, 25. “But when you live in Detroit, you ask, ‘What can I do for the city?’ We needed this. And we had nothing to lose. When you’re at the bottom of the economic ladder, you have nowhere to look but up.”

Despite the recession — and in some cases because of it — small businesses are budding around Detroit in one of the more surprising twists of the downturn. Some new businesses like the Burton are scratching by. Others have already grown beyond the initial scope of their business plans, juggling hundreds of customers and expanding into new sites.

Across from the Burton, for instance, Jennifer Willemsen just celebrated the first anniversary of her shop, Curl Up and Dye, a retro-themed hair salon serving 1,500 clients. Not far away, Torya Blanchard, a former French teacher, recently opened the second location of Good Girls Go to Paris, a creperie. Next door, Greg Lenhoff, also a former teacher, opened a bookstore in August called Leopold’s.

And just down the street from Leopold’s, on Woodward Avenue, Victor Both runs Breezecab, a company he started with a severance package after a layoff from Wayne State University. He uses rickshaws to ferry workers and conventioneers around downtown. “This filled a transportation void,” said Mr. Both, 34, who picked up the pedicab idea while touring Las Vegas before his layoff. “I haven’t made much money, but the experience has been priceless. I had no idea Detroit had so much love.”

It is not an uncommon instinct to start an enterprise in bad times and seize on weakened competition, lower overhead costs and perhaps more free time. Nor is it limited to Detroit. But the trend is particularly striking here, in a city that was suffering long before the rest of the nation fell into recession and where hard times, business closings and abandonment became routine generations ago. Read more here.

In the Arts, Bigger Buildings May Not Be Better

2010-01-06T05:27:00.000-08:00

A recent blog, The Data Stream (offered by the National Association of Artists Organizations), discussed the "Bilbao effect," which resulted in an overexpansion of arts and cultural organizations. As the post relates:

Within months of its opening in 1997, Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao had given the language a new term and the world a new way of looking at culture. The “Bilbao effect,” many came to believe, was the answer to what ailed cities everywhere — it was a way to lure tourists and economic development — and a potential boon to cultural institutions.

Municipal governments and arts groups were soon pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into larger, flashier exhibition spaces and performance halls.

Now the economic downturn has reined in a lot of these big dreams and has also led to questions about whether ambitious building projects from Buffalo to Berkeley ever made sense to begin with. Some are arguing that arts administrators and their patrons succumbed to an irrational exuberance that rivaled the stock market’s in the boom years.

Organizations were “blinded by the excitement of what it would be like to have this great new facility,” said D. Carroll Joynes, a senior fellow at the University of Chicago’s Cultural Policy Center.

The recession, he said he believed, is not solely to blame for a recent wave of projects that have been delayed (like additions to the St. Louis Art Museum and the Cincinnati Art Museum); scaled back (like the new building of the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, N.Y.); put into question (the new Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center and the renovation of the New York Public Library’s main Fifth Avenue branch); or abandoned altogether (the expansion of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo).

In Mr. Joynes’s view, “The recession is exposing the weakness of a lot of institutions that were seriously overstretched” before it began.

“It’s exposing poor management and poor planning,” said Mr. Joynes, who is collaborating on a study of 50 cultural building projects completed from 1994 to 2008 and their planning processes. These were situations, he added, in which “nobody actually asked: ‘Is there a need here? If they build it, will they come?’ ”
Read more here.

New place for R.I. culture

2009-12-13T12:36:00.000-08:00

The following article relates a newly opened arts center that is a for profit enterprise. Is this a new trend? Share you thoughts. As the article relates:

The name is sure to grab the attention of would-be theatergoers. It’s catchy, it’s ambitious, it emphasizes a sense of place.

And yet, when the Rhode Island Center for Performing Arts at the Historic Park Theatre hosts its first stage production next weekend, the people who enter the state’s newest live entertainment venue will find more than just a theater.

In its new incarnation, the building that once housed the Park Cinema is also home to a café, a nightclub and a 200-seat all-purpose area that can serve as a restaurant for theatergoers, a comedy club and a room for receptions and business functions.

The extras are part of owner Piyush Patel’s plan to make sure the new theater at the corner of Park and Pontiac avenues does what any business sets out to do: make money.

That will not be easy. Even in good times, it’s hard for theaters to make money, industry people say. And with the economy in tatters, it will be that much harder.

There’s also the issue of size. With 1,050 seats, the new theater is relatively small in the world of live entertainment.

Patel, 69, a native of India whose business interests include real estate, hotels and personal care products, says that is why he has cast such as wide net.

“Every business plan has some kind of escape strategy, you know, what happens if it doesn’t work,” he said. “That’s why I came up with the idea, a total entertainment complex.”

This is not to say that Patel won’t be trying to make money from the theater end of the business.
He has hired Jack Nicholson, a New Englander with a long history in managing sporting and entertainment venues, to oversee the theater operation. And Nicholson, like Patel, is casting a wide net.

For patrons who think theater means plays and musicals, the new venue will be working with the Stoneham Theatre, in Stoneham, Mass., which has been producing its own shows since it — like the Park — reopened in a historic former cinema. The Park will help subsidize those productions — this year’s list includes “My Fair Lady,” “Gaslight,” “Always … Patsy Cline,” and “Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad” — and will host perhaps four or five shows a year.

Dates for those performances are still being determined, in part because Nicholson is also working to book live acts. Three will come to the Park during the late-winter/spring, though those dates are not set either: The Moscow Circus, the Rat Pack and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
The live theater and live entertainment represent the jewels that the new theater plans to offer. Rounding out those offerings will be large-screen, high-definition broadcasts of sporting events — the Super Bowl, the World Series, World Cup soccer — and independent movies. Read more here.

Build a Stronger America: Join the Entrepreneur' Movement

2009-12-13T12:22:00.000-08:00

The Kauffman: The Foundation for Entreprenuership offers this new resource and website:

If you are like 80 percent of Americans, you believe that the U.S. economy has been, and will continue to be, built by entrepreneurs like you. Accordingly, if the U.S. economy is going to have a sustained recovery, it will be up to its entrepreneurs to lead the way.

But entrepreneurs cannot create jobs and growth without a level playing field. Federal and state governments cannot continue to favor large, established businesses at the expense of startups and entrepreneurs. Here are five things that entrepreneurs need now:

Health care reform
Better access to credit
Cut payroll taxes to create and save jobs
Tax reform
"Entrepreneur's Visas" that enable non-U.S. native college and university graduates to create new jobs now

Kauffman believes that entrepreneurs' voices need to be heard in Washington, DC, and will work to educate government officials about the important role entrepreneurs play in our economy.

Join the Entrepreneurs' Movement today.

Social Entrepreneurship Resources

2009-12-07T22:28:00.000-08:00

Craigslist Foundation has a helpful resource section on Social Entrepreneurship from their Nonprofit Boot Camp. A couple examples are listed below. The section includes presentations for most programs and some audio recordings too.

Nonprofit vs. For-profit: Which way to go? (NY08)
Moderator: Jeffrey Robinson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Management & Global Business, Rutgers Business School
Presenters: Jessamin Waldman, Founder, Hot Bread Kitchen;
N. Taylor Thompson, Co-Founder, PharmaSecure

Tales from the Trenches: Resource Review and Top Five Lessons Learned (NY08)
Moderator: Lara Galinsky, VP of Strategy, Echoing Green
Presenters: Andrew Bucko, Founder/Managing Director, The Reciprocity Foundation;
Nandini Narula, Co-Founder, GreenMango;
Toni Blackman, Musical Ambassador, Performer & Writer, Artist Development, Consultant

The Art and Science of Business Development for the Public Good (NY08)
Presenter: David Jordan, Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Clark University's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program and President & CEO, Seven Hills Foundation

Nonprofits rethinking business model

2009-12-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

Buffalo's Business First featured an article about how nonprofits are developing new ways of generating unrestricited operating dollars: Entrepreneurial Ventures! As the article relates:

The region’s nonprofit service providers are faced with the toughest of challenges: How to deal with increased demand while facing declining revenues.

Small agencies are dealing with it. So are the largest.

Even the millionaire agencies – those with at least a million dollars in revenues that have made it onto the Business First Million Dollar Nonprofits list – say the situation doesn’t appear to be getting easier. They had collective revenues of $1.92 billion in fiscal 2007, but individually many are struggling and seeking ways to stay solvent. Many are exploring new funding options from foundations and contract opportunities as well as earned income through for-profit social enterprises.

Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute will start one such venture Jan. 1 when it begins a management contract with the Industrial Macromolecular Crystallography Association (IMCA), a consortium of nine of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies. The five-year contract calls for Hauptman-Woodward to manage IMCA’s Advanced Photon Source near Chicago, where X-rays used for X-ray crystallography are produced.

In addition to the $1 million management fee over a five-year period, the real value of the venture comes in the form of future possibilities, says Eaton “Ed” Lattman, CEO and executive director at HWI, a $7 million organization.

“We earn some money out of it, but we also get on the radar screens of these nine companies,” he says. “It’s at least equally important that we might get them, for example, to be customers of the high output crystallography lab here at the institute, or we might develop intellectual property with one of these firms.”

The agency is not alone. Nonprofits are increasingly investing in social enterprises despite the economic downturn, according to a survey by Community Wealth Ventures Inc. and the Social Enterprise Alliance of Washington, D.C. More than half of the 848 social sector organizations surveyed already operate a social enterprise, while 60 percent indicated they plan to launch another in the next few years.

Those considering their first enterprise cite a motivation to increase revenues and to extend the mission of their organization.

Mark Foley, president and CEO of Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled, says he’s been focusing on better business practices to avoid cutting programs or making layoffs at the $21 million agency. Now he’s beginning to explore the possibility of social enterprise.

“I don’t know that I’ve come up with anything that’s rocket science here,” he says. “Nonprofits have to be more business-like when funding support from donors and government start shrinking.”

The sale of reproduced rare prints and artwork is the newest venture for the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, which already earns dollars through Fables Cafe in the central library. Bridget Quinn-Carey, executive director, says the library is exploring a variety of opportunities for new revenues.

“We’re rethinking what we’re doing in our retail store too, thinking how can we better take advantage of this great real estate in there,” she says.

A cafe is also bringing in new revenue at the Buffalo Museum of Science. First opened this summer during the run of the popular Body Worlds exhibit, the museum is continuing the venture along with an increased emphasis on facilities rentals such as weddings and events in the main hall as well as the auditorium.

CEO Mark Mortenson says the nearly $3.3 million organization is looking at expanding those opportunities, as well as overnight programming for families.

“We always want to make sure it’s a unique experience every time an individual comes here,” he says. “We have a three-year approved strategic plan now aimed at identifying funding opportunities to change experiences throughout the museum.”

Habitat for Humanity Buffalo, with overall revenues of $1.5 million, has found better than expected success through its Restore, a retail shop that sells donated goods including building supplies, appliances, furniture and housewares. Over the four years since it opened in North Buffalo, the store has generated $500,000 in income, enough funds to build 12 houses.

David Zablotny, executive director, says the venture is working.

“It’s been much better than anyone has expected,” he says, adding that the agency is looking at whether it would make sense to add a second outlet, as other Habitat chapters have done. “That money we brought in through the Restore last year Is about 12 percent of our revenues, so we’re looking to find ways to increase that number.”

The YWCA of Niagara began a social enterprise last year with the creation of The Catering Crew, a catering company/culinary training program for the women living at its Carolyn’s House shelter in Niagara Falls. In this case, the venture serves a dual purpose: providing women with both training and a paycheck, and with additional revenues funneled back into the program.
Read more here.

ESF plans workshop to aid students with business ideas

2009-11-27T22:07:00.000-08:00

CNY Business Journal reported that the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) will host a workshop to help high-school students develop ideas for a business competition.

ESF has partnered with the Metropolitan Development Association of Syracuse and Central New York (MDA) to provide help to students interested in the annual Creative Core Emerging Business Competition. The workshop will be held from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo.

Marcie Sonneborn of the Central New York Technology Development Organization will run the event, which will help students expand and develop business ideas for submission to the competition.

The contest features a $5,000 prize for the best student idea. Its grand prize is $200,000 for the region's most innovative and growth-oriented company.

Pre-registration for the student workshop is required, but there is no charge. For more information, visit www.esf.edu/outreach/sage/.

Facebook co-founder offers advice for entrepreneurs

2009-11-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

The Central NY Business Journal reported on Chris Hughes speech at Onondaga Community College where he let his audience know his definition of entrepreneurship.

"Profit isn't what defines what entrepreneurship is about," the Facebook co-founder said just a few minutes into his speech.

Rather, he said entrepreneurs focus on building organizations that have an impact on the world. Those organizations could be companies. They could be nonprofits or schools or churches.

The desire to spark change is what drives them, he said.

Hughes spoke today during the first lecture in this year's Famous Entrepreneurs Series. The annual lecture series aims to inspire more entrepreneurship in the region. OCC's Storer Auditorium was filled to capacity for the talk and an overflow crowd of students watched a video feed of the event elsewhere on campus.

Hughes founded Facebook in 2004 with Harvard University roommates Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz. In 2007, he left the company and became director of online organizing for President Barack Obama's campaign.

Hughes said he and his roommates never really thought of themselves as entrepreneurs. None of them were even business students.

And, of course, he said they made plenty of mistakes along the way.

"In a lot of ways, we didn't know what we were doing when we got started," he said.
For more on this story, see the Nov. 20 print edition of The Central New York Business Journal.

Online Entrepreneurial Forums: Ask Questions and Network

2009-11-04T22:19:00.000-08:00

Interested in a forum to ask for assistance or float ideas? There are a number of online resources that offer an opportunity to network and connect with other individuals and businesses looking at new ideas and ways to generate money. One example is a newly launched resource I came across.

EntrepreneursBoard is a fresh, budding new online discussion forum dedicated to providing all entrepreneurs with a niche in which they can network and share ideas with other like-minded entrepreneurs.

Have other suggestions? Share them here.

Aspen Institute Looks at 'Capitalism and the Future' During Two-day Event in NYC

2009-11-03T02:58:00.001-08:00

Is capitalism broken? Will a new business ethic emerge in the aftermath of the financial meltdown? And is the financial crisis actually a crisis of failed leadership? The Aspen Institute Business & Society Program will explore these questions with thought leaders from business, government, religion and the nonprofit sector in a two-day program modeled after the successful Aspen Ideas Festival, held each summer in Aspen, Colorado.

The two-day program begins with an evening panel on Tuesday, November 3rd at The New York Public Library, as part of the Live From the NYPL series. CEOs Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo and Eric Schmidt of Google, will join authors Niall Ferguson (The Ascent of Money) and Nassim Nicholas Taleb (The Black Swan) in a discussion moderated by Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson. The event starts at 7:00 p.m. and will be held in the Celeste Bartos Forum, at the New York Public Library on 42nd Street at Fifth Avenue. Tickets, which are $25.00 ($15.00 for students and members), can be purchased by going to theLibrary's Web site, www.nypl.org/live.

The second day continues at Bloomberg corporate headquarters in New York City, with panels on business innovation, a look at the problem of short-termism in capital markets, the conflict between beliefs and business and a discussion of the relationship between Washington and Wall Street. Bloomberg, which is Aspen's media partner for the two-day event, will provide moderators for the panels and will be broadcasting parts of the program on Bloomberg Television. Tickets are sold out for the second day.

Panelists include:
-- David Blood, Senior Partner and Co-founder, Generation Asset Management
-- Bill George, Professor of Management Practice, Harvard University and former CEO, Medtronic
-- Jeffrey Hollender, Chief Inspired Protagonist, co-founder and Executive Chairperson, Seventh Generation
-- The Very Reverend James Kowalski, Dean, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine
-- Pamela Passman, Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Global Corporate Affairs, Microsoft
-- Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO

Peter Weinberg, founding partner of Perella Weinberg Partners, will be interviewed at lunch by Bloomberg Television journalist Erik Schatzker.

The Aspen Institute Business and Society Program develops leaders for a sustainable global society. Through dialogue, business education and research, BSP creates opportunities for executives and educators to explore pathways to sustainability and values-based leadership. For more, visit www.aspeninstitute.org/bsp.

NYC sees economic gold in green jobs

2009-10-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

Reuters reported that recession-stricken New York City plans to double its current green work force by creating over 13,000 new jobs in the next decade, partly by competing with London to become the new center for carbon trading, a city official said on Wednesday.

London, whose prominence as a financial capital rivals New York City and Tokyo, got an early lock in trading pollution credits by training lawyers, accountants and other experts "before the market even existed," Seth Pinsky, president of the Economic Development Corporation, told Reuters.

New York City's new boot camp in green finance will be run by the State University of New York's Levin Institute. It will be open to laid-off workers or future entrepreneurs, much like an already "booming" incubator for financial start-ups, Pinsky said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who made his first fortune as a Wall Street bond trader before getting into politics, is expected to announce on Thursday this green job branch to his two-year-old PlaNYC program, which set ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse gases, planting 1 million trees and crowning skyscrapers with wind turbines.

The mayor's $7.5 million green jobs plan will call on Columbia University to help offer public school pupils "hands-on" learning in energy efficiency, according to Bloomberg, who is running as an independent candidate for a third term. His plan also will create an Urban Technology Innovation Center to tap academic research. Existing city and state funds and federal stimulus dollars will pay for it. Read more here.

New York Entrepreneur Week Launches the Most Encompassing Entrepreneurial Movement in New York State History

2009-10-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

-- Today marks the official launch of New York Entrepreneur Week (www.nyew.org), the first and largest statewide movement unifying the most important entrepreneurial groups with the vastly diverse entrepreneurial community. Taking place from November 16-20, 2009, NYEW will feature 350 all-encompassing events including; keynote speeches from recognized business leaders, expert panels offering relevant mission-critical advice, third party events and the movement's flagship RELENTLESS business plan competition.

Unlike diluted start-up or small business events, NYEW is New York State's premier forum joining together founders, angel investors, venture capital firms and top connectors from around the world and across diverse industries. NYEW brings together groups ranging from enterprising young idea-stage innovators to hundred million dollar revenue generators. The NYEW movement provides the framework and catalyst for conquering New York's economic challenges by aggregating disparate entrepreneurial stakeholders from around the state with remarkable entrepreneurs from around the world.

NEWS FACTS:
-- Featured, confirmed speakers include:
- David S. Rose, Founder of Rose Tech Ventures, Chairman & CEO of Angelsoft
- Marc Ecko, Chairman & CEO of Marc Ecko Enterprises
- Steve Mariotti, Founder of the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)
- Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Co-Founder & CMO of Gilt Groupe
- Barry Silbert, Co-Founder & CEO of SecondMarket
- Scott Heiferman, Co-Founder & CEO of Meetup.com

-- NYEW is a 501c(3) non-profit organization founded by 26-year-old serial entrepreneur Gary Whitehill. Inspired by the TED conference and Renaissance Weekend, Whitehill is empowering entrepreneurs from around the world to "Stand Up and Come Together" at the worldwide hub of business, commerce and innovation.

-- NYEW is the largest aggregator of entrepreneurial events in the world during Global Entrepreneurship Week, slated to have over 350 events throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Syracuse, Rochester, and Binghamton.

-- NYEW is the only event in New York State to unite entrepreneurs with real, local, regional and international funding sources. These groups include: angel investors, venture capital firms, banks as well as non-profit and public sector agencies.
Read more here.

New Model for Business?

2009-10-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

Board Cafe's publication Blue Avocado offered information on a new development for businesses. As the article relates:

For-profit companies continue to seek ways to obtain two benefits that are usually reserved for nonprofits: foundation grants and government tax exemptions. These efforts are led by both well-meaning individuals as well as those that simply want funding without communityaccountability. Regardless, they offer risks and challenges to the nonprofit sector as we know and celebrate it. Rick Cohen tells us of one such effort that appears -- in the absence of opposition -- to be headed for adoption.

The hot topic in foundation circles is the L3C: the low profit limited liability corporation, the latest development in social enterprise. Several states are legalizing L3Cs and accompanying tax and philanthropic benefits, and its backers are pitching them for federal approval.

L3Cs are profit-making corporations, but their owners don't identify profit as their primary purpose. The mission of an L3C is a social benefit, doing socially productive and useful things, and only then earning a profit.

At the national level, the Council on Foundations has been actively promoting L3Cs, on Capitol Hill for the past two years. Already in four states and two tribes, individuals can form L3Cs and attract various types of investors, and, because of their charitable missions, tap into foundation loans and guarantees. At least they will be able to if Congress passes legislation giving blanket approval for such loans, or if the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issues a ruling authorizing them.

There may be some sound reasons for the creation of hybrid models melding features of nonprofits and for-profits, hopefully helping localities and states attract new sources of capital for critical economic and environmental ventures. But states, Congress, and the nonprofit sector might want to be cautious about this social enterprise innovation. Read more here.

Companies Still Increasing Strategic Spending

2009-09-09T05:38:00.000-07:00

In a recent article featured by the Nonprofit Times, companies are expected to spend $1.55 billion on cause partnerships during 2009, a 2.2 percent increase from the $1.52 billion invested in those programs during 2008, according to Chicago-based IEG, LLC. The amount spent in 2007 was $1.44 billion, according to IEG.

Cause-related programs still remain popular among corporate marketers due to their ability to support worthwhile organizations while also driving sales.

In fact, some nonprofits that deal with poverty, hunger and other issues directly impacted by the economy have found increased corporate interest. “Recent research has shown that consumers expect corporations to increase their support of causes in this economy,” said Dan Kowitz, vice president of IEG Sponsorship Consulting.

For example, anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength has posted a roughly 15 percent increase in revenue from cause marketing programs during the past year, signing new deals with AT&T, Inc., Hickory Farms, Inc. and others.

Among other recent deals, juice and apple sauce marketer Mott’s LLP this year partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Feeding America to launch national cause-marketing programs. The company is leveraging the Komen partnership with the Pink to the Core campaign, which features limited edition packaging. It is working with Feeding America on the Wake Up with Mott’s and Marcia Cross program, around which consumers can make a donation by sending a pre-recorded telephone message about the need to fight hunger from the actress to family and friends.

For each call, Mott’s donates $1 to the nonprofit, with a cap of $134,000 -- the cost of feeding one million people.

Companies also are increasingly leveraging sports and other types of sponsorships to promote their nonprofit partners. For example, Farmers Group, Inc., is using its new tie to the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks to promote its longstanding partnership with the March of Dimes. The insurer is activating the tie with the We Assist You Assist promotion that asks consumers to pledge a donation tied to the number of assists the team makes throughout the season. Farmers Group will match the total raised from fans.

Further demonstrating the popularity of cause sponsorship, causes trail only sports properties and entertainment tours and attractions when it comes to spending by property type, according to IEG. Read more here.

Think about a partnership as a possible way to fund your venture. There is an opportunit for a new partnership that could give the business great exposure and access to new clients, while giving your nonprofit start up dollars for your entrepreneurial venture.

Small Business Administration Offers YouTube Channel

2009-08-26T20:58:00.000-07:00

The Central NY Business Journal reported that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) today announced the launch of its channel on YouTube, the popular video-sharing Web site."

With millions of visitors, most of them under 35, YouTube offers a prime opportunity to use current technology and the appeal of a popular online platform to further promote the agency's programs and services," SBA Administrator Karen Mills said in a news release.

The SBA hopes to reach this audience with its message of entrepreneurship, the importance of small business to the nation's economy, and information on the agency's programs and services.The SBA YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/sba) debuted with a 60-second introduction to the agency, its programs and services, and a 10-part "Delivering Success" series co-produced with the U.S. Postal Service.

Future content will cover how small businesses can take advantage of the loan programs in the economic-stimulus package, government-contracting opportunities, exporting to increase market share, and counseling and training on how to start and grow a small business, according to the agency.

Nonprofit Ventures: Show Me the Money

2009-08-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

We can talk about entrepreneurial ventures. We can brainstorm. We can even plan and raise money for our ideas. But, how about making it work? How about an example of a success? We would like to share the story of a simple idea to show you it is possible.

Bernadette Cannon, a supporter and advocate for Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care, attended the very first New York Council of Nonprofits Entrepreneurial Ventures training offered in 2004. She came to the training with a simple idea: start a thrift shop. For the next couple of years, she worked tirelessly to make her idea a reality. Listen to her share her insight about her for profit venture. Most importantly, hear about her success.

Visit our YouTube channel and watch Bernadette share the rest of her story and her feedback.

Have your own story to share? Post it here, or contact us. Interested in contacting Bernadette? You can e-mail her at thrift.shop@cahpc.org.

Lessons Learned

2009-07-20T09:09:00.001-07:00

What are the lessons you learned at Entrepreneurial Ventures for the Arts? Any light bulb moment? Anything you found extremely helpful? How about things to remember for others starting down this path? Share you ideas or even your questions. You can also e-mail them to us to post.

Funding Environment

2009-07-20T09:01:00.001-07:00

What are funders looking for? That is the question on everyone's mind. During a couple recent conversations I've had with cultural organizations, I am starting to hear a different approach. There is a sense and realization that organizations have to change they way they do business. Waiting for the economy to turn around isn't of consideration any more, nor are funders available to fill the funding gaps and deficits. Instead, these nonprofits are looking at a funding mix (like any other nonprofit), but more importantly, focusing on how much money they generate through services, fees, and other activities. They are looking at what they do well, and how they can capitalize and make money. Are you having this conversation? What offers your organization the best chance of generating unrestricted dollars? This is where you need to be looking as we look to the future, especially as you consider starting your own entrepreneurial venture. Remember, share your ideas or questions here.

Power of Networking

2009-07-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

There is a challenge to changing the way we do business, and even more in thinking of different ways to generate revenue for our organizations. But our peers offer an opportunity for us to start this difficult process. At the recent Entrepreneurial Ventures for the Arts trainings in Albany and NYC, participants found their peers invaluable resources for discussing ideas and even how to confront potential hurdles. As you consider your own venture, use your peer network. Our peers can be essential in helping make a venture successful. They can help us think through details we would miss. They can be our focus group. As we look at the time and effort involved in putting these ideas in place, this feedback is important and can help you make the most of your limited resources and time.

What are your ideas?

2009-07-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

Following up on the recent program in NYC, there were a number of ideas shared. Here a couple from our discussion:

Art supply store
DVD production and sales of programs and materials
Digital photography products
Consulting work
Rental space
Specialized tours

What are your ideas? Share your revenue generating idea here, and tell people what your challenges are. The more we share, the more connections and opportunities we can discover.

A Beginning

2009-06-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

Faced with numerous challenges, arts organizations need to be creative in developing new ways of funding their missions and programs. In response, the New York Council of Nonprofits with the support of the New York State Council on the Arts offered the first of two Entrepreneurial Ventures for the Arts trainings in NYC.

The conversation was great, the food was good, and participants not only shared their venture ideas, but they discovered shared opportunities just through their interaction and networking. There was plenty of information related, and participants explored the world of entrepreneurial ventures, discussing topics ranging from tax implications to the funding environment.

As the discussion of ideas continues, NYCON has launched this simple blog to help facilitate the development of these ventures. We invite you to post your ideas and questions here.