Senator Leahy's Women's Economic Opportunity Conference

Don't miss this great event on November 10, 2012 in Randolph.  There's something for every woman enterpreneur or entrepreneur want-to-be!

Information at Women's Economic Opportunity Conference

Think Local Food...

Check out our presentation at the SRI Conference on Sustainable Responsible Impact Investing conference in October - "Think Local Food: Real Prosperity Starts Here"

Go to http://sric2012.pathable.com/#meetings/50447 and then in the upper right corner directly under “materials” section is a link to the audio of this presentation (B-19).

Get involved and put your money where your mouth is!

Vermont Investor Forum Looking for Applicants!

The Vermont Investors Forum is seeking applicants to present at the annual event on 11/7/12 at the UVM Davis Center in Burlington.   Entrepreneurs if you're looking for capital, don't miss this chance to get in front of angel and institutional investors from around the region and make your pitch.   This is a great opportunity for expanding your networks as well.

 

Deadline to apply is coming up quickly on August 31, 2012.

Visit http://vermontinvestorsforum.com/ to learn more or apply, or call Linda Dissinger at 802.658.7830.

We got Launcht!

The Flex Fund just got Launcht with the help of the William James Foundation's Sustainable Business Plan competition.  We made the first of 3 rounds of cuts in the competition and now have our own Launcht page to help raise funds and get us a vote closer to the final round of the competition.  So visit our page, donate (no amount is too small!) and help us get the word out that slow, small-scale, local investment in rural businesses can really work!

Slow Food, Slow Money, now Slow Finance

Looks like investing in local businesses over the long term has gotten some international attention. 

Slow Finance in The Economist

Only in Vermont...

Only in Vermont would you see Vermont's Governor, the Secretaries of Commerce, Agriculture and Human Services all convene in one room to talk about our agricultural renaissance and the value of agriculture and the food system to Vermont's economy!  This past Monday and Tuesday, 150 people from organizations across the State came together to help move the Farm to Plate Strategic plan - Vermont's 10 year plan to strengthen our farm and food system - forward.  It was the launching pad for the Farm to Plate Network and if you want to see what people had to say, visit VSJF's facebook page for first hand accounts from participants.

It's never too late to get involved - and participate in moving Farm to Plate forward.  Learn more at the Farm to Plate website.

Flex Fund Partners with ShadeFund

The Flex Fund has signed on to the ShadeFund's partner program!  

ShadeFund is a joint project of The Conservation Fund and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities and provides small loans to promising green entrepreneurs across America.  We're helping them get the word out about their new program.  

ShadeFund loans range between $5,000 and $50,000 and are provided to green entrepreneurs who work in sustainable forestry and forest products, sustainable or organic farming, eco-tourism, natural food and medicines, biomass, and energy efficiency project.  ShadeFund's model enables individuals, companies and foundations to help green entrepreneurs across America grow their businesses and create jobs. Tax deductible contributions to ShadeFund are pooled and lent to qualified small green businesses nationwide. As entrepreneurs repay their loans, those same dollars are recycled to help other entrepreneurs grow their businesses.

So if you're a small green business looking for capital, now you've got yet another option for funding to help grow your business. 

Vt. Investors Forum Still Taking Apps!

If you're a business looking for equity investment - and want to connect with Vermont and New England's investment folks, the Vermont Investors Forum (VIF) has extended their application deadline to 9/12.  VIF comes around once a year and offers Vermont's innovative entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their business to an audience of investors from around the region. 

Get your application in today!  More information can be found at http://vermontinvestorsforum.com/.

Slow Money is moving faster...

Nice article today from Environmental Leader on why the Slow Money movement is speeding up.  Check it out at Environmental Leader . 

Slow it down at the Slow Living Summit, June 1 - 3

If you're thinking that life (and money) in the fast lane is going too fast, then slow it down! 

 

The Slow Living Summit is coming to Brattleboro, Vermont June 1 - 3.  This event is a 2 1/2 day exploration to bring people from all over New England together to discuss ways to build healthy, thriving local economies while encouraging, mentoring and supporting a new generation of activists, entrepreneurs and engaged citizens.  

 

Hard to  imagine any of us slowing down long enough to sit for an hour, let alone 3 days - and talking about how to "slow down" to boot!  I'll be there along with fellow funders Chris Sikes (Western Massachusetts Enterprise Fund), Ryan Torres (Vermont Community Foundation), John Hamilton (Vested for Growth, NH Loan Fund) and Michael Gurau (Clear Venture Partners, Maine).  The topic?  Building a resilient New England and where can entrepreneurs go to find the money.  

 

So check out the Summit schedule at Slow Living Summit page and take time to "slow down" this June.

Peak Pitch combines raising capital with fun on the slopes

March 10, 2011 was an epic snow day at Sugarbush Ski Resort.  Vermont entrepreneurs, New England investors and business assistance providers came to pitch, listen and slide down the mountain on skis and snowboards.  The idea of peak pitch is simple - Entrepreneurs have a chairlift ride to tell their story, sell their  idea and ask for the money.  Investors have the chairlift ride to listen, ask questions and decide whether to give away their "peak pitch" bucks.  At the end, the top three entrepreneurs with the most "bucks" get to pitch their deals to the whole crowd and a winner is decided upon. It's an informal way to learn what investors are looking for, what to (and not to) say to an investor, get feedback on the pitch and learn what resources are available in Vermont.  For investors, they get to see what's new on the Vermont entrepreneurial scene.  For everyone, they get great networking and connections, good food and great skiing and snowboarding.

Make sure you keep an eye out for 2012 Peak Pitch - an event not to be missed!

See Burlington Free Press article for more.

What do you mean small business lending is high risk?!

We hear all the time that new jobs created by America's small businesses are crucial to the economic recovery.  The last two years saw a meltdown in the financial system, bailouts of big companies, and a downward spiral in real estate values.  Credit is tight if not non-existent for small business, and as a new lender we're hearing that "small business lending" is considered a high risk category when insuring loan funds and/or non-institutional / community bank lenders.  It's a real dichotomy isn't it?  Touting small business as the solution, while those same businesses struggle to grow (or even survive) because they can't finance their growth with the right match of capital. 

Perhaps we need to shift our thinking... If a small business has a good management team, is matching their source and structure of capital (short or long term; debt or equity) appropriately to their stage of growth and size of business, and has technical assistance and an advisory board to guide them, it seems the risk drops significantly.  You may be more likely to slip and fall in your bathtub than to lose your shirt to this business... 

Waste less food and save energy!

Wasting food? Wasting energy. Here's a great case for eating local and eating less.

A painless way to achieve huge energy savings

Why Every Entrepreneur Needs a Mentor

Why Every Entrepreneur Needs a Mentor

This is a great post on why every entrepreneur should have a peer mentor. The post focuses on new entrepreneurs, but the reality is even founder-entrepreneurs of early stage and growth stage companies can benefit from having a mentor. CEOs and entrepreneurs have a natural tendency towards self-sufficiency that can lead to decision making in a vacuum or the feeling that no one understands what they are going through. Peer mentors can serve as a management think tank and as a trusted source of ideas and expertise - and honest advice.

In Vermont, there are a number of different programs to fit the different mentoring needs of entrepreneurs? The VSJF's Peer to Peer Collaborative (www.vsjf.org/what-we-do/peer-to-peer) offers peer advisory teams of 3 (CEO, COO and CFO) that work with founder / entrepreneurs of growth stage companies over a 12-18 month period on core strategic issues for growth. The Vermont Family Business Initiative (VFBI) offers support for family and privately held businesses through its monthly CEO groups, educational forums and management development seminars (www.uvm.edu/~vfbi/). Vistage (www.vistage.com) is a national organization that has a Vermont chapter offering advisory peer group meetings and one-on-one business mentoring.

There are many ways to find a mentor informally through your network, or formally through programs like I just mentioned. No matter how you find one, get a mentor today!

Slow Money moving a little faster in Vermont

VSJF is getting really close to the launch of our new Flexible Capital Fund that will offer flexible risk capital (in the form of subordinated debt and royalty financing) to growth companies in Vermont's natural resource markets.  We're almost to our launch goal of $1.0 million in capital and will let you all know when we're on the ground running.  To learn more about what we're doing and see who's invested in this new initiative to date, visit VSJF Flexible Capital Fund web pages.

Local food, local energy. Why not local money?

It's the latest talk - investing local.  We heard about it recently at the Slow Money National Gathering event at Shelburne Farms in June.  Individual investors disillusioned with what's happening on Wall Street, are looking at ways to invest in "Main Street."  Vermont mission-based organizations are starting to look at ways to put at least some (rather than none) of their investment assets in Vermont.  There's something to it - like keeping your money working in your own community, preserving Vermont's working landscape, building a healthy food or energy system.  The opportunities are there. 

There are many different ways to get involved - as an individual, an accredited investor, a foundation, an organization with an endowment.  Investing doesn't just mean putting your money in the bond or stock market, or in a mutual fund.  It can mean lending or donating to your local community loan fund or foundation, or donating to a local organization doing on the ground work for your community.  Either way, investing local keeps your dollars circulating in the local economy where you can see, touch and feel it work. 

If you're looking for ways to invest in Main Street, talk to organizations like the Vermont Community Loan Fund, Vermont Community Foundation, or the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, about finding opportuities that match your financial needs and values.