Thursday, March 13, 2008

More March Links: ThePoint.com

And a real start-up getting some serious funding: The Point raises $4M from New Enterprise Associates. We will be watching the Chicago start-up quickly to see if they Make Something Happen.

Here's another nice emerging company- this one from a 24 year old entrepreneur from the same high school as yours truly; Beth Doane, 24, of Whitehouse, Ohio, is having some success, according to the Toledo Blade, with Andira International, her eco-friendly accessories company. Beth is launching Rain Tees, her clothing line, at the Green Initiative Humanitarian Fashion Show during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Los Angeles.

Nice Treehugger piece on reviving the "Rust Belt." The suggestions are appropo enough: concentrate economic activity downtown, and set up high speed transit between Chicago and Toronto (through Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, etc). For the former, I obviously love it - who wouldn't? - but easier said than done. In Detroit, Quicken co-founder Dan Gilbert is placing part of his company downtown and trying to get other companies to commit to doing the same. As for the transit idea, all the better to unify all the talent bases that still exist in the region; drive times between each of the big cities are only 2-6 hours each, so why not bridge the gap even more with some high-speed rail networks?

I have a more radical proposal, especially for the Detroit/Toledo corridor, but I'll pocket it for now.

Here's a nice press release from Transcend Equity Development out of Dallas; the capital firm is pioneering a financing method for commercial real estate energy improvements. They take over the utilities payments from the developer/owner, and then Transcend makes any improvements it can to the building and pockets the energy saved. Everyone wins! We love it and can't wait to see more..

Nice story from Econpreneurist on financing a green business. Notice some of the ideas are possible because you're socially beneficial (like partnering with non-profits), while others are

The differences between Jackpot Rewards and any other shopping rewards/prize sweepstakes program is that this one sets aside a percentage of profits to kids charities AND that this one is backed by Peter Lynch.

The Onion reminds you that you've got to start small.

A good article from MSNBC on the still-"gray" parameters of green remodeling. I continue to think, and not just because I'm becoming an HGTV and DIY junkie, that the green remodeling market will be HUGE and that at some point there will be some standards and definitions in place- but that's not really the point! The point is to do what you can do when it comes to improving your current living situation; even if you rent, you can at least change the light bulbs!

Nice store not far from my neighborhood that resells appliances in support of Habitat for Humanity. The website is simple and effectively communicates how "everybody wins."

Check out GreenOptions, a network for green-themed blogs.

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