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SEED Ventures - IMPROVING OBERLIN'S ECONOMY THROUGH SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT AN OBERLIN PROJECT INITIATIVE. Click on SEED Ventures for more information or visit www.seedventuresoberlin.org.
For more information contact Cullen at [email protected].
Our Commitment: Economic Development
1 Increase 3BL (Triple Bottom Line) Impact of local Economy ??? a more than >$100m impact.
- Increase revenues of aggregate local retail/service businesses by 50% over five years.
- Increase new jobs by 15% over five years
- Decrease financial leakage by 25% over five years through local investment, energy efficiency savings, increase in local procurement/purchasing, increase of markets and businesses (food, service, goods) and through the build up of a robust energy and agriculture Land program.
2 Create Climate of a Sustainable Cluster of Business Culture that attracts innovative and new economy businesses to Oberlin while working within a regional context.
- Green Innovation Business Park
- Finance Tools: Create tools that give access to green bonds, investment capital, community investing and culture of entrepreneurship
- Community Technology Transfer program to assist in entrepreneurial growth.
3 New financing mechanisms that will allow Oberlin businesses and anchor institutions to access cost effective capital for energy efficiency, energy renewable projects and general expansion projects that will ensure businesses within Oberlin operate 5% more effectively in terms of energy costs than competition, while reducing GHG.
How we get there:
The 15% and $6.9 Million Annual Shift: Our commitment is to shift local investing within Oberlin from Fortune 500 international companies over the next five years by 20% while advocating for shifting Oberlin College's Endowment by 1/2% of funds under management (June 2011 levels) to local and regional investment vehicles. We aim to complete this through local investment tools for local businesses including pre-sale, local CDs, and DPOs, creating three pilots during 2013, holding workshops on Community and Institutional employee powered direct investing/self directed IRAs, and by working with anchor institutions that can control their investments to utilize local investment resources, including within the opportunity created by financing needs in energy efficiency and renewable energy infrastructure.