This past weekend, we had the great fortune to help sponsor and attend the latest installment of the annual William James Foundation (WJF) Sustainable Business Plan Competition. Right out front we want to give out props to Ian Fisk who has been the driver and organizer of this competition as it has grown up over the past 7 years. This year, the 7th Annual Competition, was hosted by BetterWorld customer Affinity Lab, who is located in the U Street Corridor in downtown Washington, D.C. With hudreds of judges over a period of months, and over 100 submissions to pour through, it all boiled down to 7 winners and 7 runners up – as well as a general/overall category. For more info on the winners and prize sponsors here, and for NY Times coverage on the competition from today’s online paper, click here.
The WJF seeks to identify, promote, and support entrepreneurs who have financially viable ways of integrating social and/or environmental sustainability into a for-profit business model. The WJF seeks to spread the adoption of these sustainable business practices through either scale (via the company’s own growth) or sharing (the company can be of any size, but acts as a deliberate model to others). For more information on the WJF and the competition process, click here.
BetterWorld sponsored the Sustainable Agriculture Prize along with the Progressive Culinary Arts Movement, which awarded $1,000 to the most innovative and viable business working to support either local living food economies or closed-loop agricultural systems. In a very close, tough decision, top honors went to Local Orbit, an online marketplace that makes it easy for restaurants, institutions and consumers to buy food directly from local farmers, which is piloting in Ann Arbor, MI and Brooklyn, NY, with runner up, Brooklyn Victory Garden.
It was great to see many old friends in sustainability from around the D.C. area, as well as meet many new ones! See you all next year at the 8th Annual WSJ Awards.
In service,
Matt
