Clean Air Action Network
The Business Development Summit on Reuse and Repair
This Summit was geared for those who would like to set up a Reuse or Repair Enterprise, whether as a for-profit or non-profit, as well as those involved with economic development, business education, and job training activities. The geographic focus is the state of New York, in particular the Greater Glens Falls area, Capital Region, and Adirondack North Country. The scope of this event was on reuse and repair enterprises that seek to achieve environmental, community economic, and social objectives. While anyone was welcome to attend, our objective continues to be to facilitate the development of one or more reuse and repair enterprises in the Warren/Washington/Saratoga County area.
Five presenters share brief presentations, answer questions and offer guidance to participants. Two of the presenters lead large reuse organizations that also provide job training and re-entry employment opportunities, while two others provide business development and support services. The fifth presenter is from a community group engaged in the planning process for a reuse program.
Diane Cohen, Founding Executive Director, Finger Lakes ReUse (Ithaca, NY). Finger Lakes Reuse has a triple bottom line mission to enhance community, economy and environment through reuse. Their goals are to reduce waste, relieve poverty, and teach job skills through reuse activities. While it costs $96 per ton to dispose of waste in Tompkins County, NY, Finger Lakes ReUse earns $2,000 - $3,000 per ton through reuse sales. Finger Lake ReUse opened the first of its two main locations in 2008. Diane will speak about how Finger Lakes Reuse got started and its development, and the technical assistance/mentoring she is able to offer to reuse enterprise startups in New York state. ithacareuse.org (Also see the Community ReUse Center Template at: http://template.ithacareuse.org)
Tom Longstreth, Executive Director, ReSOURCE: A Nonprofit Community Enterprise (Burlington, VT). ReSOURCE is a 30-year-old nonprofit community enterprise with 4 retail locations in Burlington, Barre, Hyde Park and Williston that create a marketplace for reuse while relieving poverty and providing new opportunities to the under-skilled and long-term unemployed. ReSOURCE has trained over 3600 people through its Job Skills Training programs, giving them a chance to learn valuable technical and professional skills and become gainfully employed. The organization began in 1991 as ReCycle North by repairing and reselling household items that otherwise would have gone to the landfill. Tom will talk about developing a reuse and repair enterprise and the opportunities this offers for job training and workforce development. resourcevt.org
Linda MacFarlane, Executive Director, Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region (Albany, NY and Schenectady, NY). The Community Loan Fund provides low-interest loans to small businesses; community development lending; and training and technical assistance to small business owners and nonprofit leaders in the Greater Capital Region. Since 1985, the Community Loan Fund has loaned more than $65 million – and leveraged more than $227 million – for economic development in the Capital Region; it has also financed more than 950 community projects. Linda will talk about the Community Loan Fund’s history and services.
mycommunityloanfund.org
Danielle (Dani) Delaini. Business in Transition Program Coordinator, Adirondack North Country Association (Saranac Lake, NY). ANCA is an independent, nonprofit corporation with a transformational approach to building prosperity across northern New York. ANCA’s community-informed, results-driven strategies for local food producers, small business owners, aspiring entrepreneurs and municipal innovators offer targeted interventions that are designed to keep wealth and value in local communities. Dani coordinates the Center for Businesses in Transition: a dynamic partnership between regional organizations and individuals invested in the retention of local businesses and the future of our communities. Our goals include helping owners sell their businesses on the open market, completing intergenerational family transitions, and converting to employee-owned and cooperative models.
https://www.adirondack.org/
Ellen Tiberi, Inspire Broome (Endicott, NY), a community organization in the early stages of planning a reuse enterprise, with guidance from Diane Cohen of Finger Lakes Reuse