Portland State Magazine Spring 2012

The University's Social Innovation Incubator is guiding businesses that want to save the world. CONSIDER THIS the next time you put on a pot of water to boil: Nearly half of the world's population-some 3 billion people in the developing world-rely on open fires for cook– ing or on smoky, dirty, and inefficient cookstoves. It is mostly women who do chis work, with children nearby, each inhaling amounts of smoke equivalent to consuming rwo packs of cigarettes a day, according co the World Health Organization. Where some see only sad statistics, Porcland-based Eco– Zoom sees a market opportunity-a way to "help people and make a good living." One year after the company began distributing safer, less-polluting cookstoves, EcoZoom is on track to meet both its revenue and do-gooder goals. Porcland Stace's Social Innovation Incubator is helping it gee there. Launched in 2010, the incubator-SH for shore-caters to social entrepreneurs who view business as a path to profit and solutions for society's problems. Incubators help companies build business plans, offer strategic advice, and connect chem with resources. But SII tailors chat counsel to the needs and challenges of social entrepreneurs-startups, young com– panies, and established firms-and provides a nerwork of like-minded peers and mentors. "SII helps us understand a new sec of hurdles and a new sec of opportunities as we look to cay on our current growth trajectory in year rwo," says Ben We c, EcoZoom's CEO. "They provide the resources, expertise, and support ro help us keep accelerating." 12 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE SPRING 2012 SII is part oflmpacc Entrepreneurs, a suite of initiatives within the School of Business Administration. Professor Cindy Cooper is founder oflmpacc Entrepreneurs and serves as director of SIL She and her SII staff and volunteers meet with clients in monthly mentoring sessions. FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS , "the social problem is the market opportunity. You start with the social problem and you build the business model to address the problem," says Cooper, who is also a business owner. For Amelia Pape and her partners, the problem is the lim– ited access urban residents have to convenient, nutritious food. Their solution is a business model for a mobile grocery called My treet Grocery, known until recencly as Fork In The Road. Pape signed on with SII lase year, shorcly before she received her MBA from PSU. "We had all these academic papers and a solid business plan, but the incubator was what helped transform it from an academic idea co a real-world business concept," she says. The partners raised enough money through a Kickstarcer campaign co retrofit their first truck, which Pape says began making its rounds in May. SU not only helped with their business plan, it also connected the Aedgling company with PR giant Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, which provided free rebranding and marketing services. Out of Sll's nine current clients, rwo came from within the University. Mose emerge from the community, such as Sustain-