Speakers
Featured Speakers
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Donna FennInc.comInc. contributing editor Donna Fenn is the author of Upstarts! How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit From Their Success (McGraw-Hill, 2009). Both this blog and the book examine the ways in which GenY is changing the entrepreneurial landscape with new approaches to starting, growing, and managing their companies. Learn more at www.upstartsrock.com.
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Louis ForemanEnventysLouis Foreman is founder and Chief Executive of Enventys, an integrated product design and engineering firm in Charlotte, NC. He is also CEO of Edison Nation. His interest in starting businesses and developing innovative products began while a sophomore Economics major at The University of Illinois with his first company founded in his fraternity room. Over the past 20 years, Louis has created 9 successful start-ups and has been directly responsible for the creation of over 20 others. A prolific inventor, he is the inventor of 10 registered US Patents, and his firm is responsible for the development and filing of well over 400 more. Learn more at www.louisforeman.com.
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Martin EakesSelf-Help Credit UnionMartin Eakes co-founded Self-Help, a community development lender, in 1980. Self-Help has provided almost $6 billion in financing to more than 60,000 homebuyers, small businesses and nonprofits and serves more than 25,000 mostly low income families through 7 retail credit union branches. Self-Help reaches people who are underserved by conventional financial institutions—particularly persons of color, women, rural residents, and low-wealth families. A native of North Carolina, he is a nationally recognized expert on development finance and has received several honors and awards for his work. Photo by Christian Witkin |
Sessions / Roundtables
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Ryan Allis
iContact Ryan AllisiContactRyan Allis is a technology and social entrepreneur from Chapel Hill, NC. He has been an entrepreneur since he started Allis Computing at age 11. Today, Ryan is the Co-Founder and CEO of iContact, the leading global provider of email marketing services to small and mid-sized businesses. He is also an active angel investor in socially responsible entrepreneurs in East Africa and North Carolina. Ryan built iContact from its start in July 2003 to its current size of more than 210 employees, 65,000 customers, and $38 mil in annual sales. iContact has twice made the INC 500 list. He is the author of Zero to One Million and his new book Dare Mighty Things is slated for publication in 2011.
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Dorian Bolden
Beyu Caffé Dorian BoldenBeyu CafféDorian Bolden, 31, owns and operates Beyu Caffé, a unique coffeehouse, restaurant, and bar with live music in downtown Durham, North Carolina. Beyu Caffé has been featured in over 20 publications and television shows such as My Carolina Today. It has received many awards including the Downtown Durham Retail Business of the Year, Triangle Business Journal's Space Award, Best Place to Hear Jazz and Blues in the Triangle, and Best Vegan Dessert in Durham's first Bull City Vegan Challenge. Dorian, a Duke alumnus, began a successful career on Wall Street as a Senior Financial Advisor. However, in 2004 after the simultaneous life changing sudden loss of his father and layoffs of several close colleagues, Dorian reevaluated his life and purpose. He decided to open his dream cool coffeehouse. Over 5 years, Dorian moved to NC, worked at restaurants and researched to learn the industry. By April 2009, he had raised $500K to open Beyu Caffé during one of the toughest economies recorded. In December 2009, Beyu Caffé opened and has become a downtown Durham staple of business leaders, entrepreneurs, public officials, artists and Durham residents. Dorian is married to his college sweetheart, Dr. Taineisha Bolden, and they have a beautiful two-year-old daughter, Nahla.
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Anne Claire Broughton
SJF Institute Anne Claire BroughtonSJF InstituteAnne is the SJF Institute Co-Founder and Senior Director. SJF Institute connects, inspires, and accelerates impact entrepreneurs and the fields that support them. Broughton has been with SJF since 1999 and served as the Founding Executive Director of SJF Institute. She recently released a major report, Employees Matter: Maximizing Company Value Through Workforce Engagement profiling 24 companies that can link their progressive employee practices with improved bottom line results. SJF Institute is affiliated with both SJF Ventures and Investors’ Circle. Broughton serves on the board of EarthShare North Carolina and on the Advisory Board of New Orleans-based AMCREF Community Capital, a New Markets Tax Credit fund with a focus on financing renewable energy projects.
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Bill Brown
8 Rivers Capital Bill Brown8 Rivers CapitalBill is co-founder of 8 Rivers Capital, LLC, a technology commercialization firm in downtown Durham focused on solving some of the world’s biggest problems through clean energy, medical device and web-based solutions. Bill is a Professor at Duke Law, where his teaching focuses on entrepreneurship, business law, business planning, capital markets and corporate finance. He was instrumental in helping put together Duke’s LLM program in Entrepreneurship and the Law. Bill began his financial services career in 1990 when he joined the currency and commodity sales group at Goldman Sachs & Co. In 1996, Bill was recruited to AIG International and, one year later, was recruited to Morgan Stanley to become U.S. head of foreign exchange sales. A 1980 graduate of Duke Law School, Brown was a member of the editorial board of the Duke Law Journal. In addition to his Duke Law degree, Brown holds bachelor’s degrees in both biology and political science from MIT.
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Chris Carroll
Carroll Woodcrafts Chris CarrollCarroll WoodcraftsChris has been a wood worker since he was 5, building all sorts of things from trees in his back yard. In 2009, like so many others, he was laid off. He decided to take his passion for wood working and make it a business. He enrolled in the NC REAL Entrepreneurship Course and the G.A.T.E. program at Isothermal Community College. Carroll Woodcrafts Unlimited is currently part of the Mill Spring Ag & Development Center business incubation program. Chris still builds things from trees, primarily local Polk County trees. Just like each tree, each piece he makes has a story. His five-year plan is to hire 10-12 additional employees and expand to two locations. His long-term plan is to leave the business to his two sons Jacob and Zakk who do much of the custom carpentry as teenagers now.
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Keith Crisco
NC Secretary of Commerce Keith CriscoNC Secretary of CommerceJ. Keith Crisco was appointed Secretary of Commerce by Governor Bev Perdue in January 2009. He brings 40 years of experience in business and commerce to the position. For more than 20 years, Crisco served as president and chairman of Asheboro Elastics Corp, a company he
formed with partners in 1986. This highly successful company has offices in seven countries, manufacturing facilities in Central America and |
Stan Cross
BioWheels Stan CrossBioWheels Responsible Transportation SolutionsSince 2000, Stan has worked in the field of sustainability education as the Education Director for the Environmental Leadership Center of Warren Wilson College. He was named the 2007 NC Environmental Educator of the Year. Stan is also a co-founder and principal of BioWheels Responsible Transportation Solutions, a start-up business out of Asheville, NC that is designing and installing solar power integrated electric vehicle charging infrastructure to help develop a durable and resilient state-wide electric vehicle market. |
Scott Daugherty
NC Commissioner for Small Business Scott DaughertyNC Commissioner for Small BusinessScott R. Daugherty was appointed by Gov. Bev Perdue to serve as North Carolina’s first Commissioner for Small Business in 2010. In this capacity he reports to the secretary of Commerce and is a senior member of the N.C. Department of Commerce staff. He serves as the primary policy and program advisor on small business issues and supervises the Department’s Business LINK NC unit. Daugherty also serves as the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Extension, Engagement and Economic Development at North Carolina State University and directs the Small Business and Technology Development Center. The SBTDC is the business and technology extension service of The University of North Carolina system, administered by North Carolina State University. The SBTDC operates in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the N.C. Department of Commerce. Daugherty attended Wake Forest University, The University of Miami and The University of Florida. He has a law degree and has practiced as a corporate attorney in Florida, Mississippi and Washington, D.C. He also served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of a large quasi-public financing agency in Washington D.C. prior to joining the University of North Carolina system in 1984 to start up the SBTDC. He has managed two large regional economic development organizations and organized and run a small business investment company. Learn more about Business Link North Carolina (BLNC). |
Luke Fishback
PlotWatt Luke FishbackPlotWatt.comLuke Fishback is the founder and CEO of PlotWatt.com, a startup building web-based dashboards that help people to reduce their electric bills. Prior to starting PlotWatt, Luke was an engineer at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, where he managed systems engineering efforts on a variety of projects through a leadership development program. He has successfully overseen and implemented pioneering real-time monitoring systems in both the lab and home. Luke graduated with honors from Dartmouth College where he earned a BA, BSME and Masters degree in Engineering Management.
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James Freeman
Mighty J's James FreemanMighty J'sJames, co-owner of Mighty J’s Restaurant located across the street from UNC-Pembroke, has over 15 years of experience in the restaurant industry. His interest, knowledge and experience in that industry lead him to open Mighty J’s with fellow young entrepreneur and business partner Jason Kennedy in October 2010. The restaurant, a first of its kind for Pembroke, is a place where students, staff and locals can come to relax, hang out with friends and eat from a menu including traditional bar food such as fried pickles, hot wings, cheese fries, burgers and homemade sauces. Business has been great and there are plans to open a second restaurant in 2012. James likes to thank his mother, Belinda Locklear, for pushing him to enter the workforce at an early age. His mom said one day, "Hey, it is time for you to go to work if you keep wanting all these things." And that’s what he did. At 13, James landed his first job at a local Greek restaurant. Since that day, James has kept a restaurant job even while completing undergraduate and graduate degrees. James continues to strive for success. He will graduate in December with a Masters in Public Administration, and plans to apply to a doctoral program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Christopher Gergen
Life Entrepreneurs Christopher GergenLife EntrepreneursChristopher Gergen is a founding partner of Life Entrepreneurs, LLC, a leadership development and consulting firm and co-author of Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives. Christopher is also the Founding Executive Director of Bull City Forward, which seeks to establish Durham, NC, as a national model of economic development through social innovation and entrepreneurship. He's co-founder and a current board member of SMARTHINKING, the leading online tutoring provider in the United States. Other entrepreneurial ventures include starting a coffeehouse/bar dedicated to promoting the arts and music in Santiago, Chile, and helping to launch the “Entrepreneur Corps”—a national service initiative that placed 400 full-time business volunteers for a year of service in over 90 non-profit organizations across the country.
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Randy Goins
TriMark Solutions Randy GoinsTriMark SolutionsRandy developed a passion for advertising & marketing while in college at Appalachian State University where he earned a degree in Advertising & Communications. Shortly after graduation, Randy started a career selling online advertising which lead to his passion for helping small businesses succeed through search marketing & customer retention strategies. 5 years into his career Randy officially started TriMark Solutions, which has become a full service digital marketing agency specializing in lead generation & customer engagement where Goins currently serves a President. |
Chris Grams
New Kind Chris GramsNew KindChris is President and Partner at New Kind, where he builds sustainable brands, cultures, and communities in and around organizations. He is the author of The Ad-Free Brand: Secrets to Building Successful Brands in a Digital World. Prior to New Kind, Chris spent 10 years at Red Hat, the world's leading supplier of open source solutions, where he played a key role in building the Red Hat brand and culture, most recently in the role of Senior Director, Brand Communications + Design. Chris blogs for opensource.com, Dark Matter Matters, and is the Community Guide on Gary Hamel's Management Innovation Exchange. He currently resides in Raleigh, NC and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Andrea Harris
NC IMED Andrea HarrisNC IMEDAndrea is the President and one of the co-founders of the NC Institute of Minority Economic Development. As President, she directs the |
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Chris Heivly
The Triangle StartUp Factory Chris HeivlyThe Triangle StartUp FactoryChris Heivly is an accomplished executive in the information-technology sector with proven experience in marketing, sales, business development, investment finance and operations. His 25+ year diverse career spans a broad range of senior positions in the government sector, a Fortune 150 global company and small, entrepreneurial startups. He has operated at the highest levels formulating company strategies, launching new businesses and closing non-strategic divisions. Mr. Heivly has spent the last 2 years launching a software incubator in the Raleigh/Durham area called The Triangle StartUp Factory (also LaunchBox Digital). Modeled after similar national programs, his leadership and vision has energized the community to support this seed investment program yielding 10+ new startups per year. He has served in executive positions at Ultimus, Agular Systems, Rand McNally, Andersen Consulting (Accenture), R.R. Donnelley and Sons’ 77 Capital, and MapQuest (previously GeoSystems Global Corporation). A native of the Philadelphia suburbs, Chris received his bachelor’s degree from West Chester University and a Master’s degree from the University of South Carolina, the first candidate to complete the thesis program in less than two years. Married with three children, Chris and his wife Patty reside in Chapel Hill, NC.
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Eric Henry
TS Designs Eric HenryTS DesignsEric Henry, president of TS Designs, is one-half of the dynamic duo that owns TSD. Alongside his business partner and TSD CEO Tom Sineath, Eric has been in the screenprinting business for over 30 years. Eric's duties at TSD range from sales to operations to PR. He is the foremost public face of TSD, attending numerous trade shows, giving speeches to groups and universities and hosting tours of the TSD facility. His boundless enthusiasm and energy have gained him a certain level of notoriety at most of them, even winning him the Sustainability Champion award from Sustainable North Carolina in 2009. Outside of TS Designs, Eric devotes much of his time volunteer organizations, serving on the boards of several community associations. He founded the Burlington Biodiesel Co-op and has run his car on biodiesel (or straight vegetable oil) since 2004. His latest project is working as a board member of Company Shops Market in downtown Burlington. Opening in Spring 2011, the local co-op grocery will reconnect local agriculture to Alamance County. He also serves on the boards of Alamance County Chamber of Commerce, Specialty Graphic Imaging Association, Elon University Environmental Science and the Burlington Downtown Corporation.
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Sandi Kronick
Eastern Carolina Organics Sandi KronickEastern Carolina OrganicsSandi is founder and ceo of Eastern Carolina Organics (ECO), whose mission is to cultivate a sustainable food system by providing a viable production and distribution network to customers and farmers. ECO has a unique business model that is owned in partnership between managers and farmers. In addition to marketing and distribution, ECO offers holistic support such as business and production planning services, post-harvest handling and packaging training to farmers, knowing that those elements are critical in NC family farmers’ ability to compete with the global organic food supply. In 2010, Sandi received a “40 Under 40” Triangle business leadership award and traveled to Chile on behalf of the Chilean Trade Commission to give lectures about the US organic marketplace. Sandi worked with the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, and started ECO in 2004 with a $48,000 grant to CFSA from the NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission.
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Chad Ledford
3Tailer Chad Ledford3TailerChad Ledford established his passion for eCommerce in early 2005 while exploring the online sock market in his dorm room at Appalachian State University where he earned his degree in Business Management. Before this time, Chad spent his summers selling socks door-to-door across NC, SC, and TN with his grandfather. This experience lead him to explore the unique idea of selling socks online, thus spawning the first of many websites to come. Chad later partnered with Jon West to successfully identify more niche opportunities online under the 3tailer brand where he currently serves as CEO.
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Jeff Mackanic
Red Hat Jeff MackanicRed HatJeff Mackanic has been at Red Hat for more than ten years and is currently the Senior Director of Brand Communications and Design. After several stints with varying levels of success at many e-commerce companies, Jeff became one of the original employees at Akopia, which delivered ecommerce solutions based on the Interchange platform. After Red Hat acquired Akopia, Jeff spent several years in Red Hat Consulting. Jeff has also worked in IT and marketing during his tenure at Red Hat. |
Robert Mayo
Carolina Classics Catfish Robert MayoCarolina Classics CatfishFounded Carolina Classics Catfish, Inc. in 1985 and built it over the years into a $20 million, vertically-integrated aquaculture business (feed milling, hatchery, farming, processing, sales). Recruited farmers in eastern North Carolina to contract farm for the company. Focused company's products on the premium quality niche of the US seafood industry; during the past decade, established company's Natural Catfish products for national distribution to Whole Foods Market and other fine grocery and foodservice customers. Have served on a number of industry boards and committees, including the NC Legislative Committee on Seafood and Aquaculture, and the 12-member USDA-Organic Aquaculture Working Group. |
Chris McCurry
Bark House Chris McCurryBark HouseChris has received multiple awards and has been recognized as “Innovator of the Year” by the regional Economic Development Council, Advantage West. Her work has been featured in over 90 important publications. She has traveled five continents exploring the integration of local traditions and utilization of local resources in building communities. Chris is the co-author of Bark House Style: Sustainable Designs from Nature, published by Gibbs Smith. Chris and her husband created the Bark House® brand. It is a powerful reflection of ancient hearts with timeless minds. She is both dynamic and pragmatic. A wife of 24 years, business owner for 20 and mother of one son, Chris is grounded in reality and is at the same time, a powerful thought leader and change agent.
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Jason Merrill
Back Alley Bikes Jason MerrillBack Alley BikesJason opened Back Alley Bikes in 2007. Originally housed in the back of a building accessible via a gravel alley off of Graham St. in Chapel Hill, the name of the shop was a helpful descriptor, not just a catchy title. "Legitimate Bike Shop" just doesn't have the same ring to it, so the Back Alley Bikes moniker has stuck even though the alley location was given up in 2009 in favor of a bona fide retail storefront.
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Julie Mullin
Fiberactive Organics Julie MullinFiberactive OrganicsJulie owns Fiberactive Organics, LLC, a producer of diverse lines of organic cotton products including table linens, place of worship products, natural burial vessels, and sewing materials, located in Raleigh, NC. Julie specializes in developing organic cotton products that do not exist in the market anywhere in the world. These products include organic cotton sewing thread, colored grosgrain ribbon, embroidery floss and much more. The company also provides prototyping and cut-and-sew services to entrepreneurs around the country. Julie’s staff is made up entirely of Montagnard refugee women, providing them an array of services. Julie recently founded the Montagnard Education Fund to provide tuition money for the children of her staff and their relatives around the world. Julie trains the next generation of fiber professionals by utilizing a constant flow of interns from local colleges. She also mentors new business owners across the US, and offers product development from the waste stream of textile companies in the region.
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Jean Orelien
SciMetrika Jean OrelienSciMetrikaDr. Jean Orelien founded SciMetrika, LLC in 2001. He has more than a decade of experience as a senior statistician and project manager on projects funded by agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services. He is an expert in the development of sophisticated statistical programs, the utilization of statistical methods to analyze epidemiological data, survey analysis, and the use of SUDAAN and SAS software. Dr. Orelien received his doctorate of public health in biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his master of statistics from North Carolina State University. He has authored a number of technical and scientific papers and presentations and is a member of the American Statistical Association and the American Public Health Association. |
Governor
Bev Perdue NC Office of the Governor Governor Bev PerdueNC Office of the GovernorThe inauguration of Beverly Eaves Perdue as the 73rd Governor of North Carolina - and our state's first woman governor - follows a distinguished tenure in public service focused on creating 21st century jobs, fighting for world-class public schools, and improving the health of our people. Before entering public service, Perdue worked as a public school teacher, as director of geriatric services at a community hospital in her hometown of New Bern, and earned a Ph.D. in Education Administration. Prior to her election as Governor, Perdue established herself as one of the most active and accomplished Lieutenant Governors in North Carolina history.
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Janis Pettit
SmarTrack Janis PettitSmarTrackJanis Pettit, CEO of SmarTrack, is a small business mastery coach and marketing mentor who shows small, solo and home-based business owners how to master the entrepreneurial and marketing skills they need to get more clients, make more money, work less hours and move toward financial independence. Janis is committed to serving others through her work, helping clients find passion, purpose, profit and independence. She currently lives with her family in Wake Forest NC. |
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Darrin Redus
Jumpstart Inclusion Advisors Darrin RedusJumpstart Inclusion AdvisorsDarrin leads Jumpstart Inclusion Advisors, which guides the women, minority, and inner-city based entrepreneurs seeking to build larger scale national and international firms. He is also Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Redus Small Business Advisors, LLC, a strategic planning and management assistance firm established in 2003. Darrin previously dedicated 16 years to the commercial banking and finance industry, holding a series of senior level management positions with National City Corporation and KeyCorp. Over the past 15 years, Darrin has led a series of workshops and seminars on economic development and diversity.
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Charles Rice
Kellex Corporation Charles RiceKellex CorporationCurrently, Charles serves as CEO of Kellex Corporation. Kellex Corporation, a company he formed with his brother Chris, and a partner, Doug Fawcett in Ohio in 1995. Kellex is one of the country’s largest providers of furniture for the hospitality industry. In 2008, Kellex Corp invested in a manufacturing facility in Valdese, North Carolina (formerly Hickory Hill Furniture) to build upholstered furniture for the hospitality markets. In 2010, they entered into the residential upholstered furniture market through the Nautica Home brand, and, formed a joint venture with Art Van Furniture in Michigan to expand their presence as a US manufacturing company . During his tenure, he has served as President of Jaclyn Smith International, responsible for licensing the Jaclyn Smith brand at Kmart/Sears and developing her home fashion program. He has worked with Sears Holding to develop their online, direct to home furniture program. |
Dan Roselli
RED F & Packard Place Dan RoselliREDF and Packard PlaceAs president of RED F, Dan has provided a dynamic strategic direction for the firm by using Jim Collins’ concept of BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious |
Reyad Sawafta
QuarTek Reyad SawaftaQuartekDr. Reyad Sawafta is the president and chief executive officer of QuarTek Corporation, a privately-held nanotechnology company that he founded in 2004. In his role, he oversees a myriad of business functions, keeps abreast on new developments in science and technology, devotes attention to the complexities associated with research and development, and continues to apply his innate drive and ambition to foster a bright and prosperous future for QuarTek Corporation. Prior to founding QuarTek Corporation, he held various positions of increasing responsibility in academia and private industry. Dr. Sawafta has served on numerous national and international advisory committees and boards and has received many prestigious awards. His expertise includes nuclear physics, high speed technology, magnetic applications and designs, biotechnology and nanotechnology. Dr. Sawafta obtained his Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics from the University of Alberta, Canada in 1986 and a B.Sc. in Physics (1980) from Yarmouk University in Jordan. Dr. Sawafta is an inventor on numerous patents and patent applications; he has also authored more than 150 scientific papers and has presented more than 100 invited talks worldwide. |
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Rob Segovia-Welsh
Chicken Bridge Bakery Rob Segovia-WelshChicken Bridge BakeryChicken Bridge Bakery is a family operation made up of Rob, Monica and their small son, Simon, who occasionally helps and is forever tasting. After working several years in a handful of bakeries, in northern Wisconsin and North Carolina, they decided to build theirr own wood-fired oven to bake homemade artisan, hearth baked bread using as many local flavors as possible. |
Anne Shaw
NC Small Business Center Network Anne ShawNC Small Business Center NetworkBio to be added. |
Trevor Sherrick
Calyber Boatworks Trevor SherrickCalyber BoatworksTrevor Sherrick was in the boating industry for 10 years before going into business for himself. In 2001, he started Calyber Boatworks in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, building custom-made sport-fishing boats ranging from 35 to 60 feet in length. The boats go all over the world – from the United States to Australia, Japan and Europe – and in 2004, Trevor moved Calyber Boatworks to Edenton, North Carolina for a larger plant. Calyber Boatworks is developing several new product ideas around the green economy. In 2010, Trevor went to a green energy seminar in Raleigh where he met a group of green energy professionals. Together they came up with the idea for the “Sprout,” an 8-foot tall, self-sufficient computer that tracks weather data through a Wi-Fi database. |
Jeff Stern
TROSA Jeff SternTROSAJeff Stern has worked in the social sector for over 15 years, as a volunteer, staff member, executive director and board member. His 2003 Duke MBA focused on social entrepreneurship, strategy and marketing. He is currently Director of Special Projects for TROSA, where TROSA Grocery is one of his responsibilities. He is also currently board chair for Social Enterprise Network of the Triangle and a volunteer with Triangle United Way. |
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Roddy Tempest
Tempest Environmental Systems Roddy TempestTempest Environmental SystemsDr. Roddy Tempest has been a global leader in innovation, research and development of state-of-the-art systems for the purification of drinking water, industrial process water and wastewater for over 25 years. As Chief Executive Officer of AQUAPURA® and Tempest Environmental Systems, he has designed equipment and systems utilizing the most effective and advanced technologies in water purification with projects in 56 countries and orbiting the earth. Tempest specializes in water re-use for LEED projects and “green buildings”, disaster response, recovery and reconstruction on a global basis. He has served as the United States Government’s lead water & sanitation engineer on multiple Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) for the DoD, USAID and the United Nations around the world. He has been involved in disaster response and recovery projects ranging from the earthquakes in Kobe Japan, Turkey, Greece and Taiwan – to the Balkan war in Kosovo – to the massive floods in Central America and Venezuela and hurricanes in the US and Latin America. After the September 11th terrorist attacks on America, one of Tempest’s patented technologies was the only technology selected by the U.S. Government for the purification of water against terrorist attacks on government facilities. Dr. Tempest has his Masters in Business Administration from Duke and a Doctorate in Science from Canterbury with Post Doctorate work again at Duke, specializing in Environmental Engineering.
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Rachel Weeks
School House Rachel WeeksSchool HouseIn 2007, Rachel Weeks traveled to Sri Lanka as a Fulbright Scholar to build a socially responsible clothing company. Her dream, which started with a t-shirt and an order from her alma mater at Duke, has transformed into School House, a fashion-forward, ethically sourced collegiate apparel brand. Within two years, School House has grown its collegiate collections from one to 102 North American campuses and has spurred sales past the $1M mark. As School House enters its next stage of development, its young entrepreneur and CEO is proud to move manufacturing to the US. Their exclusive collections of men’s and women’s tees, hoodies, dresses, lounge pants and more are available at college bookstores nationwide and online. Rachel and the company have been featured in Teen Vogue, WWD and Wall Street Journal. |
Patrick Woodie
NC Rural Center Patrick WoodieNC Rural CenterPatrick Woodie joined the NC Rural Economic Development Center staff in October of 2006 as the Vice President of Rural Development Programs for the North Carolina Rural Center. At the Rural Center, Patrick oversees capacity-building programs in the areas of Physical Infrastructure, Business Development, Workforce Development, and Civic & Social Infrastructure. Patrick is a native of Alleghany County, located in northwestern North Carolina, and a graduate of Wake Forest University and Wake Forest School of Law. Prior to his work at the Rural Center, Patrick was Executive Director of New River Community Partners and the Blue Ridge Business Development Center in Sparta, NC, both non-profits engaged in community and economic development. Patrick help found New River Community Partners when the New River was designated one of fourteen American Heritage Rivers by President Clinton in 1998. NRCP assisted New River communities in leveraging more than $40 million in federal, state, and local government funding, as well as private foundation funding, to implement community-initiated projects. Patrick served one term as Alleghany County Commissioner and is a former Executive Director of the Alleghany County Chamber of Commerce. He was a founding member of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area; and in 2005, he received the Rural Center’s annual award for “Outstanding Rural Leadership”. |
Chris Yura
SustainU Chris YuraSustainUAs Founder and CEO of SustainU, Chris is responsible for leading the company and overseeing all aspects of its business development initiatives designed to achieve long term growth. Mr. Yura recently was an invited guest to The White House with other leading entrepreneurs under 30 years old. Prior to launching SustainU, he gathered and developed his experience in the fashion and entertainment industry in New York City, while maintaining his interest and involvement in social and environmental-related issues. Previously, he served in managerial roles within the customer service field, developing marketing strategies and strategic business initiatives to attract prospective clients.
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Dorian owns and operates 
As president of 
Donna Lowry is owner, President and CEO of 
Chris has received multiple awards and has been recognized as “Innovator of the Year” by the regional Economic Development Council, Advantage West. Her work has been featured in over 90 publications. She has traveled five continents exploring the integration of
local traditions and utilization of local resources in building communities. Chris is the co-author of Bark House Style: Sustainable Designs from
Luke Fishback is the founder and CEO of PlotWatt.com, a startup building web-based dashboards that help people to reduce their electric
bills. Prior to starting PlotWatt, Luke was an engineer at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, where he managed systems engineering efforts on a
variety of projects through a leadership development program.
