Electric Taxis in San Francisco

Palo Alto, Calif. – (October 27, 2010) – Better Place, with support from the U.S. Department of Transportation via the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, today announced a commitment to bring a switchable battery, electric taxi program to the Bay Area in partnership with the cities of San Francisco and San Jose to further cement the region’s position as the “EV Capital of the U.S.”

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Local Dirt - connecting farmers and buyers

When Heather Hilleren worked for Whole Foods she noticed they had trouble finding and buying from local farmers.

By 2005, Hilleren had earned an MBA from University of Wisconsin Business School. As one of her class projects, she had developed a plan to use the power of an online interface to facilitate buying between local farmers, distributors, cooperatives, retailers, restaurateurs and even individuals.

Hilleren combined her savings,  a $600,000 National Science Foundation grant and  $1 million in new investment from O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures in San Francisco and Boston-based Peak Ridge Capital.

She's using the money to get the word out nationally and to continue to build her offerings for her site, which she says has thousands of farmers, distributors and buyers. Hilleren wants to offer electronic ordering services for local grocery store buyers, who can simply go online, check local farmers' inventory and buy what they need. Eventually, she plans to charge a subscription fee--probably $360 per year--to wholesale buyers and sellers.

The site saves the average wholesale buyer about four hours a week, Hilleren says. In addition, it gives farmers a new sales venue, and it offers transparency. "People can actually find out when the product was harvested and what the growing practices were that went along with it," she says. "All products need to be identified, so people know what they're buying and where it came from."

Read the entire Article:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217449

Visit the Local dirt website:
http://www.localdirt.com/

What can you do with this information ?

• Run, don't walk to your local organic supermarket and ask them if they use this service, if not print out the website and the article listed above and give it to the manager. 
• Share this information with local restaurants that use locally grown produce.
• If you or someone you know farms organically send them this information.
• Read the FAQ page at the website to learn more about the program (they sell a lot more than fruit and veggies) http://www.localdirt.com/faq-a193.html
• The next time someone tells you the government just wastes our money. Mention that the National Science Foundation supports this site which is creating jobs for local farmers nationwide.
• Write an note to the Hillary thanking her for creating this service, a little encouragement goes a long way. http://www.localdirt.com/contact_us-a194.html
• Share this blog with friends and associates

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Indian CEO Puts Helping Others Above Bottom Line

This is a truly inspirational story. I hope business schools will start to emphasize these types of success stories as they work with young MBAs. Make sure you watch the video as he explains what he thinks is important to a successful company.

25 years ago, Amitabha Sadangi was so poor he couldn't afford 2 meals in one day. He worked hard to put himself through school despite his deep poverty, so that he could get a good job and become wealthy. Today, he is a businessman giving up wealth and fortune to tackle irrigation and poverty in India.

Amitabha Sadangi's vision is to empower even the poorest farmers to irrigate their land. He believes that giving rural farmers a chance to pull themselves out of poverty is the way towards sustainable and dignified development. All you need is a $1 and a dream...and a lot of hard work.

Watch the video:http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=1976

Read more about his company: http://www.ide-india.org/ide/index1.shtml

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Wal-Mart buys more food from small local farms

I am always encouraged when a "good idea" makes it's way to a box store like Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart is planning to double the sales of fresh produce from local farms in its U.S. stores by the end of 2015, this would lift local produce to 9 percent of total produce sales in the country.

Wal-Mart also said it will require that palm oil from sustainable sources be used in all of its private-label products by the end of 2015. The company sells hundreds of products that use palm oil. Concerns had been raised that some producers add to global warming by felling forests.

Environmentalists contend that using locally sourced agriculture and supporting small farms is one way to preserve local jobs and prevent dwindling farmland from being lost. It can also help reduce the use of resources such as fuel to transport food over long distances.

Wal-Mart joins a growing list of corporate and charitable organizations lending support to sustainable agriculture programs and small and local farmers.

I am not a big fan of Wal-Mart, but I think they got this one right. Since they are such a major force in the economy their efforts to support local farmers are to be applauded, now when they start offering health care to employees it will be even better.

Read the complete story here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39643023/ns/politics/

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Time Banking

Time banking is a system where you  spend an hour doing something for somebody in your community. That hour goes into the Time Bank as a Time Dollar, then you have a Time dollar to spend on having someone doing something for you.

It's a simple idea, but it has powerful implications for folks who are trying to stretch their money, are unemployed or who have specific needs they can't afford to hire out.

If you want to save $$, have skills you are willing to share, and want to get a great deal, this is an idea for you.

How it works
http://www.timebanks.org/how-it-works.htm

Where do I start
http://www.timebanks.org/get-involved.htm

If you hear about a great idea, send me an email or post a comment at this site. Let's all get hooked on finding "ideas that work". lhemenway@santarosa.edu

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