UPDATES

IMPORTANT DATES
JOIN US NEXT WEEK FOR OUR FREE IDEATION EVENTS!
JANUARY 28, 2016
Coast Works 2016 kicks off with six community “ideation” events, to be held February 1-4 in Taholah, Aberdeen, Amanda Park, La Push, Forks and Neah Bay (click here for details on locations and dates).

• Learn about the opportunity discovery process and practice putting it into action.
• Work with a team to apply “triple bottom line” business approaches to solve real community needs and problems.
• Find out how Enterprise for Equity training and support can help you start and grow your business.
• Answer all your questions about the competition, including how to apply, how the finalists and winners will be selected, what training and support will be provided, and more.

Ideation Events are free and open to the general public. There’s active learning for everyone – whether you are just curious, or just starting out in business, or are already an experienced business owner or business professional. Through chalk talks and group activities, we’ll help each other awaken our “inner entrepreneur” to brainstorm business ideas that transform problems and needs in our communities into profitable businesses that produce social and environmental benefits – and meet the criteria for the competition!

Contact the Coast Works team at [email protected] if you have any questions or for more information about the competition.

Coast Works 2016 is being presented by The Nature Conservancy in partnership with Enterprise for Equity (with support from a USDA Rural Business Development Grant), Pinchot University’s Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship and the Ta’ala Fund. Click here for more information about the Coast Works partners.

Mike Skinner
Coast Works Competition Administrator
O: 206.780.6228 | C: 206.235-6029

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
FREE COAST WORKS IDEATION EVENTS COMING SOON TO YOUR COMMUNITY
JANUARY 4, 2016
WASHINGTON COAST–Do you have an idea for a small business that makes money, builds community, and protects the environment? Take a step to move your idea forward!

Washington Coast Works: Sustainable Small Business Competition (wacoastworks.org) offers budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to develop skills, get support and win cash to launch sustainable small businesses. The winner will receive $10,000 in startup funding, and two semifinalists will receive $5,000 each.

Last year, twelve contestants participated in the Coast Works Boot Camp and Pitch Clinic and three winners are now working to launch their new businesses.

This year, thanks to funding from USDA Rural Development, Coast Works is joined by Enterprise for Equity, a business development program with a 15-year track record of success in helping people start and grow small businesses in the region.

Enterprise for Equity will be providing a variety of ongoing business training programs and support services. Coast Works contestants will be selected from graduates of Enterprise for Equity’s Business Readiness Workshop and will participate in its Business Planning Program.

Coast Works kicks off with six community “ideation” events, to be held February 1-4 in Taholah, Aberdeen, Amanda Park, La Push, Forks and Neah Bay (click here for details on locations and dates). These three-hour workshops will:

• Answer all your questions about the competition and Enterprise for Equity, including how to apply, how the finalists and winners will be selected, what training and support will be provided, and more.
• Introduce you to the entrepreneur’s mindset, the opportunity discovery process, and sustainable “triple bottom line” businesses.
• Engage you in brainstorming activities designed to help generate ideas for new sustainable businesses that build leadership, contribute to conservation and keep money in the local economy.

Ideation Events are free and open to the general public. Not everyone wants to start and run a business. But we all have the potential to be entrepreneurial. Through chalk talks and group activities, we’ll help each other awaken our “inner entrepreneur” to brainstorm business ideas that transform problems and needs in our communities into profitable businesses that produce social and environmental benefits – and meet the criteria for the competition!

Coast Works contestants must attend an Ideation Event or make separate arrangements to complete an Enterprise for Equity Information Session. Non-contestants are encouraged to participate, too. To register, complete Enterprise for Equity’s Business Plan Training registration form at www.enterpriseforequity.org/intake/. Once you submit your registration form, a member of the Coast Works team will call you to discuss next steps.

If you have any questions regarding the registration process, contact Enterprise for Equity by email at [email protected] or by phone at (360) 704-3375. Contact the Coast Works team at [email protected] if you have any questions or for more information about the competition.

The competition is being presented by The Nature Conservancy in partnership with Enterprise for Equity (with support from a USDA Rural Business Development Grant), Pinchot University’s Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship and the Taala Fund. Click here for more information about the Coast Works partners.

UNCATEGORIZED
THREE BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS GET A JUMP START
OCTOBER 22, 2015
Washington Coast Works Sustainable Small Business Competition Winners Announced

Coast Works Winners
Coast Works Winners
GRAYS HARBOR, WA—Perseverance and vision paid off for three budding small business owners, the winners of the Washington Coast Works small business competition announced recently at the Grays Harbor Business Leaders Banquet.

Emily Foster, a Quileute tribal member from LaPush, in Clallam County, won the first-place prize of $10,000 for equipment and supplies to launch Lonzo’s Seafood Company, offering smoked Quileute-caught fresh salmon.

“This award means so much to both myself and the Quileute community, because fishing is an integral part of my family history and tribal heritage. The prize money will provide me an opportunity to expand the Quileute fish market in a sustainable way and keep the profits within our local community” Foster said.

“I am excited about this business because I will be promoting the seafood that comes from Quileute. Growing up as the daughter of a commercial fisherman who has made a living fishing and crabbing for over 30 years, this business will allow me to work with him directly and benefit from his years of expertise.”

Runners up were Liz Ellis, from Aberdeen in Grays Harbor County, and Jean Ramos, a Quinault tribal elder from Queets, in Jefferson County, who each received $5,000 to launch their businesses.
Ellis is starting the East Aberdeen Community Farm, where neighbors in the Wishkah River lowlands can grow, market and buy fresh local produce. Ramos is creating SovereigNDNTea, a business selling locally and sustainably foraged Labrador tea.

The three were chosen from 12 semifinalists, who have all participated in workshops on entrepreneurship, business, and sustainability. Finalists also had access to one-on-one technical assistance from experienced business advisors to develop and refine their business concepts.

“I’d like to congratulate the local entrepreneurs who took home the Washington Coast Works prize,” said Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-WA, who presented the awards. “The Nature Conservancy and the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship are continuing to lead the effort to give our region’s small businesses an open field to launch their ideas and make a positive impact. This competition illustrated the great work happening on the Olympic Peninsula to create sustainable jobs and drive innovation.”

“We’re proud to have been able to play a role in helping support and inspire a new generation of coastal business leaders, who share our vision that a healthy environment and a healthy economy depend on each other,” said Mike Stevens, Washington state director for The Nature Conservancy. “Even in this first year of the Coast Works business competition, the caliber of entrepreneurs was exceptional and gives me hope for the long-term prosperity of our rural and tribal communities.”

Prize funding was provided by First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Port Angeles and the Quinault Indian Nation.

Plans are underway for next year’s competition, which is expected to get underway in early 2016. Watch the Washington Coast Works website, www.wacoastworks.org, for updates.

The competition is presented by the Taala Fund, the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship at Pinchot University, and The Nature Conservancy in an effort to diversify the local economy through the development of new small businesses, build business leadership in local communities, grow a constituency that supports conservation and sustainable natural resource use, and ultimately contribute to a new vision of sustainable community and economic development on the Washington Coast.

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
AWARD CEREMONY
OCTOBER 13, 2015
The final submissions have been evaluated by an independent panel consisting of eight judges with deep local knowledge and expertise in entrepreneurship, business startups, business management, and sustainability. The scores have been compiled and analyzed. And the winners have been selected!

We are excited to bring the Coast Works finalists together at the Leaders Banquet this Friday, October 16, to celebrate the successful completion of the 2015 Coast Works competition and to announce the winners. The event will take place at the Quinault Beach Resort & Casino (78 State Route 115 – Ocean Shores, WA). Dinner and the Coast Works program starts at 7pm. To register for the event, contact Angela, Greater Grays Harbor Inc., at 360.532.1924 ([email protected]).

See you there!

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
COAST WORKS PITCH CLINIC
OCTOBER 13, 2015
In September, we hosted a Pitch Clinic for the Coast Works finalists at the Learning Center here at Pinchot University in Seattle. In addition to lots of good local food and a two-day get away to bright lights in the Big City, the finalists observed Social Venture Partner’s FastPitch quarterfinals, participated in a workshop on how to prepare and deliver a pitch, and spent an afternoon working with four teams of volunteer pitch coaches – experienced entrepreneurs and students or graduates of Pinchot’s MBA program.

Each finalist delivered their final presentation to their peers, the pitch coaches and a room full of potential impact investors. They rose to the challenge, and the progress they made in just a day and half was amazing. We caught it all on camera and hope to make the videos available soon!

Before heading for home, the finalists dropped off their written materials to be evaluated by a panel of eight independent judges. Winners will be announced at the Leaders Banquet to be held on Friday, October 16, at the Quinault Beach Resort & Casino in Ocean Shores, Washington. Stay tuned!

CALLS FOR SUPPORT
CALL FOR COAST WORKS PITCH COACHES
AUGUST 24, 2015
Hone your entrepreneurial skills while contributing to an important cause!

Pinchot University’s Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship seeks 6-8 volunteers to serve as Pitch Coaches for the Coast Works Pitch Clinic to be held at the HUB on September 15 (2-5pm) and September 16 (9-11am). Coaches will work with 12 finalists participating in the Washington Coast Works: Sustainable Small Business Competition to help them develop, practice and perfect a short business model presentation to their peers and a panel of impact investors.

The Competition

The Coast Works competition has been established by The Nature Conservancy, in collaboration with the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship and the Taala Fund, and is funded in part by the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Business Development Grant.

The finalists are starting or expanding small businesses in Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Clallam Counties, including the tribal communities of Neah Bay, La Push, Hoh, Queets and Taholah, as well as other rural communities, and the cities of Forks, Ocean Shores, Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Montesano, Cosmopolis and Westport.

The competition is designed to diversify the local economy through the development of new small businesses, build business leadership in local communities, grow a constituency that supports conservation and sustainable natural resource use, and ultimately contribute to a new vision of sustainable community and economic development on the Washington Coast.

The Pitch Clinic

On September 15, the finalists will be in Seattle to participate in an intensive all-day Pitch Clinic. After observing the quarter finals of Social Venture Partner’s Fast Pitch at UW’s Foster School, the finalists will spend the afternoon at the HUB (2-5pm) working with the Pitch Coaches to develop their pitch – a short presentation on their business model and how they would put the $10,000 prize to work. On September 16, the finalists will dedicate the morning (9-11am) to pitch practice with the Pitch Coaches before making their final pitch on camera to their fellow cohort members and impact investors.

To Sign Up

If you are interested in this opportunity or have questions, please contact Mike Skinner by phone (206-780-6228) or email ([email protected]) by Friday, September 4, to schedule a short intake interview. Coaches will be required to participate in a 30 minute orientation the week of September 7th (time to be determined).

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
COAST WORKS EXPANDS THE TEAM
JULY 17, 2015
Joanne Lee is joining the Coast Works team as a trainer and technical assistance provider. Joanne has a 17-year practice in business and life coaching based in Olympia, WA. Technology has enabled her to work with clients all over the world. Training and public speaking round out her services to entrepreneurs, businesses, public agencies and non-profit organizations. She’s passionate about sustainability and small-scale grassroots entrepreneurship and enterprise development and excited about the opportunity to work with the Coast Works communities. She’s a known quantity, having helped CIE successfully implement a Kauffman-funded project we did in partnership with the Washington State Workforce Board and Enterprise for Equity, a microenterprise development program serving the South Sound. I’m thrilled she is joining us and know that she will contribute much to our efforts. Please welcome Joanne to the Coast Works Team!

UPDATES
CALLS FOR SUPPORT
CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS
JULY 10, 2015
The Washington Coast Works: Sustainable Small Business Competition has been established by The Nature Conservancy, in collaboration with the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship and the Taala Fund, and is funded in part by the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Business Development Grant.
The competition will be open to applicants starting or expanding small businesses in Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Clallam Counties, including the tribal communities of Neah Bay, La Push, Hoh, Queets and Taholah, as well as other rural communities, and the cities of Forks, Ocean Shores, Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Montesano, Cosmopolis and Westport.

The competition is designed to diversify the local economy through the development of new small businesses, build business leadership in local communities, grow a constituency that supports conservation and sustainable natural resource use, and ultimately contribute to a new vision of sustainable community and economic development on the Washington Coast.

The Entrepreneurship Boot Camp

In late June 2015, 10 applicants and 2 alternate applicants will be selected to advance to the final round of the competition. These finalists will participate in an intensive three-day Entrepreneurship Boot Camp. The Boot Camp will be held at the Olympic Natural Resource Center in Forks, WA on July 30- August 2. Workshops subject to this Call for Proposals will take place on the second day of the Boot Camp (Saturday, August 1) starting at 9am and ending at 4pm.

Proposals

Most entrepreneurship training programs focus on how to launch and manage a business. The Boot Camp is a departure from this convention. The focus of the competition and the training will be to help participants identify and validate the key assumptions underlying (1) how the business will generate revenue, (2) why the financial projections make sense, and (3) the way in which the business will further the competition’s social and environmental objectives. Using a Business Model Canvas, Financial Projection Worksheets, and a Sustainability Matrix, participants will develop a written narrative that identifies and explains the assumptions underlying the business concept and how the assumptions have been or will be validated.

The first day of the Boot Camp will consist of three workshops that provide the foundation for developing the written narrative:

The Business Model Canvas and Lean Startup Concepts
Preparing Preliminary Financial Projections
Assessing Sustainability Across the Business
We are seeking proposals for at least 6 one-hour highly focused and practical “Drill Down” workshops that complement the foundational workshops. Suggested topics include (by way of example, with reference to the applicable judging criteria):

Market Research (1:1, 1:2)
Marketing Strategies (1:3)
Revenue Models (1:4)
Pricing Strategies and Sales Forecasting (1:4, 2:3)
Cash Flow Requirements (2:4)
Measuring Conservation Impact (carrying capacity and other metrics) (3:1, 3:2, 3:3)
Measuring Local Economy Impact (the multiplier and direct, indirect, induced impacts (3:4, 3:5, 3:6)
Measuring Leadership Development and Self-Determination (3:7, 3:8, 3:9)
Understanding Scale (3:10)
Priority will be given to workshops designed to help participants develop ideas, strategies and tools that ensure that each participant understands and has a strategy for responding to each specific judging criterion in a way that produces the highest possible score. The judging criteria is available on the Coast Works website at www.wacoastworks.org.

Proposal Requirements

Proposals must be received by Friday, July 17, 2015. Proposals must be in writing, no more than three pages, and include the following information:

Workshop Title
Workshop Abstract (no more than 200 words)
Workshop Outline
Workshop Objectives (including the applicable judging criteria)
Statement of Presenter Qualifications
Please email your proposal as a PDF file to the Coast Works Competition Administrator at [email protected] on or before the deadline. If you have any questions or require further information, please contact Mike Skinner at (206) 235-6029.

By submitting a workshop proposal, you acknowledge that there is no compensation for workshop presenters, and you agree (a) to participate in a teleconference presenter orientation (tentatively to be held on Monday, July 22, 2015), (b) to provide final workshop materials to the Boot Camp coordinators by no later than Friday, July 24, 2015, and (c) to be on location and ready to present at least one hour prior to the scheduled time for your workshop. Presenters are encouraged to come to the kick off breakfast and stay through the dinner session to network with the finalists. Overnight arrangements will be considered upon request.

Thank you for supporting Coast Works!

http://wacoastworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Coast-Works-Call-for-Workshop-Proposals-Revised.pdf

PRESS RELEASES
12 BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS TO COMPETE FOR $20,000
JULY 10, 2015
July 10, 2015

For Immediate Release

The Nature Conservancy
Robin Stanton, (206) 436-6274
[email protected]

Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship
Mike Skinner, (206) 780-6228
[email protected]

12 Budding Entrepreneurs to Compete for $20,000

Washington Coast Works Sustainable Small Business Competition Enters New Phase

WASHINGTON COAST—Twelve finalists from coastal communities have been chosen to participate in an intensive small-business boot camp in Forks for the Washington Coast Works: Sustainable Small Business Competition (wacoastworks.org).

The boot camp, July 30-Aug. 2, will include workshops on entrepreneurship, business, and sustainability. Following boot camp, finalists will have access to one-on-one technical assistance from experienced business advisors to develop and refine their business concepts, before going on to compete for $20,000 in startup funding, along with ongoing training and support.

First place winner will receive $10,000 in startup funding, while two second-place winners will receive $5,000 each. Prize funding is provided by First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Port Angeles and the Quinault Indian Nation.

The finalists are:

Elizabeth Alexandra (Aberdeen) – launching a worker cooperative to collect food waste for production and sale of compost.
Emily Foster (Forks/ Quileute Nation) – launching a business that smokes and sells locally caught fish to both residents and tourists.
Liz Ellis (Aberdeen) – launching a business providing low-income housing with community gardens.
Anna Kim (Westport) – launching a business to manufacture and sell sustainable “papercrete” landscaping materials using recycled paper
Robert Long (Neah Bay/Makah Tribe) – launching a business to produce and sell sustainably farmed seaweed and shellfish.
Kelsey Pearson (Forks) – launching a food cooperative that will offer a diverse array of local food and produce to the community.
Linda Reeves (Queets/Quinault Indian Nation) – launching a market place for Native arts and crafts, as well as local produce and food.
Roxanne Eison (Taholah/Quinault Indian Nation) – expanding her existing forest thinning business to include sustainable harvesting and sale of salal.
Greg Larsen (Hoquiam) – launching a business to manufacture alternative, affordable and sustainable housing using shipping containers.
Mark Ray (Neah Bay/Makah Tribe) – launching a coffee shop featuring local coffee roasters, craft beers, wines, and foods.
Jean Ramos (Queets/Quinault Indian Nation) – launching a business to sell traditional Native medicinal products.
Michael Myers (Cosmopolis) – launching a consulting business focusing on converting waste to energy using methane digesters.
The competition is being presented by the Taala Fund, the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship at Pinchot University, and The Nature Conservancy in an effort to diversify the local economy through the development of new small businesses, build business leadership in local communities, grow a constituency that supports conservation and sustainable natural resource use, and ultimately contribute to a new vision of sustainable community and economic development on the Washington Coast.

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NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS, PRESS RELEASES
HAVE AN IDEA FOR A SMALL BUSINESS? ENTER NOW
JUNE 9, 2015
June 8, 2015 Contact

For Immediate Release

The Nature Conservancy
Robin Stanton, (206) 436-6274
[email protected]

Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship
Mike Skinner, (206) 780-6228
[email protected]

Have An Idea for a Small Business? Enter Now

$20,000 in prize money for Washington Coast Works Business Competition

WASHINGTON COAST–Do you have an idea for a small business that makes money, builds community, and protects the environment? Enter the Washington Coast Works competition to develop the idea and win startup funding.

Deadline to enter the Washington Coast Works: Sustainable Small Business Competition (wacoastworks.org) is June 19.

The Washington Coast Works competition offers budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to develop skills, get support and win cash to launch their businesses. The winner will receive $10,000 in startup funding, and two semifinalists will receive $5,000 each. Prize funding is provided by the Quinault Indian Nation and First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Port Angeles.

The competition is open to applicants starting new businesses in Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Clallam Counties, including the tribal communities of Neah Bay, La Push, Hoh, Queets and Taholah, as well as other rural communities, and the cities of Forks, Ocean Shores, Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Montesano, Cosmopolis and Westport.

The competition is being presented by The Nature Conservancy in partnership with the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship at Pinchot University (formerly Bainbridge Graduate Institute) and the Taala Fund. USDA provided funding through its Rural Business Opportunity Grants to help launch the competition.

Details are at wacoastworks.org.

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