Accelerating Appalachia announces new partnerships, seeks nature-based business applicants for next accelerator program

From Accelerating Appalachia

Press release

Applications are now being accepted until January 15, 2016 for Accelerating Appalachia’s spring 2016, hosted in Kentucky and North Carolina. Businesses may apply from anywhere, but preference is given to Appalachian regions of Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee and Ohio.

Accelerating Appalachia connects nature-based businesses from the rural and urban hubs of central and southern Appalachia to help expand their customer base, supply chains, peer and mentor network and investment opportunities.

Nature-based businesses and entrepreneurs in the following sectors are encouraged to apply:
Farming
Food
Clean Energy
Forest products (natural building) and non-timber forest products (ginseng, mushrooms, fruit & nut trees)
Fiber/ Textiles
Craft Brewing/ Distilling
Botanicals/Wellness
Outdoor Industry
Other innovative triple bottom-line businesses with special consideration for innovators and entrepreneurs from marginalized populations.

Accelerating Appalachia’s spring 2016 program consists of four, three-day workshops over 12 weeks from February – May 2016.  Workshops will be hosted in Kentucky and in Asheville, NC. Seasoned entrepreneurs, mentors and investors from North Carolina, Kentucky, Colorado, California, Atlanta and other proven practitioners will serve as business development mentors, coach entrepreneurs around their financials, marketing, customer acquisitions, supply chain, every aspect of their business development, including preparing for investment now and in the future. Need-based scholarships are available to defray the cost of tuition.

“Accelerating Appalachia attracts growth-stage high-impact businesses and connects them not only with investment opportunities, sustainable supply chains and expanded customer base, but also with peer networks, mentors, and lasting connections, says Sara Day Evans, founding director of Accelerating Appalachia.  “We accelerate entrepreneurs that display characteristics of scalable, socially and environmentally responsible businesses that will further develop the growing New Economy in Appalachia.”

“Accelerating Appalachia is particularly excited to announce our partnership with Kiva Zip. Kiva is a platform that crowdfunds micro loans and is offering 0% interest loans up to $10,000 to farmers in the United States and gives the business incredible exposure. Kiva Zip doesn’t measure collateral, credit score, or how much cash someone has on hand; instead it emphasizes character, measured by an entrepreneur’s ability to rally 15 initial lenders from his or her personal network. Businesses in the agriculture industry can have difficulty fitting within the terms of formal banking institutions; Kiva better meets the needs of farmers and their financial needs.”

Ms. Evans, a sixth generation Kentuckian, has worked in Appalachia for over 20 years. Her past work includes N.C. Department of Commerce’s Green Business Fund and development of the NC Green Economy Resources Directory, as well as community economic development for WNC’s most distressed counties. As program manager with the Kentucky Division of Waste Management, she lead development and implementation of the Kentucky PRIDE Fund, an ongoing $15 million fund that has had resounding impact on decreasing illegal dumping, cleaning up roadsides and streams, and increasing recycling. She’s worked with over 300 communities and businesses.

“We are particularly interested in businesses using regenerative practices to increase soil carbon in all ecosystems — from pasture to wetlands — by replanting degraded areas, increased mulching of biomass instead of burning, large-scale use of biochar, improved pasture management, effective erosion control, and restoration of native prairie grasses ” says Evans. “The importance of increasing soil carbon in the fight to reverse climate change is proving to be as important as emissions reduction. The world’s cultivated soils have lost 50-70% of their original carbon stock and we want to accelerate businesses that are helping to return or retain carbon in the soil.”

Testimonials from Accelerating Appalachia businesses:

“We’re still a young company with no guarantees of future success. However, we can definitively say that Accelerating Appalachia was an extraordinarily helpful program for us. The visionary women who run Accelerating Appalachia definitely make sure it lives up to the name “accelerator.” During the few months of the program, our business probably moved forward two years as far as planning, financial projections, team building, etc. ACAP forced us to get tightly organized, while providing the tools and resources to do so. We’ve also been introduced to a wide range of prospective impact investors that we might not have met otherwise. Accelerating Appalachia has been the best investment we’ve ever made, and we can’t recommend it highly enough to other nature-based businesses who are ready to accelerate.” Aaron and Susan von Frank, GrowJourney, 2015

“Accelerating Appalachia created a unique opportunity for Riverbend Malt House to interact with the successful entrepreneurs, finance professionals, and business leaders throughout our region. Those interactions helped guide our company through a period of explosive growth that continues to the present day,” says Brent Manning, Riverbend Malt House. “Accelerating Appalachia creates a bridge between the new wave of nature based businesses and an amazing array of mentors, venture capitalist firms, and business leaders who are eager to support a more durable, localized economic model for our region.” Brent Manning, Riverbend Malthouse, 2014

Accelerating Appalachia is responding to success and growing demand:

Communities – More than 60 jobs created, over 200 new sustainable farm acres and 20 new farmers added over 2.5 years.
Entrepreneurs – Accelerator graduates have leveraged over $2 million in investment
Women – 75% of the accelerator applicants were woman-owned or co-owned.
Investors/Mentors – More than 40 in network, continuing to grow.
Youth/Students – Partnering with Warren Wilson College (western North Carolina), University of Pikeville and the University of Kentucky to engage sustainable business students in accelerator program and provide opportunity for student internships
Media – Great coverage from local, national and international press

Accelerating Appalachia is collaborating and partnering with multiple enterprises and organizations from across the region, including: Kiva Zip, Brown-Forman, Iroquois Valley Farms, Village Capital, Big Path Capital, Venture Asheville, Ouita Michel Restaurants, Kentucky Distillers Association, Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute, Kentucky Center for Ag and Rural Development (K-CARD), MACED, Appalachian Food Summit, Community Farm Alliance, Local Foods Network, Kentucky Proud/Appalachian Proud, Grow Appalachia, Rural Scale, and many more.

Applications for the next cohort are currently being accepted. Interested businesses may apply at www.acceleratingappalachia.org.