| Is Innovation Starting to Go Social in St. Louis? |
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From St. Louis Commerce Magazine, November 2006 Is Innovation Starting to Go Social in St. Louis? It seems that the concept of innovation is catching on in new and unexpected ways in St. Louis. People in other parts of the nation have been watching our community’s entrepreneurial energy spur downtown revitalization, life sciences, and other activities. But there is indication that something else might be starting to happen. That is the feeling around “SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP”. The concept of social entrepreneurship has been around for years; it was just not known by that name. Goodwill Industries, Salvation Army Thrift Stores, and St. Vincent DePaul Thrift Stores are examples, as is McMurphy’s Grill, an offshoot of the St. Patrick’s Center, and The Scholar Shop. “The term ‘social entrepreneurship’ was coined about 10 years ago,” says Kathleen Buescher, president and CEO of Provident Inc. “About three or four years ago, we put together a loose, non-organized group of volunteers to see what we could do to increase the interest and knowledge about social entrepreneurship, and that was the beginning of the Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship (ASE). The ASEs stated mission is “to improve the St. Louis region by expanding social entrepreneurship, “ Buescher says. Its goals are to increase awareness of social entrepreneurship, educate investors and practitioners, facilitate matches among like-minded individuals and groups, and monitor the region’s progress toward establishing and advancing social enterprise. Every other month ASE sponsors a community exchange at the office of a nonprofit which is practicing social entrepreneurship. A second happening is the SSDN (formerly Southside Day Nursery) annual award recognizing the region’s most noteworthy social entrepreneur. In 2005 they selected Jim Jacobsen of the Kellwood Corporation for his substantial philanthropic efforts. In 2006 it was Theresa Wilson, the founder of The Blessing Basket Project; a fast growing not-for-profit venture that imports handcrafted baskets for sale in the U.S. market. Their mission is to reduce poverty in third world countries by creating sustainable jobs and paying prosperity wages. Marlene Levine, SSDN CEO, says that the origination was founded “to prevent poverty. We were an employment agency and child care center and had been helping family home child care homes get licensed. In 2002, SSDN founded the Cherokee Street Business Incubator. “This serves three purposes,” Levine says. “We support existing businesses, we attract businesses to the community, and we provide incubation for small businesses. A third thing is the Youthbridge Association and Washington University partnership to create the new Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition (SEIC). This activity, done with the support of ASE, provided $105,000 to not-for-profit ventures looking for startup funding that would lead to self sufficient social programs. The winners included: • $35,000 YouthBridge Award to Boomerang Press—an ArtWorks Enterprise that uses art and entrepreneurship to generate revenues to sustain their youth mentoring programs. • $30,000 Incarnate Word Award to REAP which trains advocates that reduce domestic violence by teaching women economic empowerment. • $25,000 Skandalaris Center Award to Meds & Food for Kids that reduces child malnutrition in Haiti by using an innovative, nutrient-rich peanut butter paste. • $15,000 to the winning teams which were founded by or supported by Washington University students including $5,000 for the Panda Athletic Gym. All this activity caused us to think, “Is St. Louis starting to get a deeper innovation culture that is spreading to different areas? Is it possible that entrepreneurial spirit from the coasts is immigrating to our region?” To find out what is happening we called three people, Dr. William Peck, Innovate St. Louis, the recently-established spin off from the Technology Gateway Alliance at RCGA; Gary Dollar president of the United Way; and Dr. Edward Lawlor, dean of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University, to get their take on this concept. What we heard was a pleasant and encouraging surprise. We learned that the innovation activity is larger than just the three things we had identified. “I think it’s fair to say that entrepreneurship is a very important component of social enhancement,” Peck says. “Many people who are community leaders that produce an improved social environment are actually entrepreneurs. With social entrepreneurship, you have one or more classic entrepreneurs who have a vision and pursue it relentlessly, often with limited resources, to produce something of benefit to a given population.” “We’re a fledgling organization just getting underway,” he continues. “The idea is what can Innovate St. Louis do to assist in the development and promotion of social entrepreneurship in the St. Louis region.” Lawlor says the roots of social entrepreneurship run “quite deep” and that there have been conversations and interactions to promote this action. “I think there’s a particular chemistry between some of the leadership here in town,” he says. “Youthbridge and Olin Cup is an example. We have agencies and entrepreneurs who are on the other side of the street. Many cities have one side, but not the other. That is, they have some social venture philanthropists who are looking for things to do, but they don’t necessarily have executives and agency leadership who want to do it. “I think here we have examples of both providers, organizations and funders who want to move this along.” Dollar says he thought that the United Way’s role in assisting social entrepreneurship was “what we do best, and that is to convene people. When people get together, they come up with good ideas and find new ways of working together. Does anyone have an idea or practice that is making a unique kind of impact around an issue? How do we share that with others? How do we duplicate that? “We see people in the community who have good ideas and want to try them,” he says. “Kathleen and Marlene have done this with a not-for-profit agency. They understand that for children to do well, families have to do well, and there have to be sources for them. It’s very logical in terms of how they approach the challenge of their mission.” Under the capable leadership of these leaders and others, social entrepreneurship will continue to thrive in the St. Louis region. Click to view the original article. |
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