mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636
DURHAM -- Bull City Forward, an initiative that seeks to establish a campus for social entrepreneurs in Durham, has found a home and is planning a launch party in three weeks' time.
Since initially announcing in December, the organization has raised $100,000 to fund work through the spring, conduct a feasibility study and draw up a business plan by May.
On March 25, it will hold a launch party at its new digs -- Greenfire Development's Kress building on the corner of Mangum and Main streets, where it will share 5,500 square feet with Greenfire to start and eventually could take up 11,000 square feet on the ground floor and the basement.
The initiative still plans on eventually expanding to 30,000 square feet for a "social innovation campus," according Christopher Gergen, the Duke University professor and entrepreneur spearheading the effort.
"This is an opportunity for us to get a pilot program up and running and build up some excitement in the community," Gergen said.
The idea for Bull City Forward had grown out of conversations between Gergen, son of former presidential adviser and current Harvard University professor David Gergen, and Henry McKoy, chief executive officer of Fourth-Sector Financial, a financial institution in downtown that caters to green and socially conscious businesses.
Gergen and others have said they hope Bull City Forward will establish Durham as a national beacon for social innovation the same way that Research Triangle Park put the region on the map for technology and research.
Social entrepreneurs adhere to a "triple bottom line" approach in business, measuring success not only in terms of profit, but also in terms of positive impact locally and globally. Local examples of social entrepreneurs include TROSA, a residential program for substance abusers, and Burt's Bees, the wildly successful maker of natural personal care products.
Bull City Forward's campus would help incubate the next generation of social entrepreneurs by linking them to resources in the community providing educational, financial and policy expertise.
Although not officially incorporated, Bull City Forward is currently accepting applications for membership ranging from $250 a month for full membership, which includes round-the-clock access to office space and all events and programs, to $150 a month and $25 a month for more streamlined offerings.
As Bull City Forward expands in the Kress building, Greenfire may eventually move to one of the downtown developer's other properties, such as Rogers Alley, according to Greenfire partner Carl Webb.
"We just generally believe that the work of Bull City Forward around social entrepreneurship is beneficial to Greenfire's efforts within the city center," he said. "Given that we still have relatively inexpensive office space for those businesses, this seems to be an ideal location to serve as an incubator."
Since December, the initiative has also added some new members to its executive committee, which now includes 20 local leaders.
The new faces are: Tucker Bartlett, chief operating officer of Scientific Properties; Starla Huggins, director of Government and Community Relations at N.C. Central University; Daniel Kimberg, founder and executive director of Student U; Maria Kingery, founder and owner of Southern Energy Management; Thomas Stith, economic development director, UNC Chapel Hill's Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise; and Barry Van Deman, CEO of the N.C. Museum of Life and Science.
For information on membership with Bull City Forward, contact Alison Dorsey at adorsey@newmountainventures.com or (650) 576-8463.
