We've had a full, busy week. One of the items on our agenda was the Indiana Poverty Summit at Notre Dame's Center for Social Concerns, where the problem of poverty here in the state was examined in a series of presentations and workshops. Being proactive about poverty and not just responding to emergencies was an important theme of the day. The economists and experts at the conference prodded us to think about new approaches to addressing poverty and unemployment, and community-based solutions such as social enterprise were an important part of the discussion. It was good to connect with those who had similar concerns and to share our model with others in our region and statewide.
We keep hammering away at different parts of our business model and marketing strategy, and are very grateful for the great effort and analysis of our plan by a group of masters' students in the science entrepreneurship grad program, ESTEEM, at Notre Dame. Led by Rita Morgan and Matt Berg, these dozen students have delved into our model as part of a class project, and have helped us sharpen important details of our business through our exchanges with them in the past week - including a strategy session last weekend to talk about supply chain, distribution, and marketing questions. What a benefit to have these great ESTEEM analysts contribute to our launch.
Working on legal matters related to our venture and exploring new funding sources rounded out our week. But we also took time out to "play," and visit Hannah and Friends - one of our collaborators in South Bend - for their Community Carnival. Staffed by students from Saint Mary's College, the event was a blast, and brought together a very broad range of people who wanted to enjoy the festivities, the great sunny weather, and the wonderful company. Chris found his way around all the Carnival had to offer, and we enjoyed catching up with everyone who wanted to know more about the aquaponics prototype we'll soon build on the grounds of Hannah and Friends. We'll manage that greenhouse jointly with them, and it will serve as a training site for our employees and for H&F's clients. A real win-win!
Looking back on our week, could we say our "secret sauce" is...pie? Or, that the venture that eats pie together works fantastically together? We cracked out the raspberry pie during our sessions with ESTEEM, and if you look carefully, you'll see that next to Anthony, Shane, Tom, and Conor's laptops is the pie we're about to serve! And a couple of days ago, pie (this time pumpkin!) was once again the order of the day when Chris McElroy, our videographer, sat down to talk shop with us at the Portage Cafe.
To us, pie and aquaponics seem the perfect combination for a week with much work and play!
To us, pie and aquaponics seem the perfect combination for a week with much work and play!
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