PDS Development Corporation

The Real Bailout Plan:
A Locally Based Economy
As each day delivers more sobering facts about the global economic crisis, we are increasingly confident that local is a better way to economic stability, not bought by bailouts and buyouts. The past few weeks have shown us that the business of making money doesn't translate into establishing wealth. Wealth creation is in fact rooted in businesses owned by people you know; working people producing and exchanging real products – real wealth for ourselves and our communities – not an intangible market of speculative gains and unearned claims. If you weren't convinced before, it’s now undeniably clear that economic power that resides locally is the key to our sustainability. Each of us, as business owners and residents, can play a leadership role in strengthening our local economy. Now more than ever, business owners must connect and exchange goods with other local businesses, come together to strategize and share best practices, connect with our local customer base and figure out how our business can grow by serving their needs. This is the mission of SBNYC – we’re a peer network of local business owners who come together to do just this, and in turn strengthen our local economy so that it provides real wealth for real people.

We invite you to learn more about the network and to join us on October 16th for the panel discussion “Being Your Own Pied Piper: How the Song of Local Business Will Save NYC’s Economy” to learn more about tools for weathering financial storms.

Calling All SocialPreneurs

Echoing Green Annual Fellowship
Each year, Echoing Green awards 20 two-year fellowships to social entrepreneurs. Fellows receive up to $90,000 in seed funding and technical support to turn their innovative ideas into sustainable social change organizations.To learn more about Echoing Green's Annual Green Fellowship, visit: http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellowship

Social Venture Institue
Don't miss the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia's Social Venture Institute, the only conference on the East Coast dedicated to teaching entrepreneurs about the Triple Bottom Line. Join SBNYC staff and gain a competitive advantage for your business while creating a positive social and environmental impact for your community.
November 21 & 22, 2008 @ The Union League of Philadelphia.
Click here for details

Tools To Grow On

Empowering Your Way to Success
taken from Values Sell by Nadine A. Thompson & Angela E. Soper
part of the Social Venture Network Book Series

1. Enhance your supplier's ability to perform. This may mean finding ways to educate them about the value of using high-quality ingredients, improving their working conditions, investing in equipment, or providing them wth knowledge about good business practices.

2. Solicit advice from beyond your primary customer target. Consider everyone connected to your business, and ask yourself how others might use your product or services. Think about all the ways your product benefits people, even if they aren't the end consumer, and find out how they think the product could be improved.

3. Invest in a mentoring program. Speak to schools and local organizations whose members may be interested in what you do - and how you're doing it. Providing on-the-job training for those who are passionate about your business or industry is an excellent way to find and keep competent employees.

4. Determine your business's community. Make a list of those who have a vested interest in your business. This could include employees, investors, suppliers, and even customers. Then come up with strategic ways to connect them so a sense of community, in the form of shared goals, is created.

5. Use your values to empower others. Determine early in your planning how you will use your values to empower everyone connected to your business. Be clear about and committed to each of these empowerment strategies and how they will build strong relationships.

SBNYC's Newest Members

Member Spotlight

dvGreen is dedicated to designing sustainable events without sacrificing style. From corporate events to weddings and birthday parties, we show our clients that throwing a beautiful event doesn’t require compromising one's committment to the environment. By featuring organic food, flowers, and table linens; tree-free paper invitations; donating or composting leftover food; purchasing carbon offsets, and more, dvGreen creates incredible events that clients can be proud of forever. We look to fellow members of SBNYC (such as Rolling Press, ABC Home and Indigo Handloom) to help us stay true to our mission. Our past clients and guests now all agree that green and glam (and fun!) can, in fact, go hand in hand. We’ve been featured in publications ranging from the New York Times, Plenty Magazine, InStyle and NBC’s Today Show. Recently, long-time New York City resident and dvGreen founder Danielle Venokur was named one of Modern Bride’s 25 Trendsetters of 2008.

Members In The News

Earth Advertising:
"'Unlikely Alliances' Advertising Campaign Wins 2008 EthicMark(R) Award"; CSRWire, October 2008

EcoBrooklyn, Inc.
"Green On Brownstoner: Salvage on A Budget"; www.brownstoner.com, October 2008

Green Apple Cleaners
"Brooks Brothers Learns about Eco-Friendly CO2 and "Wet" Cleaning at Green Apple Cleaners"; CSRWire, September 2008

GreenEdge NYC:
"Dinner with a Neighbor? One Green-y Makes it Possible"; Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 2008

GreenMap System:
"GreenMap System Nominated for Smithsonian Museum's 'People's Design Awards'"; October 2008

GreenSpa NY:
"Eco-Friendly Spa Treatments"; Fox 5 News, October 2008

Recycle-A-Bicycle
"Bicycle Recyclers Empower Riders"; The Christian Science Monitor, October 2008

Sustainable South Bronx:
"Environment = Quality: Activist Ties Activism to Quality of Life in Urban Landscapes"; Syracus Post Standard, September 2008

Job Opportunities

Green Map
Intern; IT with some PHP experience
Intern; Marketing/social networking/Web 2.0
email resume to info@greenmap.org