Final judging round of the National Social Venture Competition at Haas School of Business

Contact:
Ute Frey
Haas School of Business
510-642-0342
frey@haas.berkeley.edu

WHAT:
The final judging round of the National Social Venture Competition at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. The Competition, a partnership of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, Columbia Business School, and The Goldman Sachs Foundation, attracted 77 business plan submissions for its 2002 competition -- a 140% increase from last year -- from 31 business schools. Eight teams, covering a broad spectrum of education, technology, health, community development, and environmental industries, will now compete for $100,000 in prizes. For the first time, the final team presentations to the judges will be open to the public. The plans will be evaluated on their financial and social returns on investment, feasibility, fundability, and management team qualifications.

WHEN:
Saturday, April 6, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

WHERE:
Wells Fargo Room at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. The Haas School is on Gayley Road between Bancroft Way and Hearst Avenue.

WHO:
Competition finalists:

* Bronx Charter School for the Arts (public elementary school focused on arts)
* Casas Sin Fronteras (affordable housing for low-income residents of Mexico)
* Green Village, Inc. (environmental detergents and community employment)
* SKS Infotech (technology solutions for microfinance institutions)
* Energy Savers International (controls to increase efficiency of
electrical appliances)
* Regale Corporation (environmentally-friendly molded packaging)
* Wilson TurboPower, Inc. (low-cost, high efficiency microturbines)
* Vascular Regenesis (using a tissue-engineering approach for pediatric
heart surgery)

Two teams nominated for the prize for Best Social Return on Investment
analysis:

* Pachamama Coffee Cooperative of Small Scale Coffee Producers
* Windows of Opportunity (lead-safe window replacements)

Background:
The National Social Venture Competition is the only business school competition to foster the creation of for-profit and nonprofit ventures that incorporate both financial sustainability or profitability and quantifiable social or environmental returns into their business missions. The competition began in 1999 as a student-organized nationwide social venture competition at the Haas School of Business. It was expanded nationally in 2001 with the new partners, Columbia Business School and The Goldman Sachs Foundation, in order to build a national platform for social entrepreneurship.

For more information, go to www.socialvc.net or contact Ute Frey at the Haas School of Business at (510) 642-0342 or frey@haas.berkeley.edu.