Link was incorrect from the agenda -- these are the notes from the sessionMoney, money money: Innovative financing for green business...

Attendees include:

Michael – Greenfire Development
Beth – B Lab
Chris – Yes! Solar Solutions of the Triangle

Steve -- Yes! Solar Solutions of the Triangle
Marty – Self-Help

Colin -- King's Daughters Inn

Great things happening in the social sector, but access to capital and markets is very inefficient

Need to help companies frame their message when going to investors, tailoring that message to specific investor communities
Lenders are not necessarily in a position to evaluate impact numbers on their own; they need experts to help assess risk in meeting social impact targets and evaluating claims about impact

There are plenty of incentives in tax credits, etc., but it goes deeper. Some are looking at selling tax credits which is a growing submarket, at least in solar.

Public policy is making projections and valuation difficult, because the environment is constantly changing. Difficult to anticipate how stable incentives will be -- some governments are already cutting back on them. Big question: can we as an industry (solar) survive without incentives? How can you make investment decisions in this environment?

Needs to be a fit between needs of institutional investors and what metrics are based on. For instance, CALPERS is most interested in community development and is wading into using these metrics, but it's a slow process.

Need to create a social enterprise hub similar to Silicon Valley, bringing together entrepreneurs and smart capital that understands social entrepreneurship. Greenlight is trying to create this in downtown Durham. If people coalesce around geography, it will snowball and encourage innovation.

Bull City Forward: project trying to create a hub concept similar to Silicon Valley or RTP around social enterprise. Incubator geared toward social enterprise with connections to entrepreneurship programs at Duke, UNC, and NCSU

What is missing in NC to assist social enterprise?

* Angel network is missing to connect HNW individuals with startups

* NC Biotechnology Center provides some resources

* History of success stories is a challenge--people invest in biotech because people know of stories where people have really made money in biotech. The stories in social enterprise are less well-known, and "green business" or "social enterprise" is not as defined a sector

Investors' Circle -- national investor network for social enterprise, looking to regionalize their activity so it's not so focused on two annual conferences but is more plugged in to specific regions

Large institutional investors like CALSTRS have carve-outs for more innovative (higher-risk) investments, but the connections are still not necessarily being made between investors and startups, and this funding has dried up in the past couple of years

Capacity building is needed so investors understand how to get into the sector, how to structure deals, and so entrepreneurs can go to scale with social ventures

* Perhaps match experienced business people to help entrepreneurs build capacity and understand how to start up and scale their social ventures

* But there needs to be investor education as well, helping them understand that if they are already doing charitable giving, they should also consider social ventures that might both achieve their philanthropic gains and get a modest (perhaps less than market) return

* Traditionally a role Chambers of Commerce have played, but they may not be effective here because they are so focused on traditional business

Financing is not just an issue for social enterprises to develop their own resources, but for their customers to buy their products (e.g., solar -- financing needs to be available for customers). Example is PACE program in CA (Property Assessed Clean Energy)

E3 Bank being formed in Philadelphia or New Resource Bank -- rate is determined in part by environmental impact

Banks need to diversify -- sustainability is a great opportunity for them to do that. Policy has driven work on sustainability from Progress Energy, Duke Energy, etc., perhaps banks need a similar incentive so that a certain percentage of their portfolio has to relate to renewable energy

WISHLIST/NEXT STEPS IN NC:

* Access to capital or knowledge about where to find it specifically in the Triangle, for all stages of social enterprises

* Opportunity for public sector to get more involved. NC is more involved than many states, but our state needs more incentives for green technology and social enterprise startups

* Angel network is a great idea

* Important lesson that you need to lead your pitch to investors with the business plan and viability, not necessarily with the great social impact of the business

* The two fit together -- it's a no-brainer to put non-LEED buildings at the bottom of the pile if all things are equal. There's movement in this direction -- banks are starting to understand the financial value of environmental impact factors and sustainability

* Redeveloping brownfield industrial space needs support to pay for infrastructure, bring customers, etc., clearly a place for the public sector. Not even necessarily in direct subsidies, but by having public entities lease the redeveloped space and reclaim urban space instead of government further driving sprawl by developing outside city centers