May 19, 2015
A couple of months ago we shared our new partnership with Community Sourced Capitol, a Pacific Northwest B-Corps working with Oregon small businesses and entrepreneurs to access loans from within their own communities. Already, Oregonians have helped two businesses gain funding to expand and grow – Genki-Su and TeaScape. Currently, there are two Oregonians seeking funding from fellow Oregonians who want to invest back into their own communities. Check out Hottie Das and Hot Winter, which is oh so near the goal in the last day of the campaign. You can view all the Oregon crowdfunded micro-lending campaigns on our partner page. We’re excited to see that our partnership has helped raise $27,350 with 87 folks participating so far!
The owner of Hottie Das, Jason Buckley, is part of A Social Ignition, the groundbreaking entrepreneurship program for incarcerated individuals in transition, is marking its first-ever graduate to launch a business. Jason Buckley has partnered with Community Sourced Capital (CSC) to fund his dream of opening a mobile hot dog cart, coined Hottie Das. Throughout his time in prison, Jason took entrepreneurship classes designed to teach him the skills needed to build the life he’d dreamt for himself. Today, with a businesses plan and supportive team in place, Jason is eager to get his business off the ground—indeed, this is a mobile hot dog stand we’re talking about. A Social Ignition teaches entrepreneurship both inside and outside of incarceration and works to reduce the stigma and shame of a criminal record.
Here’s Jason’s own words about his start up:
This funding will help with overall onetime start up costs that include the price of a hot dog cart, licenses, and permits. Funding will also help cover my rolling costs which include my inventory and overhead during the first month. Funding this business with responsible capital with the help of my community and new friends, would definitely mean just as much to me as running the business itself. It would also support the vision I have for my own life. Because I know goals are constant and never without consequence. Please consider buying a square to help me get my business off the ground, it would support me and the community with a new neighborhood friendly eating experience. Recognizing the service needs of my customers, and community is something that will always come first!! I believe hottie das represents a humble quality that chooses to live in the solution, and would be a business the community would really enjoy.
And we want to share another success story from last year in Astoria the Daily Astorian covered about how community members participated in micro-lending to expand a local coffee shop.