Green Business Incubation
AIDG's mission is to improve access to basic services for bottom of the pyramid populations, and we achieve this by incubating local businesses which provide affordable, life-changing and environmentally beneficial technologies. This approach enables entrepreneurship to flourish, bolstering the wider economy, while reducing poverty levels and conserving the natural environment.
About You
Section 1: About You
Section 2: About Your Organization
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
Organization Name
The Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group
Organization Website
Organization Phone
(502) 7768-3453
Organization Address
8 Calle, 3-31, Zona 1, Quetzaltenango
Organization Country
Guatemala, QZ
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Your idea
Name Your Project
Green Business Incubation
Describe your Social Enterprise
AIDG's mission is to improve access to basic services for bottom of the pyramid populations, and we achieve this by incubating local businesses which provide affordable, life-changing and environmentally beneficial technologies. This approach enables entrepreneurship to flourish, bolstering the wider economy, while reducing poverty levels and conserving the natural environment.
Country your work focuses on
Guatemala, QZ
Innovation
What makes your innovation unique?
AIDG's method of green business incubation is unique as it addresses the tension between economic development and environmental sustainability; we do not accept that financial, social and environmental considerations are mutually exclusive. Local entrepreneurship, combined with socially and environmentally appropriate technologies, is capable of meeting the basic infrastructural requirements of disadvantaged populations and of driving development on a greater scale by generating employment opportunities and national revenue. However, a lack of access to capital, technological and business expertise, fabrication facilities and legal assistance currently inhibits the growth of this sector in developing countries. The small-medium enterprise sector in the developed world generates a wealth of employment and income that could be shared by entrepreneurs in developing regions through implementation of an enabling business environment.
For this economic sector to be sustainable, businesses must be socially and environmentally appropriate as well as economically viable. By incubating businesses which produce green technologies, AIDG supports the growth of small-medium enterprises while avoiding the economic-environmental dichotomy that frequently plagues development approaches. Through business and technical training, AIDG advocates and engages in a development approach which builds local capacity to solve social challenges, and simultaneously encourages ecologically sound practices and awareness. Using a bottom-up approach, AIDG’s model empowers local entrepreneurs to take ownership of the issues facing their communities and develop economically viable, socially responsible autonomous businesses.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
No
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Tell us about the social impact of your innovation. Please include both numbers and stories as evidence of this impact
Approximately 350 words left (2800 characters).
Problem: Describe the primary problem(s) that your innovation is addressing
Green business incubation simultaneously addresses a number of pressing issues:
1) The lack of a significant small-medium enterprise sector in developing countries: this economic layer generates a wealth of employment and income and is a fundamental source of national revenue in developed regions. However, a lack of access to capital, technological and business expertise, fabrication facilities and legal assistance currently inhibits the growth of this sector in developing countries. By providing these resources to promising local entrepreneurs, AIDG directly confronts these barriers.
2) A lack of basic infrastructure: securing access to clean energy, water, sanitation and shelter is vital to breaking the poverty cycle. By incubating local businesses which provide affordable access to these services, AIDG is able to improve the standard of living of disadvantaged communities without creating a pattern of dependence on external aid.
3) Environmental degradation: too often, models of economic development inflict damage upon the natural environment. This is especially so in the provision of services such as energy and sanitation. By ensuring that the businesses we grow provide environmentally appropriate technological solutions, AIDG is able to conserve natural resources and educate lpeople about the importance of environmental conservation.
Actions: Describe the steps that you are taking to make your innovation a success. Include a description of the business model. What might prevent that success?
AIDG is committed to identifing promising entrepreneurs and incubating successful businesses. To achieve this, we engage in rigorous business plan competitions in which small teams of local entrepreneurs are invited to submit preliminary business plans. On receipt of these plans, AIDG selects six-eight semi-finalists based on skills, experience and the viability of the proposal. Five business development and management workshops are then provided to enable participants to produce comprehensive business plans suitable for presentation to potential investors.
On completion of the workshops, teams present their business plans to a panel of national and international judges with expertise in the areas of business, development and appropriate technologies. The panel then selects two initiatives based on measures such as the economic viability of the business idea, the quality of the presentation and plan, and the social and environmental impact of the business. Once identified, the winning teams are invited to enter a two year incubation partnership with AIDG. In return, participants make a full-time commitment to the business for at least two years and match 10% of the award amount.
Our business incubation program is supported by a research and development program. This latter side of the organization works in harmony with the former, and involves the recruitment of talented international interns focused on designing and improving appropriate technologies, and supporting incubated businesses with their expertise and experience. One of the core strengths of AIDG is its ability to link local entrepreneurs with knowledge bases around the world; we currently partner with a number of higher education institutions in Guatemala and the USA.Current areas of focus include: micro-hydro systems; biogas technologies; high-efficiency stoves and solar technologies. Interns are drawn from around the globe, each educated to at least graduate level and demonstrating a passion for technological design as an instrument of sustainable development. The internship placements provided by AIDG emphasise the two-way nature of the experience, with interns gaining invaluable opportunities to design, test and implement technologies while living in and learning from local populations. We believe that this process of decentralisation and mutual exchange is fundamental to a sustainable development model.
In every region, the small-medium enterprise sector is turbulent the proportion of failed businesses high. This is no different in Guatemala. However, through careful selection of entrepreneurs and dedicated support with capital and expertise, AIDG minimises the risk of failure.
Results: Describe the expected results of these actions over the next three years. Please address each year separately, if possible
Approximately 350 words left (1200 characters).
How many people will your project serve annually?
Fewer than 100
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
Less than $50
Does your innovation seek to have an impact on public policy?
If your innovation seeks to impact public policy, how?
Approximately 150 words left (1200 characters).
Sustainability
What stage is your Social Enterprise in?
Operating for more than 5 years
Does your organization have a board of directors or an advisory board?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with businesses?
No
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with government?
No
Please tell us more about how partnerships could be critical to the success of your Social Enterprise
Partnerships are the foundation of business incubation; AIDG engages in formal financial and in-kind partnerships with entrepreneurs to enable them to develop into independent businesses.
In addition, as an NGO we engage in multiple partnerships with higher educational insitutes to ensure the recruitment of exceptional engineering and business interns who are able to support the technical and logistical needs of new enterprises. Similarly, we partner with local insitutions and individuals who are able to provide potential entrepreneurs with expertise in the fields of law, business and technology from a Guatemalan perspective
.
Finally, we collaborate with numerous local NGOs to ensure that knowledge in the field of development is shared and that projects are undertaken with the maximum amount of sensitivity to the local context.
We would like to learn more about how your initiative is financially supported. Please explain your business plan/revenue model
Approximately 250 words left (2000 characters).
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
AIDG's founder and executive director, Pete Haas describes his inspiration to set up the organization:
'There really is one moment that solidified the need for the organization in my mind. I was in Cuba, on a U.S. Department of Treasury permit, to look at urban agriculture and I visited two small pig farms just outside of Havana.
The first farm had a biodigester for treating pig waste, which had been installed by the owner's nephew. It supplied methane gas for lighting, a stove and a gas-fired hot water heater. In addition, the fertilizer created in the biodigester helped increase crop yields on the farm. Overall, the farm lacked the typical odor associated with pig farming operations and had a clean well. The kitchen inside was spotless, thanks in part to the biogas stove, and the house was cool and shaded from numerous nearby trees.
The other farm presented the most direct contrast one could imagine. The place was a sanitation nightmare. It reeked. Pig excrement was not only everywhere, but it also was contaminating the nearby stream. The kitchen was filled with black smoke from inefficient wood fires, for which they had cleared all the surrounding trees. Without the tree cover, the house baked in the sun. Furthermore, to light the house at night, the farmer was paying significantly for kerosene.
Unfortunately the second farmer had no way to buy a biodigester if he wanted one. There were no biodigester businesses selling and repairing them the way there were tractor or well-digging businesses. As time passed and I worked in more countries, I saw this situation again and again. It became clear that these two pig farms in Cuba weren’t isolated instances; they were a representation of a greater need for the spread of appropriate technology. Those two farms initiated my realization that there was a niche for an organization like AIDG and the businesses it creates.'
Tell us about the person—the social innovator—behind this idea.
Peter Haas, Founder and Executive Director, AIDG:
Peter Haas received a BA from Yale University in philosophy and psychology in 1998. Since founding AIDG in 2005, Peter has become an active voice for poverty issues, speaking at the World Bank, Harvard, MIT and other forums on technology, entrepreneurship and SME finance. His work with AIDG has been featured in Fast Company, Popular Mechanics, NPR and Forbes. He has served as a judge for the EPA’s People, Prosperity and the Planet competition. He was a 2006 Echoing Green Fellow, a 2008 Waldzell Institute Architect of the Future, and a 2009 TED Global Fellow. Before founding AIDG he worked both in the information technology field and on an organic farm and horse ranch doing infrastructure improvement work. He tinkers in water systems, electrical systems, electronic systems, masonry, plumbing, biogas, irriga¬tion, welding, metal casting and sustainable building.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Friend or family member
If through another source, please provide the information
 | 107 weeks agoVictoria Emanuelli said: Dear Annie: Congratulations for this initiative! I think it would be very helpfull if you could share the impact Green Business has, and ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 108 weeks agoannie keel updated this Competition Entry. |
| 110 weeks agoannie keel submitted this idea. |
