Michael Shuman, Cutting Edge Capital

www.cuttingedgecapital.com
Michael H. Shuman is an economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, and Director of Research and Marketing for Cutting Edge Capital. He has authored, coauthored, or edited eight books. His most recent book, just published by Chelsea Green, is Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Move Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity. His previous book, The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler, 2006), received a bronze prize from the Independent Publishers Association for best business book of 2006. He helped co-found BALLE, which represents 22,000 local businesses in North America in 80 communities.

Martin Eakes, Self-Help/Center for Responsible Lending

www.self-help.org
Mr. Eakes co-founded Self-Help, a community development lender, in 1980 and Self-Help Credit Union (SHCU), a state-chartered credit union, in 1984. Self-Help supports the development of small businesses, affordable housing and consumer financial self-sufficiency with responsible loans and financial services and has provided nearly $6 billion in financing since inception. Mr. Eakes holds a law degree from Yale, a Master’s from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton, and a BA from Davidson College. A native of North Carolina, he is a nationally recognized expert on community development finance and has been honored for his work by The Ford Foundation, as a Ford Visionary in 2011, and by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, as a MacArthur Fellow in 1996.

Many more speakers, sponsors and additional program information listed below!

Join us Friday December 7, 8am-6:30pm at the Asheville Renaissance (8am-5pm program followed by a 5-6:30pm farm-to-table networking reception).

Register by November 16 November 23 for the Early Bird price of $55 (extended one more week to support outreach from our media and promotional partners!). After November 23, tickets will increase to $70.

8:00 - 8:30 Registration
8:30 - 9:00 Welcome and Overview

Matt Raker, AdvantageWest
Scott Hamilton, AdvantageWest
9:00 - 10:10 Morning Keynote with Michael Shuman, Cutting Edge Capital
10:10 - 10:30 Networking Break, presented by EvolveEnergy Partnership
10:30 - 12:00 Connecting Sustainable Industries: Industry cluster roundtable discussions
From local food to renewable energy to outdoor products, WNC is becoming a distinctive home for innovation and success in several sustainable agriculture and natural resource-based industries. These concurrent breakout sessions will aim to bring these sectors together and have a highly interactive discussion around emerging opportunities, industry barriers, ways to increase sector investment, and other key topics. The cluster discussions include:
  • Clean Energy (Victoria Room, 2nd Floor)
    Discussion leaders: Jon Snover, Global Institute for Sustainabile Technology at A-B Tech; Patrick Harper, EvolveEnergy Partnership, Land-of-Sky Regional Council
  • Craft Brewing & Distilling (Eagle Room, 2nd Floor)
    Discussion leaders: Brett Taubman, Appalachian State University; John Lyda, Highland Brewing Company; Ben Wiggins, Altamont Brewing Company
  • Sustainable Tourism & Outdoor Recreation (Cherokee Room, 2nd Floor)
    Discussion leaders: Jamie Ager, Hickory Nut Gap Farm; Carol Kline, Center for Sustainable Tourism at East Carolina University; Matt Bateman, Stay and Play in the Smokies
  • Fiber, Apparel & Craft (Berkeley Room, 2nd Floor)
    Discussion leaders: Judi Jetson, Handmade in America; Libby O'Bryan, WNC Sewing Company; Julie Jensen, Echoview Fiber Mill
  • Finance (Windsor Salon A, 1st Floor)
    Discussion leaders: Michael Shuman, Cutting Edge Capital; Carol Peppe Hewitt, Slow Money NC; Shaw Canale, Mountain BizWorks; Special Guest Presentation: SaraDay Evans, Prosperity Collective
  • Forest Products (Top of the Plaza, 12th Floor)
    Discussion leaders: Brian Boggs, Boggs Collective; Lang Hornthal, Appalachian Designs; Alyx Perry, Southern Forest Network
  • Local Food & Food Products (Windsor Salon B, 1st Floor)
    Discussion leaders: Charlie Jackson, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project; Mary Lou Surgi, Blue Ridge Food Ventures; Special Guest Presentation: Smithson Mills, Smithson Mills Inc.
  • Natural Products (Alexander Room, 2nd Floor)
    Discussion leaders: Chris Reedy, Blue Ridge Food Ventures; Sarah Schober, BioBusiness Center; Greg Cumberford, Bent Creek Institute
12:00 - 1:30 Locally sourced Lunch & Keynote with Martin Eakes, Self-Help Credit Union
1:30 - 1:45 Networking Break, presented by EvolveEnergy Partnership
1:45 - 3:45 Big Ideas: Pitches from seven WNC entrepreneurs and rapid responses from a panel of funders
  • Welcome and Overview of Accelerating Appalachia: Sara Day Evans, Prosperity Collective
  • The Village Capital Experience: James Watson, Village Capital Atlanta
Presenting Entrepreneurs:
  • Grace Gouin, Appalatch Outdoor Apparel Company
  • Brent Manning, Riverbend Malt House
  • Laralyn RiverWind, Native Touch
  • Trevor Baker, Noble Cider
  • Anthony Coggiola, Asheville Urban Farms
  • David Fann, Theraworx
  • Stan Cross, Brightfield Transportation Solutions
 Rapid Reaction Panel
  • Steve Monti, Solidarity Capital Group & Investor's Circle
  • Steve Poland, Technology Commercialization Center
  • John Stanier, Carolina Financial Group & IMAF-West
  • Greg Walker Wilson, Walker Wilson Consulting
  • James Watson, Village Capital
  • Michael Whelchel, Watershed Capital
3:40 - 4:00 Networking Break, presented by EvolveEnergy Partnership
4:00 - 5:00 Critical Conversation Panels: Concurrent breakout sesssions on topics driving local, social and sustainable entrepreneurship across Western North Carolina
  • From Slow Money to Venture Capital: Explore Financing Resources for local Entrepreneurs in WNC (Windsor Salon A, 1st Floor)
    Panelists: Shaw Canale, Mountain Bizworks (moderator); Carol Peppe Hewitt, Slow Money NC; Jane Hatley, Self Help Credit Union; Peter Krull, Krull & Company; Bruce Roberts, Carolina Financial Group
  • Made in WNC: Building a successful Manufacturing Company from Prototype to Production (Cherokee Room, 2nd Floor)
    Panelists: Ryan Taylor, Center for Rapid Product Realization at Western Carolina University; Chris McGraw, NC State University Industrial Extension Service 'Manufactured in NC'; David Kemper, Kemper Strategy (moderator)
  • Ownership Matters: Shared Entrepreneurship through Cooperative Enterprise (Windsor Salon B, 1st Floor)
    Panelists: Kim Stephenson, State Employees Credit Union; Sandi Kronick; Eastern Carolina Organics; Molly Hemstreet, Opportunity Threads; Thomas Beckett, Carolina Common Enterprise (moderator)
  • Scaling Local: Technology and Tools to drive Competiveness (Ballroom)
    Panelists: James Pader, Mountain Laurel Handrails; Ty Hallock, Top Floor Studios; Steve Whitmire, Brasstown Beef; Justin Belleme, JB Media Group; Danielle McClennan, Link'd Video (moderator)
  • Small Town Successes: How to grow Local Campaigns in Rural Communities (Berkeley Room, 2nd Floor)
    Panelists: Matthew Bateman, Venture Local Franklin; Judi Jetson, Handmade in America; Katy Allen, Rural Support Partners; Becky Anderson, Mitchell County Certified Entrepreneurial Community Program; Emily Breedlove, AdvantageWest (moderator)
  • Local First: Harnessing Place to Build Local Markets (Eagle Room, 2nd Floor)
    Panelists: Kathleen Rose, Project for Innovation, Energy & Sustainability; Charlie Jackson, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project; Tim Schaller, Asheville Brewer’s Alliance; Sherrye Coggiola, Asheville Independent Restaurant Alliance; Choya Harden, Rely Local Asheville; Jonathan Robert, Kickdown Consulting (moderator)
5:00 - 6:30 Farm-to-Table Networking Reception sponsored by Carolina Mountains Credit Union (Patio): the not-to-miss finale to Venture Local featuring craft food, brews and other selections from across Western North Carolina