One of my favorite songs of all times
7/25/2010
Incubator graduates, Literacy Volunteers head to Dunkirk loft - ObserverToday.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Dunkirk | The Observer
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By MICHAEL RUKAVINA
OBSERVER Staff Writer
There will be some exciting reorganization of tenants happening next weekend in downtown Dunkirk. On Aug. 1 the Fredonia-Dunkirk Literacy Volunteers along with Image Makers, Wheel People and Time Binders - three of the first graduates from the new SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator building - will be moving into the Chadwick Bay Lofts under a unique partnership.
"Obviously we're extremely excited about it. It's the mission of the incubator to work with innovators and get them to the point where they can venture out of our facility," said Robert H. Fritzinger, Director of the SUNY Fredonia Business Technology Incubator. "We love them all dearly, but it's not our mission to keep them, it's our mission to get them out into the community and into the neighborhood, plunk down roots and then grow, hopefully, completely independent from us."
The combination of for-profit and non-profit together sharing one space is what will make this move so unique. According to Rich Goodman, Director of the SUNY Fredonia Center for Social Entrepreneurship, it's an adaptation from a unique model which really began five years ago.
"It began when SUNY Fredonia had a program in the community that was funded by a federal grant from the Housing Urban Development (HUD) Corporation, called the Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC). The local name given to the project was called Dunkirk-Fredonia Partnerships and the goal of that program was to use the resources of the university and the strengths of the community to help revitalize the inner city as well as to assist with job development," Goodman said of the history. "Out of this program came a couple of really important initiatives - one was called Spoke Folk, the community bicycle center which is now in its fourth year and thriving; and another was the Center for Social Entrepreneurship."
The Center for Social Entrepreneurship was based on the belief that the not-for-profit community that serves the area is vital to the health and vitality of the community, but it also still follows the realization that like everything else charitable donations were shrinking. Support from the state, the federal government, and local agencies that normally supported the not-for-profit base were starting to contract. The dilemma of course, Goodman said, was as support goes down demand for services goes up.
"Even though they're not-for-profit they are businesses - they spend money, hire people, rent space, and contract for IT (information technology) services - but in order to remain viable they have to begin to think outside of the box," Goodman said. "The normal rummage sale and cookie sale kinds of things, while vital to their mission, aren't the kind of thing that's going to sustain those kinds of organizations."
The Center began some "out-of-the-box" work by getting several not-for-profits on the specialized E-Bay for no profit organizations called MissionFish, where they can sell material items that may have been donated to benefit the organization. The first two organizations to join the sale venture were Literacy Volunteers and Meals on Wheels, and that has since grown to a total of seven non-profits.
"The second goal in Social Entrepreneurship was to begin to do something we call capacity building, which is getting organizations in some instances to begin to work together not only with other not-for-profit organizations but also with the private sector," Goodman said. "The model that emerged was a model where in a centralized location you would have non for profit organizations as well as for profit organizations, but for profits would be benevolent in nature and would contribute part of the revenues (after tax profits) back to the non for profit organization to make it work."
And thus what will now house a large portion of the first floor in the Chadwick Bay Loft, a combination of for profits and not-for-profits, was created.
"This project is exciting because it is the culmination of years of work trying to change the way non for profits run. Rich Goodman and I have been working on this idea for a long time - the idea of Social Entreprenuership - bringing agencies together to share resources and build capacity within our several organizations, trying to save taxpayer dollars," noted Amanda Walden, Director of Literacy Volunteers of Chautauqua County. "The entrepreneurial aspect of the piece is to have retail entities support the non-for-profit work. It is a way for a non-profit to be proactive and able to fulfill its mission."
Literacy Volunteers will be moving from its last location in the Lorenzo building into what the leaders feel will be a more visible location that is closer to the neighborhood where many of its students live. Plans are to open a bookstore as well, which Literacy Volunteers hopes to employ with some of its students who need a first job to build their resume.
"Since they deal with literacy and books it became evident that a wonderful spin-off for them would be a used book store and certainly something this community lacks," Goodman said. "Also, what goes along with rare books, but a cafe; a place for someone to come and relax and browse antiques and so on."
A cafe is in the works for the space as well, which will be leased by Literacy Volunteers in partnership with the three Incubator graduates - Image Makers, Wheel People and Time Binders. Image Makers, which does restoration of vintage photographs, recently formed an agreement with the Dunkirk Historical Society and Light House to restore and market vintage images; Time Binders, which is a specialized antique business, helps to find a retail outlet for vintage or antique pieces; and Wheel People is geared toward higher-end bicycle accessories specializing in bicycle related items to help assist in what the city is trying to promote, Dunkirk as a destination. The four organizations will be joining the already established business on the first floor - Papaya Arts.
"It's pretty unique relative to the rest of the work we're doing in the building," Fritzinger said of the partnership. "Everything else in the building (Incubator) is for profit, and I think we've been extremely supportive of the work Rich has been doing under the umbrella of Social Entrepreneurship. We're glad that he is able to grow it and grow it at this rate. We'll work together as neighbors perusing parallel but very complimentary missions."
"This will bring energy to part of the city that needs it," Goodman added. "The loft is one building and one business and pretty soon it will have all kinds of people, and since we're still part of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship we'll be able to take advantage of continued guidance and use the facilities of the incubator."
Goodman said the end result could not have been met by a single entity and referred to work done by SUNY Fredonia, the City of Dunkirk, the Technology Incubator, the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation, and Literacy Volunteers, to name a few of the key players.
Some new business and some long-lasting non-for-profit work will continue again come Aug. 1 in the Loft, which is the official move in date for the organizations. Since 1969 Literacy Volunteers has helped adults 16 years of age and older learn to read, write, speak English as a Second Language and get a GED. The organization is different because it trains volunteers to work with area residents one on one or in small groups so they get very good attention.
"We have many success stories - getting students who have no hope of working a GED or keeping their job by passing company proficiency tests," Walden said. "We also have many people in Chautauqua County, almost 14 percent, who are illiterate in some way. Our task is huge."
Comments on this article may be sent to mrukavina@observertoday.com
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