Sister-in-laws Maggie and Sara Mohs, founders of Simply Neutral nontoxic cleaning products, were one of the recipients of $10,000 business grants.
Women-Owned Business Grant Grantees
Eileen's Business Grant Program 2008 for Women Entrepreneurs
Twisted Limb Paper, launched in 1998 by Sheryl Woodhouse-Keese, creates handmade 100 percent recycled paper and stitches and assembles that paper into invitations, thank-you notes, programs, guest books, favors, business promotional items, holiday cards and stationery for school and nonprofit fund-raising. In order to make its handmade custom and environmentally conscious work accessible to the largest number of people, its products are available in three forms: do-it-yourself kits, you-assemble kits and as fully assembled products.
Twisted Limb is located in the wooded countryside near Bloomington, Indiana. The business operates a 1500-square-foot production art studio and office on the ten-acre home property of its owner.
Twisted Limb will use the $10,000 grant to develop its line of memorial/funeral cards.
The Goat Patrol, a start-up company based in Durham North Carolina, will provide an environmentally friendly alternative to the use of chemical herbicides and gasoline powered machinery in the removal of brush, noxious weeds and other unwanted vegetation. The Goat Patrol will use cross-bred Boer goats for targeted grazing on private and municipal properties in the Triangle area. In the pilot phase, the Goat Patrol will target individual property owners, businesses and local governments. In the expansion phase, the Goat Patrol will seek contracts with major power utilities to maintain fire breaks under power lines and areas around remote equipment. The Goat Patrol will also seek to provide clearing services to the DOT, Parks Department and other public agencies.
Owner Alix Bowman's unique vision is to create the largest targeted grazing company on the East Coast. Targeted grazing with goats has been used successfully in urban areas such as San Francisco and Seattle, and in rangeland throughout the Great Plains, but has not been widely applied in the east.
The $10,000 grant will allow Goat Patrol to purchase additional goats, equipment and supplies; to upgrade the truck and trailer; and to market the Goat Patrol's services.
Strong Healthcare (DBA Children's Clinic of Richardson (CCR))
Launched in 2005, the mission of the Children's Clinic of Richardson (CCR) is to improve access to quality, affordable health care to low-income children in north Texas. Services offered at the clinic are comparable to a pediatrician's office for children from birth to 18 years of age.
Approximately 95 percent of the patients of CCR are recipients of state sponsored health insurance programs. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, in 2006, in Dallas County, there were more than 172,000 children under age 19 enrolled in state sponsored health insurance programs. However, in 2006, only 20 pediatric primary care providers were willing to see children in these programs in Richardson, Texas. Access to Medicaid funded health care is a problem for many families, primarily because physicians are unwilling to accept the state's low reimbursement rates.
Martha Strong is the owner and sole provider of medical services at CCR. She is the primary health care provider for approximately 1000 children on three managed health care plans. These plans are billed on a "fee for service" basis. CCR will also see children with no insurance coverage for fees substantially less than those of a physician's office.
The $10,000 grant will be used to purchase a screening device for vision deficits in children as young as newborns, which will make a dramatic impact in their lives; a cholesterol analyzer that will provide valuable information for families who cannot afford expensive blood work in a traditional laboratory; and Pedometers for the weight guidance program. These step counters are an excellent way to raise awareness around the need to exercise.
CCR has no website yet, but you can contact Martha at martyestrong@netscape.net.
Loyale is a chic, mindful, innovative and restorative apparel company based in New York City. Owner and designer Jenny Hwa's collection combines sophistication, style, sustainable fabrics and fair trade. Loyale was launched in 2005 to fill a niche and provide sustainable clothing that appeals simultaneously to a fashion-forward and environmentally focused consumer.
Like any fashion company, Loyale follows runway and consumer trends and creates two collections a year for the spring and fall seasons. What sets Loyale apart is that it scrupulously researches vendors that produce environmentally friendly fabrics, utilize factories with fair labor practices, incorporate sustainable practices into every aspect of their business: from using post-consumer waste paper to contributing a portion of annual sales to a carefully selected environmental nonprofit.
The $10,000 grant will be used to obtain a small office space that will serve as a showroom, office and shipping facility. For three years Jenny has been working and shipping packages from her walk-up apartment in Harlem and carrying garment bags with samples directly to stores and buyers. She would like to add to the professionalism of the company by leasing a small office where she could show the collections, have a meeting space for interns and ship boxes with the help of a freight elevator.
Simplyneutral, launched in 2007 by Sara and Maggie Mohs, offers natural, nontoxic cleaning products and "conscious living" guidance that promote healthier, more sustainable lifestyles. Its mission is to provide and practice everyday eco-friendly alternatives. First, it provides cleaners that contain no petroleum-based or synthetic ingredients--they're free of dyes, fragrances and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs); and they have a neutral pH equivalent to that of clean water. As a result, they're ideal for people with asthma, allergies, eczema and multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS). They also biodegrade rapidly, making them safer for the environment. Next, it practices eco-friendly alternatives in its everyday business processes by packaging many of its products in bottles derived from 100 percent post-consumer waste, by recycling and reusing its print and packaging materials and by taking its message of "conscious living" to area schools and businesses. This service provides customized consulting (free or at a low cost) on ways organizations can reduce their carbon footprint, operate more efficiently and improve the environmental quality of their space.
It will use the $10,000 grant to get the word out about Simplyneutral and to make its website a more comprehensive resource on eco-friendly, sustainable living.
