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Kenan-Flagler picks 15 startups for its entrepreneurship support program

How BASE program works

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Fifteen emerging companies will receive a variety of services and report from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School as part of its Business Accelerator for Sustainable Entrepreneurship program.

The BASE initiative is in its second year.

Support ranges from capital to expertise and focuses on what Kenan-Flagler calls a “triple bottom line” of profitability, social equity and environmental sustainability.

The school provides support through mentors, students who are working on Masters degrees in business, networking events, training, workshops, access to service providers, and opportunities for financing.

Selected for participation, with descriptions provided by UNC-CH, are:

• Alganomics, LLC in Southport, a producer of reliable, environmentally responsible, natural and renewable bio-products from algal sources (http://algaeresource.com/);
• Be Green, Be The Change in Morrisville, a manufacturer of 100 percent organic cotton T-shirts and baby clothing designed by consumers (http://www.begreenbethechange.com/);
• Builders of Hope in Chapel Hill, a nonprofit organization that recycles homes slated for demolition using green building standards and sells them at cost to workforce households (http://www.buildersofhope.org/);
• Carolina Wind Power in Wilmington, a developer of vertical-axis wind turbines designed to capture lower wind speed markets in rural areas and atop commercial facilities;
• Common Ground Green Building Center in Durham, a provider of retail showrooms specializing in eco-friendly products for building and home improvement and sustainable kitchen design (http://www.commongroundgreen.com/);
• Dulces Bakery in Durham, a social enterprise bakery of Latino inspired goods, including cookies, cakes, and other pastries;
• EcoMaintenance in Elizabeth City, a distributer of green cleaning supplies and provider of a green maintenance service that replaces harsh chemicals, caustic products and dangerous solvents (http://www.myecomaintenance.com/);
• Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, a brewery that uses seasonal farmed products, heirloom grains and Southern botanicals (http://www.fullsteam.ag/);
• Green Energy Lawn Care in Raleigh, a lawn-care company using emission-free mowers recharged by solar panels mounted on small fuel efficient trucks (http://www.greenenergylawncare.com/);
• Into Green Fashions in Greensboro, a retailer, wholesaler and manufacturer of bridal and special occasion dresses that seeks to make green apparel alternatives accessible and affordable;
• Liberación Juice Station in Pittsboro, an environmentally sustainable, green mobile juice bar that serves organic smoothies, fresh-pressed juices and teas using local ingredients http://www.liberacionjuicestation.com/LJS/Welcome_Bienvenidos.html
• Machen Advisory Group in Charlotte, offering property and facility management, brokerage, construction services, sustainable redevelopment, new development team assemblage, direction and project marketing (http://www.machengroup.com/);
• Oxide Architecture and Oxide Structure in Raleigh, a provider of architectural solutions and structural methods that are sensitive to societal and environmental well-being while attending to the needs of individual clients (http://www.oxidearchitecture.com/);
• Solar Art in Chapel Hill, a designer and manufacturer of aesthetically appealing solar structures that differentiate customers' property; and
• Tec-Cel in Cary, a manufacturer of building block Li-ion cells that are incorporated into electric/hybrid vehicles and laptop computers.

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