October 2008 Hall of Fame
Café/studio for Guatemalan coffee producers and artisans
Help us open a combination café/studio to showcase our producers’ coffee, textiles, jade, ceramics and more!
As Green As It Gets™ supports small independent producers from disadvantaged Guatemalan communities. Check us out at: www.asgreenasitgets.org
Q1: If you were traveling near the equator, and could go on a tour to a large coffee plantation or to the home of a small coffee farmer, what would it take to make you choose the small coffee farmer?
Idea Description
Since 2005, As Green As It Gets™ has been supporting small independent producers from disadvantaged communities in Guatemala. Read more about our work at: www.asgreenasitgets.org
We partner with coffee farmers, textiles producers and artisans, providing services such as financing, market development and technical training.
Our 2008 strategy for increasing product sales is to penetrate the local tourism sector. A combination café/studio in the city of Antigua, which sees a high volume of tourist traffic year round, will increase our access to tourist markets.
100% of revenue from As Green As It Gets product sales goes directly to the producer.
What will you do if you win $10,000 for this idea?
With 10K we will:
-Acquire a space in a central location of Antigua with a high volume of foot traffic
-Cover rent, utilities, equipment and furniture to fit-out a cafe/studio where our producers can sell products, begin tours, interact with tourists and hold workshops
-Provide additional jobs and income to our producers, their families and communities, through tours, workshops and sales
You like it. You’re confused by it. You want to know more. Ask questions and post comments here.
Post a commentI like your idea; I want to improve your odds of getting funding I will vote for your idea if you will vote for mine. My idea is for a web site that raises money for inventors and entrepreneurs called New Idea website Check out my idea blob submission and visit New Idea Website and see what I can do for you. http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/4060-NEW-IDEA-WEBSITE The need for jobs is one of the biggest problems that a democratic government faces because creating jobs is an unwanted byproduct of business and industry. The reason I say its unwanted is the more jobs a business creates the more its expenses are and the smaller it’s bottom-line. If business and industry have their way they would run their companies with no jobs at all no management or labor. To deal with this dilemma I pr…moreopose a federal venture capital carrot fund that literally pays entrepreneurs to create jobs. The investment bank would be expected invest in seed level startup projects like yours and to lose money at a specified dollar per jobs ratio for example during hard times that figure may be as high as $20,000 per job and good times the figure may be as low as five dollars per job, by controlling this ratio the fed could roughly control unemployment. The bank will be expected to fund novel products and services and stay away from things like restaurants that will simply draw jobs from other restaurants or moving factories from one part of the country to another. If you like this idea vote for it and send the congressional letter from the website. Sincerely Frank Scruggs
Hello, I read a bit more about your project and wanted to throw an idea out there. I've been speaking to some other folks on this site and there's been a neat "community" forming. It looks as if we are going to produce a book with Kiba Kiba Books (another project on this site) and we're looking for a few topics to cover. I think your organization, and perhaps more broadly, the industry overall, would be something we could work with. If you're interested in discussing it more, I'd love to, and I know Jessica at Kiba Kiba would, too. suneet@socialsymmetry.com
Good luck!
A group of us went to Guatemala to help build the papifut court that will also be used to dry coffee beans. What a great inside look at the people that are trying to help themselves by using sustainable methods. Great coffee too!! This is a great idea that embodies true community involvement, a sustainable approach and a solid moral and ethical direction. You cannot go wrong with this idea.
Terrific project! As Green As It Gets is a partner of MicroMentor in our Guatemala pilot project. They do fantastic work supporting local entrepreneurs and local communities there. They are also spreading very important concepts, such as social enterprise and sustainable business practices. We've been very inspired by their work, and I hope a lot of ideablobbers will be as well!