Synthetic City - Progressive Entrepreneur

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Progressive Entrepreneur

By June Avignone, columnist

Fortune Small Business magazine
© 1999 - 2004

Is it possible to combine profit making with social responsibility? The answer is yes, and these entrepreneurs are living proof. Find out how they've managed to build ventures that allow them to explore their life's passions, give back to their communities, and earn a decent living at the same time.

Brewing Social Change
Peace Coffee aims to stop the exploitation of poor farmers by purchasing their coffee at a fair price -- and marketing it to consumers who care. [read more]

Saving the World, One Click at a Time
Greenmarketplace.com sells products designed to help contribute to a sustainable economy. But can the Website's founder sustain his venture as a viable business? [read more]

The other articles (below) are missing from the original web site and all we have are printouts. Until the articles can be replaced on this site, please contact June Avignone for hardcopies.

The Thriving World of Toys That Never Were
GoblerToys.com is a hot brand. It's also a hoax. [read more]

Doing Well By Eating Well
Following a savvy marketing strategy created by her husband and partner, whole-foods chef Christina Pirello has cooked up a successful book and television business. [read more]

Natural Causes
Inspired by a Native American teacher, Sue Kastensen turned her devotion to flora into two flourishing businesses. A web exclusive [read more]

Businesses That Matter
Is it possible to combine profit making with social responsibility? The answer is yes, and these entrepreneurs are living proof. Find out how they've managed to build ventures that allow them to explore their life's passions, give back to their communities, and earn a decent living at the same time. [read more]

Book Smarts
Bookseller Peter Ryby has flouted the rules of corporate publishing and still managed to build a fast-growing business. [read more]

3,500 Pounds of Inspiration
Philip Fraley couldn't turn down an opportunity to reconstruct a 67-million-year-old dinosaur. So he quit his museum job and started his own restoration business. [read more]

Pressing for Change
Bruce Barlean set out to create a better way to turn flaxseeds into oil -- and created a $22 million business that keeps on growing. [read more]

Monkey Business
How an indie musician turned the Seventies sock monkey into the basis of a lucrative, fast-growing firm -- without spending a dime on advertising. [read more]

Clean and Green
Seventh Generation aims to provide consumers with an alternative to potentially toxic household products. Why it's dominating its niche. [read more]

Who Wants to Be a Gazillionaire?
Fewer young people may aspire to megawealth if they absorb the political lessons behind a trio of CD-ROM games designed to offer a crash course in capitalism and morality. [read more]

Mining an Untapped Workforce
Many employers bemoan the tight job market but overlook disabled employees. How one foundation is working to change that. [read more]

Where the Wild Things Are
Dan Grossman felt confined by the corporate world. So he broke free and started his own company, selling exploration toys to kids. [read more]

Chasing Starbucks
How a tea-obsessed hippie sold his business to the world's leading coffee retailer. [read more]

The Business of Absurdity
There's an art to selling rubber chickens. Just ask the folks at Archie McPhee. [read more]

Of Sports Bars and Social Causes
The LUNA bar is a latecomer to the booming energy bar market. So why is it flying off the shelves? [read more]

The Power of Passion
Doug and Abby Levin were seeking quieter lives when they launched their grassroots juice company, Fresh Samantha. But they turned out to be a little too good at selling their product -- good enough to get bought out for $17 million [read more]