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\r\n What is a social enterprise? Video Launch Press Release Social Enterprise Alliance – Twin Cities Releases New, 2-Minute Social Enterprise \u2018Explainer\u2019<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n\t\t
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What is a social enterprise? Ashleyn Przedwiecki October 15, 2018 SEA News Video Launch Press Release Social Enterprise Alliance – Twin Cities Releases New, 2-Minute Social Enterprise \u2018Explainer\u2019 New video showcases what a social enterprise is and supports a movement where all organizations can integrate purpose and profits. The 2-minute animated video from SEA-TC calls attention to the multiple ways an organization can identify as a social enterprise \u2014 including creating impact through\u00a0Selling)\u00a0what is sold or to whom it is sold,\u00a0Sourcing)\u00a0how it produces its products or services, or\u00a0Sharing)\u00a0sharing its profits or resources with charitable causes. By creating legal parameters within the definition for social business, SEA-TC has been able to uncover 5,000+ organizations in the Twin Cities metro-alone that are serving the community with measurable profits and purpose.<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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\r\n Thank You TPT – Twin Cities PBS For Capturing Our Vision and Organization in this piece<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n\t\t
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E-Waste Recycler Tech Dump Finds Value in What\u2019s Discarded From Rewire.org By Slade Kemmet   If you\u2019ve spent any time waiting around an airport recently, you won\u2019t be surprised to hear that roughly\u00a077 percent of Americans\u00a0now own smartphones. Assuming the device in your hand isn\u2019t your first, you won\u2019t be surprised by this either: E-waste is the highest growing waste stream in the world. Time for an upgrade? Outdated electronic devices like phones, computers and copiers are commonly tossed into dumpsters. But the tech that\u2019s such a part of our lives can be hazardous when left to deteriorate in a dump. Beyond the harmful side effects for our planet, dumping these devices represents a huge missed opportunity. The United Nations\u2019 2014\u00a0Global E-waste Monitor\u00a0puts a $52 billion price tag on the resources that could be reused but are not. Value to offer Tech Dump, a nonprofit organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota, saw e-waste as an area to make a difference for the environment and for the community. Tech Dump paired its e-waste recycling program with an 18-month work readiness program, employing adults who have a history of incarceration or who are in recovery from an addiction. \u201cWe have the opportunity to prove out that nothing and no one is waste,\u201d\u00a0said Amanda LaGrange, CEO of Tech Dump and\u00a0Tech Discounts. \u201cThat everything has value and everyone has value.\u201d For LaGrange, success for Tech Dump extends beyond the bottom line. Success is more holistically defined by the amount of e-waste recycled\u2013more than 5 million pounds in 2016\u2013and the number of trainees given new skills. That\u2019s the intention behind a social enterprise at work. Go inside Tech Dump and learn more about their efforts in\u00a0this video. Learn more about recycling electronics the earth-friendlier way\u00a0here. This video is part of \u201cLiving for the City,\u201d a Rewire initiative made possible by\u00a0The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation\u00a0and was produced in partnership with Social Alliance Enterprise Twin Cities.<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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Article From City Pages:\u00a0http:\/\/www.citypages.com\/news\/hackers-get-a-break-against-companies-that-keep-you-from-repairing-your-stuff\/500952941 Hackers get a break against companies that keep you from repairing your stuff Wednesday, November 21, 2018 by\u00a0Susan Du\u00a0in\u00a0News Alonzo Nelson works at Tech Dump, which recycles electronics, thus stemming the flow of hazardous garage. There’s a little warehouse in Golden Valley called Tech Dump, where self-taught salvagers triage, conjoin, and recycle electronics otherwise destined for the landfill. \u00a0All sorts of curiosities roll through. Pallets full of old monitors that corporations toss out when they upgrade, dinosaur TVs that get left in basements when seniors downsize, sewing machines from the 1920s. What can’t be fixed gets stripped for its basic components, which are sold to downstream vendors as commodities. Worldwide e-waste is estimated to reach 50 million metric tons this year. The vast majority of discarded computers, tablets, and cell phones ends up in electronic graveyards in developing countries like China, where local workers burn and acid bathe them for their most valuable components — poisoning waterways, wildlife, and mother’s wombs. The reason people produce such an enormous pile of tech trash is that trendy gadgets aren’t designed to be repairable. Twenty-eight-year-old Carl Wilcoxon works in a cave-like nook of Tech Dump surrounded by heaps of Macs, some as old as 2005. He’s a former physics major who dropped out of Hamline due to a learning disability that kept him from passing English. These days, he repairs broken laptops using tricks he’s accrued through trial and error, YouTube videos, and online forums. “It’s kinda funny working on Apple stuff because you can tell, year after year, they gradually make it harder,” Wilcoxon says. The oldest Mac within arm’s reach has easily removable battery, RAM, and hard drive, all hidden behind a back plate that could be unscrewed with the edge of a quarter. In the next iteration, the battery is stored separately behind three screws that require a specialty screwdriver that doesn’t work on anything else. In later models the battery is glued in and the RAM is permanently embedded on the motherboard. If it dies, the whole machine dies with it. No components are easily removable. \u00a0Over the years, some particularly determined YouTubers have pirated schematics and invented solvents to remove the glue that binds components. Nevertheless, their techniques are time-consuming and unsuited for a small recyclery like Tech Dump. A lot more products could be saved if only Apple designed them to be serviceable in the first place, published repair manuals, and made parts available for purchase, Wilcoxon says. The problem is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a federal law from 1998. Unlike automobile manufacturers, which provide mechanics and consumers with repair information, tech companies have always interpreted this law to mean that although consumers may own their devices, they have no right to the intellectual property behind them. In 2014, Minnesota became the first of a handful of states to propose legislation compelling tech companies to produce repair manuals, courtesy of Sens. David Osmek (R-Mound) and John Marty (DFL-Roseville). Apple sent lobbyists. The local “Right to Repair” movement is still fighting for a break. Then, last month, the U.S. copyright office decided to relax some provisions of the 1998 law. It’s now legal to jailbreak software embedded in cell phones and other devices in order to fix them. Yet companies don’t have to share any information to make the process easier. So for the time being, that still leaves Tech Dump’s workers — 80 percent of whom have criminal records, 67 percent who’ve experienced homelessness, and 50 percent in recovery from addiction — to tinker in the dark. The real gift from the U.S. copyright office is how its recent announcement strikes down tech manufacturers’ main argument that sharing repair information would invite the public to a free buffet of intellectual property, says Tech Dump CEO Amanda LaGrange. It gives her hope that Minnesota could use that federal guidance to finally pass Right to Repair legislation next year. Some companies, picking up on consumer preference for less waste, would voluntarily evolve their business model. Motorola, for example, recently became the first smartphone manufacturer to offer parts for purchse on\u00a0iFixit, a hub for reverse-engineered manuals and third-party parts. Motorola’s decision came right about the same time as the copyright office’s. LaGrange knows where she’s going to buy her next phone when her iPhone 5S finally bites the dust. “I\u2019m taking it as a huge sign that maybe, just maybe, manufacturers will kind of see the opportunity,” she says. “We could fix so much more stuff and employ so many more people, and train so many more people, if we could access the parts we needed to do it and actually scale the organization … It could really grow.”  <\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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We all can make a difference long term when we act now! Reuse on computers reduces carbon emissions 25x’s more than recycling them. Get them to us now. Convenient, secure, and free. This combination of images made available by NASA shows areas of low ozone above Antarctica on September 2000, left, and September 2018. The purple and blue colors are where there is the least ozone, and the yellows and reds are where By SETH BORENSTEIN\u00a0Associated Press NOVEMBER 5, 2018 \u2014 3:25PM WASHINGTON \u2014 Earth’s protective ozone layer is finally healing from damage caused by aerosol sprays and coolants, a new United Nations report said. The ozone layer had been thinning since the late 1970s. Scientists raised the alarm and ozone-depleting chemicals were phased out worldwide. As a result, the upper ozone layer above the Northern Hemisphere should be completely repaired in the 2030s and the gaping Antarctic ozone hole should disappear in the 2060s, according to a scientific assessment released Monday at a conference in Quito, Ecuador. The Southern Hemisphere lags a bit and its ozone layer should be healed by mid-century. “It’s really good news,” said report co-chairman Paul Newman, chief Earth scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “If ozone-depleting substances had continued to increase, we would have seen huge effects. We stopped that.” High in the atmosphere, ozone shields Earth from ultraviolet rays that cause skin cancer, crop damage and other problems. Use of man-made chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which release chlorine and bromine, began eating away at the ozone. In 1987, countries around the world agreed in the Montreal Protocol to phase out CFCs and businesses came up with replacements for spray cans and other uses. At its worst in the late 1990s, about 10 percent of the upper ozone layer was depleted, said Newman. Since 2000, it has increased by about 1 to 3 percent per decade, the report said. This year, the ozone hole over the South Pole peaked at nearly 9.6 million square miles (24.8 million square kilometers). That’s about 16 percent smaller than the biggest hole recorded \u2014 11.4 million square miles (29.6 million square kilometers) in 2006. The hole reaches its peak in September and October and disappears by late December until the next Southern Hemisphere spring, Newman said. The ozone layer starts at about 6 miles (10 kilometers) above Earth and stretches for nearly 25 miles (40 kilometers); ozone is a colorless combination of three oxygen atoms. If nothing had been done to stop the thinning, the world would have destroyed two-thirds of its ozone layer by 2065, Newman said. But it’s not a complete success yet, said University of Colorado’s Brian Toon, who wasn’t part of the report. “We are only at a point where recovery may have started,” Toon said, pointing to some ozone measurements that haven’t increased yet. Another problem is that new technology has found an increase in emissions of a banned CFC out of East Asia, the report noted. On its own, the ozone hole has slightly shielded Antarctica from the much larger effects of global warming \u2014 it has heated up but not as much as it likely would without ozone depletion, said Ross Salawitch, a University of Maryland atmospheric scientist who co-authored the report. So a healed ozone layer will worsen man-made climate change there a bit, Newman said. Scientists don’t know how much a healed ozone hole will further warm Antarctica, but they do know the immediate effects of ozone depletion on the world and human health, so “it would be incredibly irresponsible not to do this,” Salawitch said. And the replacements now being used to cool cars and refrigerators need to be replaced themselves with chemicals that don’t worsen global warming, Newman said. An amendment to the Montreal Protocol that goes into effect next year would cut use of some of those gases. “I don’t think we can do a victory lap until 2060,” Newman said. “That will be for our grandchildren to do.” Read More at the Star Tribune<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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Federal rule would restrict U.S. e-scrap exports Posted on\u00a0\u00a0November 1, 2018by\u00a0Colin Staub Federal regulators are considering a proposal to ban exports of unprocessed e-scrap and require stringent tracking procedures for exports that are still allowed. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, on Oct. 23 released a\u00a0regulatory proposal\u00a0that would alter requirements for e-scrap exports. Under the rule, untested end-of-life electronic devices would be prohibited from export out of the U.S. The agency\u2019s reasoning is to limit counterfeit goods coming back into the U.S., and it references research that shows exported devices can contribute to counterfeiting. The rule includes a number of exemptions. Devices that have been tested and are working, such as those that have been refurbished and are destined for reuse, could be shipped overseas. Materials recovered from e-scrap through processing, such as commodities destined for smelters, would also be allowed for export. But for the exempt materials, BIS would require more stringent record keeping and tracking. \u201cThere\u2019s no really good documentation on how much used e-scrap is exported,\u201d said Neil Peters-Michaud, CEO of Cascade Asset Management. His company is a steering member of the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling (CAER), which has pushed Congress to enact e-scrap export reform over the past several years. There are tariff codes for certain materials, such as circuit boards, but not for used electronics as a whole. \u201cSo nobody knows how much is getting exported,\u201d Peters-Michaud said. The proposal is considering a couple different methods to begin collecting comprehensive export data, including using a \u201clicense exception\u201d authorization or adding a data element to the Automated Export System, which is used by U.S. exporters to declare international shipments. BIS is seeking comments on the proposal by Dec. 24. Comments can be submitted through the federal government\u2019s\u00a0regulations.gov website. The U.S. EPA\u00a0already regulates\u00a0exports of CRT devices and CRT glass. The summer 2018 print edition of E-Scrap News\u00a0had an in-depth story\u00a0exploring how international law, domestic regulations and certification standards affect U.S. e-scrap exports. Influenced by legislative work Language used in the BIS regulatory proposal is very similar to the Secure E-Waste Export and Recycling Act (SEERA), or\u00a0House of Representative 917, which was\u00a0introduced in early 2017. Similar legislation failed to advance during previous sessions of Congress going back to 2013. The BIS document actually references the legislative proposal as influencing its decision to seek these regulatory changes. CAER, a\u00a0coalition of more than 150 companies, pushed for H.R. 917 and supports the current BIS proposal. The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI)\u00a0opposed SEERA, saying the counterfeiting issue had already been addressed by other federal legislation and noting the legislation wonuldn\u2019t address the primary source of counterfeit parts: unreliable operations in China. In regards to the recent BIS proposal, ISRI again pointed to prior legislative work that has sought to address counterfeiting of electronic parts. \u201cWe still go back to our old statement, which is still very current, that we\u2019re for free and fair trade,\u201d Billy Johnson, ISRI\u2019s chief lobbyist, said in an interview\u00a0Thursday. \u201cSo we\u2019ll look at this through that lens.\u201d He said ISRI has some concerns about the BIS regulation but noted the group is still evaluating it from various angles. The national security standpoint is a new element in the e-scrap discussion, he added, and that rationale sets it apart from prior legislative proposals. \u201cFrom the 100,000-foot level it seems that it\u2019s very similar, but the motivation is very different here,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe want to be respectful of that and try to figure out the best proposals for helping the national security side of it while respecting free and fair trade.\u201d Johnson noted that electronic devices are manufactured outside the U.S., meaning counterfeit electronic components could come from any number of countries. \u201cThe source of this material is everywhere, so just controlling it from here doesn\u2019t really fix your problem,\u201d he said. \u201cIt goes back to, if you really want to fix the problem, which is keeping bad chips out of critical infrastructure, look at the products you are using in the critical infrastructure and make sure that they work, test them.\u201d ISRI plans to submit comments, Johnson said, and its electronics division is examining the proposal in greater depth. \u2018A lot further along\u2019 than past efforts Peters-Michaud described the fact the proposed rules are out for public comment as \u201ca huge step forward.\u201d \u201cOne of the things this says is the administration is behind it, which definitely carries a lot of clout,\u201d he said. The agency has been working on the proposal for some time, Peters-Michaud added, and he said the BIS and federal government would likely not invest that much time in the project without thinking there\u2019s a likelihood it would become real policy. \u201cThis is a lot further along than the bills we\u2019ve introduced over the years,\u201d Peters-Michaud said. The CAER legislation has evolved a number of times since it was first proposed several years back. It initially took strictly an environmental protection angle but\u00a0has shifted\u00a0to take other points into account. The BIS proposal takes the angle of protecting national security through combatting imports of counterfeit electronics. Through the BIS, the Department of Commerce \u201chas the authority to regulate exports that pose a threat to national security,\u201d Peters-Michaud said. He pointed to a\u00a0recent example\u00a0of the federal government blocking U.S. sales to a Chinese tech company due to national security concerns. \u201cThe easy and cheap export of unprocessed e-waste out of the U.S. is kind of easy pickings for other countries or commercial actors to harvest those chips and make money reselling them back as counterfeit products,\u201d Peters-Michaud said. Photo credit: Sky Cinema\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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Tech Recycling Non-Profit Known For Giving 2nd Chances is expanding WCCO CBS Minnesota October 26, 20118 We are very grateful to WCCO-TV this morning for sharing about our work and expansion. They had a misprint about TVs larger than 19″ being free, as it is flat panel monitors larger than 19″ that are free. Our website TechDump.org is always the best source for up-to-date pricing information<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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Tech Dump Won Minne Inno’s 2018 Coolest Companies Most Eco-Friendly Award!   What exactly makes a company\u00a0cool? Sure, office happy hours and video game tournaments are always fun, but what draws top talent to local companies then makes them want to stick around? As Minne Inno sourced nominations for our inaugural Coolest Companies Fest, we discovered that a company is cool as long as its employees love showing up to work every day. And in the Twin Cities\u2019 tech and startup scene, there\u2019s no shortage of really cool companies. Almost two months ago, we asked our readers to tell us about the most interesting, innovative startups in Minnesota. We received dozens upon dozens of nominations, and ultimately ended up with a finalist pool of nearly 90 companies. At our official celebration in the North Loop on Thursday evening, Minne Inno handed out 11 awards. Five winners were selected through readers\u2019 choice voting, and six others were awarded superlatives by the Minne Inno editorial team. TECH DUMP AWARDED MOST ECO-FRIENDLY! Since Tech Dump was founded in 2011, the organization has dedicated itself to finding responsible ways to recycle electronics. In 2016 alone, Tech Dump processed more than five million pounds of electronic waste. The organization also has a retail extension called Tech Discounts, which sells refurbished phones, computers and other items.<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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Minnesota processor buys site for new location Posted on\u00a0\u00a0October 4, 2018by\u00a0Jared Paben A nonprofit electronics processor is spending millions of dollars to vastly expand its footprint in the Twin Cities area. Tech Dump will buy a 90,000-square-foot building in St. Paul, Minn., the\u00a0Minneapolis Star-Tribune\u00a0reported. Tech Dump is a division of Jobs Foundation, a nonprofit group that provides job training and experience for adults facing barriers to employment. E-Scrap News\u00a0featured Tech Dump\u00a0as its Know Your E-Scrap Processor in the June 2017 print edition. The Star-Tribune reported Tech Dump used a number of financing sources to buy the property, including Sunrise Bank, nonprofit support organization Propel Nonprofits and a $130,000 grant and $170,000 low-interest loan from the city of St. Paul. Tech Dump currently has an 11,000-square-foot location in Golden Valley, which is just west of Minneapolis, and a 32,000-square-foot facility in St. Paul. It processes about 5 million pounds a year. The company plans to begin occupying the new space in January. More details on the move-in plans were laid out in a\u00a0press release. The acquisition will allow Tech Dump to double staff to 100 and revenue to $7 million by 2022, the newspaper reported. Read More at E-Scrap News<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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CEO says the larger space in Midway will allow the electronics refurbisher to double revenue and staff. By\u00a0Neal St. Anthony\u00a0Star Tribune OCTOBER 1, 2018 \u2014 7:11PM Tech Dump, the growing electronics refurbisher and recycler, has acquired a building in St. Paul’s Midway that is twice as large as its combined leased space in Golden Valley and Midway. The seven-year-old nonprofit will pay about $3 million for a 90,000-square-foot building at 860 Vandalia St., not far from its 30,000 square feet of leased space on Prior Avenue. CEO Amanda LaGrange said the new space will allow Tech Dump to double staff to about 100 and revenue to about $7 million by 2022. “With increasing use of technology, we see huge potential for growth opportunities,” said LaGrange, a former General Mills accountant. “Continued workforce shortages show work-readiness programs can play a crucial role in connecting untapped talent in our communities with local business.” LaGrange plans to make improvements to the building and occupy it by January. The acquisition was financed by Sunrise Bank, Propel for Nonprofits, and a $130,000 grant and $170,000 low-interest loan from the city of St. Paul. Mayor Melvin Carter said the city was pleased to support the expansion of “such a strong leader, committed to responsible e-waste management and helping people overcome employment barriers, grow and share their success in St. Paul.” Tech Dump Chairman Mark Evenson, a managing director at commercial real estate firm Avison Young, said the Vandalia Street property “is ideally situated, delivering convenience and accessibility to our customers, clients and most importantly to our employees.” Tech Dump, which starts trainees at $11 an hour, has processed more than 25 million pounds of electronic waste and provided 300,000 hours of job training for employees, who often leave for higher paying jobs with Tech Dump partner manufacturers or other businesses. About half of Tech Dump’s employees are enrolled in its work-readiness training program. LaGrange said half of Tech Dump’s revenue of about $3.5 million this year will come from its fast-growing Tech Discounts retail operation that refurbishes desktop computers, laptops, tablets and other devices for resale, with a 30-day money-back guarantee and six-month “fix it or replace it” warranty. That business generally is more lucrative than recycling and involves skill-building work and provides audited data destruction. Neal St. Anthony\u00a0has been a Star Tribune business columnist\/reporter since 1984.\u00a0His work has been recognized by the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>

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SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 AMANDA OSTUNI At the\u00a0start of 2017, Tech Dump, a socially-focused electronics recycler, had a specific expansion vision in mind. That vision is now coming to fruition, at least partially, as the company just signed a purchase agreement for a 90,000 square foot building in St. Paul \u2013 more than doubling their existing space. The purchase is being funded in part by a $130,000 grant from the City of St. Paul\u2019s STAR program and a $170,000 low-interest city loan, as well as help from Sunrise Bank and Propel for Nonprofits. \u201cThis [new] property is ideally situated, delivering convenience and accessibility to our customers, clients, and most importantly to our employees,\u201d says Mark Evenson, Tech Dump board chair and managing director at Avison Young Nonprofit Group, which helped broker the deal. \u201cI am truly excited to part of this next chapter of a really great story.\u201d Tech Dump, a St. Paul-based nonprofit, provides job training and experience to adults particularly likely to face barriers in employment, including individuals with criminal records or prior addiction struggles, through the work of recycling and refurbishing old technology. The company is comprised of 48 employees, more than half of which are the trainees who participate in Tech Dump\u2019s paid 18-month job readiness training program. The company emphasizes reuse and recovery over disposal of unused and broken computer, cell phones and other electronics. When disposal is necessary, the company uses environmentally responsible solutions. Adding the new building to its list of sites, which include a 30,000-square-foot space on Prior Avenue in St. Paul and an 8,000-square-foot space in Golden Valley, will enable Tech Dump to deal with more electronics at once. The new building, located at 860 Vandalia Street, will also accommodate expanded jobs training facilities, larger secure holding areas for drop-offs, and eventually, another Tech Discount store \u2013 a retail outlet selling refurbishes and warranted technology at prices 75 percent lower than standard market rates. Tech Dump\u2019s existing Tech Discount store is in Golden Valley and will continue operations as usual. The building purchase comes with a multi-phase plan. The first step is to occupy two-thirds of the space, and rent out the remaining 30,000 square feet, until Tech Dump\u2019s growth reaches a point where it needs to use the entirety of the building. The company is on track to get there, as it\u2019s shown continuous growth since its inception in 2011. Among previous expansion moves, for example, Tech Dump recently acquired Scrubb.IT, a mail-in program enabling Tech Dump to offer its services nationally by providing a transfer method other than in-person drop-offs. The company has set a goal for future growth: doubling revenue and staff by 2022 while expanding the breadth of its training programs. \u201cWith increasing use of technology, we see huge potential for growth opportunities,\u201d said Tech Dump CEO Amanda LaGrange, in a statement. \u201cFor example, continued workforce shortages show our work readiness program can play a crucial role in connecting untapped talent in our communities with local business.\u201d In the immediate future, Tech Dump plans to spend the rest of the year making improvements to its new building, and a grand opening celebration is slated for January 2019.<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>","max_pages":9}