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Customized shoes put spring in their step

A keen eye for innovation, complementary talents and a shift in footwear trends — is that a recipe for business success?

Mark Springer and Tyler Springer hope so.

Although unrelated, the two Goshen College business seniors took their same last name as a sign to combine their talents in Springer Design, Inc., a custom shoe and apparel design company.

They were aided by a $5,000 entrepreneurship grant from the college’s Entrepreneurship Learning Center, which encourages students to start businesses and aims to keep Indiana college graduates in the state.

Over lunch one day the two young men discovered they had similar aspirations and complementary interests. Mark, from Stanford, Ill., had hoped to start his own design business but wasn’t as comfortable with the management and sales responsibilities. Tyler, a native of Carlisle, Pa., had plans to start his own screen-printing and embroidery business but the artwork side was a deterrent.

“We complement each other extremely well,” says Tyler. “Mark is incredibly gifted artistically and has a keen eye for design, while I am very managerial minded.”

After teaming up, they set to work devising a business plan. This included going to national trade shows, contacting distributors and talking with dozens of people in the industry.

Their research revealed an emerging market for distinctive, individualized footwear among buyers who are not content with someone else’s fashion template.

“We allow our customers to come up with their own design or we can come up with one for them,” says Tyler.

They see themselves as on the leading edge of a shifting market. A few other businesses sell customized shoes of comparable quality, but at a price of hundreds of dollars. “That is why you will only see celebrities wearing them,” says Tyler. “We price our shoes much lower so that everyone is able to have shoes customized by Springer Design.”

He says this is made possible by an innovative production system that allows for quick turnaround time as they produce everyday walking shoes and athletic shoes for the 30-and-under crowd.

Springer Design also creates logos for businesses and bands and does screen-printing and embroidery for corporations, schools and teams.

Community involvement has helped their business grow. Tyler coaches fifth and sixth grade boys basketball and Mark has helped coach baseball camps.

“We want to play a proactive role in our community,” says Tyler. “While it is our job to sell decorated apparel, we feel that it is our duty to make a positive impact in the communities we sell that apparel in.”

The Entrepreneurship Learning Center, through the Lilly Endowment, Inc., provides services for student entrepreneurs and business owners and offers grants up to $5,000 to start and run a business or nonprofit organization. So far, seven Goshen College students have received such grants. — Emily Dougherty, Goshen News Service

Personalized fashion templates: Tyler Springer (left) and Mark Springer

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New MEDA energy fund aims to offset carbon footprint

Air travelers who want to compensate for the exhaust emissions their travel generates now have a new place to turn — a carbon offset program launched by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA).

The Sarona Green Energy Fund will help develop renewable energy sources by investing in both start-ups and the growth of current businesses in developing countries.

People who want to participate can calculate the effect of their lifestyle choices — such as air travel — and make proportional donations to “offset” that to zero. These donations will then be invested in businesses with a proven environmental impact.

While this is the first carbon offset fund initiated by a Mennonite agency, a growing body of data is available to help concerned consumers reduce their carbon footprint. A dedicated Sarona Green website will provide links to reliable “carbon calculators” to help donors tabulate their own environmental impact. Many such calculators suggest that a $50 investment can offset one metric ton (2,200 pounds) of carbon emissions.

A key feature of acceptable carbon offset businesses is that they satisfy rigorous “additionality” standards, meaning they must be new initiatives with proven benefits to the environment.

Money donated to the Sarona Green Energy Fund will be invested in a new biofuel company in Paraguay which makes ethanol from sugar cane, a much more efficient renewable resource than corn-based fuels produced in North America. In addition to its environmental benefits, the Paraguay company supports smallholder farmers and provides high-impact local employment opportunities.

“This should not be seen as a sin-tax,” says Ed Epp, who devised the initiative for MEDA. “It’s an opportunity to achieve a triple bottom line, bringing sustainable benefits to the environment while preserving non-renewable energy sources, growth in the local economy and reducing poverty.”

MEDA is identifying other new ways to invest in businesses that reduce carbon footprints, says Gerhard Pries, director of investment fund development. “We are review-

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Executive Director. Menno-Hof in Shipshewana, Indiana, is a vibrant Amish/Mennonite interpretive center celebrating 20 years of successful operation. Looking for an executive director to exhibit creativity and work with the board of directors to expand and refine vision for the future. Desired qualifications: strong knowledge of the Anabaptist faith tradition; ability to communicate issues of faith and culture passionately. Complete job description at www.mennohof. org. Send resumes or inquiries to Leanne Farmwald c/o Menno-Hof, 510 S Van Buren St, Shipshewana, IN 46565 or lfarmwald@aol.com ing opportunities in the solar, wind, bio-diesel and bio-gas fields,” he says.

“These investments will encourage the developing world to avoid the environmental mistakes of the West, and help them to ‘leapfrog’ to the next generation of sustainable economic growth and development,” says Pries.

In its pilot phase, Sarona Green will be capitalized through donations. Initial target audiences will include air travelers, travel agents, MEDA chapters, churches, schools and other affiliated organizations.

People wanting more information can go to www.meda. org for appropriate links. ◆