Founder & President
CurrentSBV trains difficult-to-employ individuals, teaching them needed skills to create jobs through self-employment. Difficult-to-employ individuals include ex-offenders and others with employment barriers. From 4/1/09 to 3/31/10, SBV developed and managed 3 “green” programs for approximately 225 low-income 16-24 year-old youths using federal stimulus funds through two Workforce Investment Boards. SBV developed and managed “Bluegrass Goes Green,” Green Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute (GEL-IN) and Green Entrepreneur Program. SBV hired and supervised 23 teacher/coaches in 19 Kentucky counties. “Bluegrass Goes Green” taught participants about sustainability and environmental literacy. Participants developed “Go Green” plans for their communities, developed presentations for local officials. GEL-IN taught participants to develop Green Business Plans for presentations at the county and regional level. The Green Entrepreneur Program combined green entrepreneur training and temporary job assignments during the 8-week program. Ten of 23 graduates got full-time jobs after the program.In 2012, SBV was awarded a grant from the Ohio Environmental Education fund through the Ohio Dept of Rehabilitation and Corrections to pilot our Green Entrepreneur Program at Southeastern Correctional Institution in Lancaster OH. Seventeen inmates developed green or sustainable business plans. SBV partnered with the Vera Institute for Justice.