Social Impact Blog

In 2012, David Ranallo learned that the food space needed his help. After working with direct-to-consumer programs in several industries and learning about the power of decentralization, he discovered that the same could be applied in the food and farming sector.  “With the meat processors, the big farms, there are very few middle-class farms; everything’s […]

French for “to improve,” Bonifier was developed to do just that. Founder Ryan Scott came up with the idea for a web-based app— a virtual sidekick called Pip—two years ago to improve the pediatric-patient experience. Scott’s goal is for Pip to help alleviate the fear, anxiety and loneliness experienced by sick children. “1.7 million kids receive inpatient treatment (every […]

SocialVentures’ Impact Boxes can be purchased by visiting www.socialventurescbus.com/impactboxes. The boxes start at $50 and include free shipping.  Check out any Facebook or Twitter feed in this new work-from-home era, and you’ll see all kinds of new groups dedicated to helping and supporting local small businesses. Everyone seems to be worried—but most want to turn that […]

Glance above the counter at the Clintonville bakery Food for Good Thought, and it’s right there, printed in red. In 2018, the bakery’s customers tipped $653. These above-and-beyond incremental dollars provided more than 70 hours of paid employment to the individuals with disabilities, whose pictures hang on the opposite wall. But those numbers are now […]

SocialVentures is proud to announce the appointment of six new members to the SocialVentures Board of Directors. Joining the board, effective Feb. 1, are Ian Bailey, Seth Cramer, Derek DeHart, Jenna Mackey, Kimberly Tapia, and Donald Wells. The new members will serve under Board Chair Andrea Applegate. “We are thrilled,” Applegate said, “to have such […]

If you’re of a “certain age”—read, “OK, Boomer”—you likely remember the late ‘60s, early ‘70s ABC series “The Mod Squad.” The series featured an unlikely trio of undercover detectives, each representing a segment of the era’s counterculture, tackling big, sticky cultural issues. Today, Columbus has its own Mod Squad in the form of a social enterprise founded […]

Eddie Rapp operates two social enterprises owned by Lutheran Social Services. The businesses are dedicated to moving men out of homeless shelters by providing supportive employment to residents in the Lancaster shelter system. Fairhaven Lawn Care and Patriot Pride Painting have a customer mix that is 60 percent commercial and 40 percent residential, with Franklin […]

Social enterprise pursues market expansion, profit growth in pursuit of serving those with less. A lot has changed over the past two years at Double Comfort Foods. Gone is the Short North restaurant that once occupied 505 N. High St. in Columbus. Gone is the staff who worked the front and back of house. And […]

Freedom a la Cart offers drop-off catering for breakfast and lunch as the foundation for employment, workforce training, and supportive services for survivors of human trafficking. Working closely with the special docket Catch Court in Franklin County, the organization has shown remarkable success in changing lives: 85 percent of Freedom a la Cart employees stayed out […]

When HonestJobs.co and Nature’s Touch Landscaping & Lawn Care were named winners of The Metropreneur’s annual Social Enterprise of the Year Awards presented in partnership with SocialVentures at Aspire 2019, there were no red carpets, no smoke machines, gold statuettes, or long-winded, political speeches. For Ramona Wheeler of Nature’s Touch and Harley Blakeman of HonestJobs.co, […]