Company Press Releases

TWIN CITIES ENTREPRENEURS BAND TOGETHER FOR HABITAT HOUSE

Hundreds donate sweat equity, funds to support Habitat For Humanity Entrepreneurs House

April 29, 2004, MINNEAPOLIS/ST.PAUL — Venture capitalists usually pull together funds to build businesses. This time, they're doing the same thing — and swinging hammers — to build a house.

A team of Twin Cities entrepreneurial companies, investment firms and other businesses serving the entrepreneurial community have combined forces to build a house at 802 Emerson Av. N., Minneapolis, for a local family in conjunction with Twin Cities Habitat For Humanity.

As part of the project, the Entrepreneurs House organizing committee has raised more than $50,000 and obtained more than 200 days of volunteer work commitments to support construction of the house. "We imagined we could meet our goals, but the entrepreneurial community really rose to meet and exceed the challenge," said John Bergstrom, partner at RiverPoint Investments and a board member of Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota. "We are thrilled to be able to bring the house to life for a deserving local family and to provide this community service opportunity for small companies and their investors." Under the Habitat program, a low-income family will purchase the home at an affordable price and make payments on a zero-interest mortgage.

ENTREPRENEURS
Primary financial sponsors of the project include Crescendo Ventures, Cherry Tree Companies, Michael & Elizabeth Gorman, Lipkin Family Fund, RiverPoint Investments, Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi, St. Anthony Park Bank, and Winton Partners.

In addition to these primary financial sponsors, businesses lending their sweat and/or cash to the project are API Outsourcing, CHF Solutions, Capella Education Company, Carbon Medical Tech, Celleration, Dolan Media Company, GovDocs, ID Insight, Instrumental Inc., Linkup, Inc., O'Connor, Gearty & Co., PeopleNet, Pictura, Portage Capital, Pulse Innovation, Reeher Group, Tecmark Inc., The Collaborative, Tonkawa, Treessentials Co., and VisionShare.

This is the second year Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity has had a home sponsored by local entrepreneurial and investment companies, and their commitment from start to finish has the Twin Cities affiliate hoping for more, according to Stephen Seidel, executive director of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. "The dedication of these groups is a model for other companies which might not otherwise be able to build a house on their own," he said. "And the fact that they are able to raise the money to support our families and the build is tremendous. We hope to continue seeing them for many years to come." Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity will build approximately 70 homes in the Twin Cities area this year, distinguishing it as one of most productive such Habitat affiliates in the United States.

The Entrepreneurs House volunteers will be on-site at 802 Emerson Av. N. in Minneapolis on weekdays from May 3 through May 21.