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In our summer series, Backyard Farmers, we’re talking trash — banana peels, coffee grounds, yard clippings, all that icky stuff most of us throw away without thinking. Organic waste makes around half of what cities send to their landfills. But that could change, as cities begin to embrace large scale composting programs. Before that can happen, CPR’s Megan Verlee reports the industry has to overcome some big hurdles first. More »

The idea was revolutionary, their passion contagious, and their willingness to achieve their goal, despite insurmountable odds was unshakeable. The founders of this enterprise diligently wrote a business plan with such foresight and attention to detail, that their success defied logic and the market conditions of the time.

The market they sought to enter was one that was overwhelmingly unfavorable. Their main competition had an advantage at every level. They were better capitalized, had complete dominance in markets locally and abroad, and their workforce was better trained and equipped with superior technology.

The founders were a diverse group, representative indeed of the enterprise they would give birth to in the months and years that followed. Some were merchants, others speculators. Some were politicians, and others simple farmers. To say that they had experience running the enterprise they sought to create would be an understatement of great magnitude.

Did they have 2 years financial statements? Absolutely not, they were a start-up with dreams to rival their passion, but no financial history for loan committees to trace performance.

Did they have collateral? No, they rented their property from a tyrannical landlord that additionally created a tax structure that would cripple any modern day corporation.

The story of these entrepreneurs is that of the Founding Fathers of the United States. They were a group of passionate entrepreneurs whose vision defined a country, and a spirit of innovation that lives on today. And though what these founders created has grown into an incredible enterprise, capable of securing arguably more debt than necessary, they would have been hard-pressed to find a conventional lender willing to take the risk to get them off the ground. However, this story and that of the founders represent the intangibles that go beyond the balance sheet and financials, the HUMAN SPIRIT. It is this value that Accion truly embraces.

I reference this, as our company faced similar circumstances, and Accion was our light of liberty. Our company is Waste Farmers, and we too are fighting a revolution of sorts. We are fighting against a short-sided “revolution” set in motion by the Industrial age, which gave birth to notion that pollution and environmental degradation are inevitable by-products of human progress.

Like the founding fathers, we did not have 2 years financial statements. The small amount of collateral and savings we owned were invested in the business. The market forces facing our company were formidable, though not insurmountable. However, we are forever inspired by the story of our founding fathers and the great entrepreneurs that have shaped this county and their legacy of optimism and passion bleeds through our veins in a way that no balance sheet can capture. A passion that was almost extinguished from the unrelenting “No’s” we heard from lenders at larger banks, or leasing companies. “No” was a word repeated with such frequency that it almost lost its meaning.

Lisa Adams, and Accion were a beacon of hope. They offered us a chance to prove our credit beyond what was in our bank account or on our financial statements. They saw value in our passion and determination to succeed, and in so doing, helped to fuel it further. They helped us finance a piece of equipment that has allowed us to grow from 1 to a team of 4 passionate members, and achieve month over month revenue growth of 38% since the loan in January. Their willingness to work with us and belief that we could succeed, further instilled our desire to pay them back, not as a creditor, rather, out of gratitude for taking a chance and for giving us an opportunity to pursue that American Dream, defined by those visionary Forefathers so many years ago. Further, it strengthens our desire to give back to this wonderful group should we be fortunate enough to succeed, so that Accion can work with other entrepreneurs and dreamers, and keep that spirit alive.

Thank you to Lisa Adams and the rest of the Denver team. Waste Farmers would still be a dream were it not for your willingness to look beyond conventional standards. We are forever grateful, and you can trust that we will give back when the time is right so that others can have the same opportunity.

For our company, it begins and ends with the soil, as it does in life. One of the tenants of the great agrarian society that Jefferson envisioned was rooted in the belief that the cultivation of the soil provides direct contact with nature. It is in this re-connection where we see hope for the future. It is here where we are reacquainted with the notion that we are part of the natural system and not removed from it; where we seek to learn from nature, rather than find ways to extract from it. This reconnection provides an understanding that in nature, there is no waste.

Where we stray from Jefferson’s Agrarian Ideal, is in the separation of urban and rural lifestyles. It is this intentional separation, that has created the design of a city that seeks to conquer, pave over, or eradicate nature at all costs. The reintegration of the urban and rural environment is critical for building a sustainable future. The inhabitants of the city and those of the so-called “rural environment”, all share the common occupation of “farmer”. When the waste of one system becomes the food for another, we all share a role in the cultivation of a restorative economy. It starts in this room, with the waste produced today. As stewards of the soil, we sow the seeds of a future where the impact of human development and industry restores the world around, and reject the idea that pollution and environmental degradation are inevitable by-products of human progress.

Thank you to each of our clients for working with us. Thank you to the community for your unending support, and thank you to the Chamber for all they do to cultivate local business and for this honor. We leave with this quote from Daniel Webster, “Let us not forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. When tillage begins, other arts will follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization.”

Waste Farmers is grateful for the funding that Accion provided to help the business grow, and for all that they do to support small businesses and entrepreneurs in Colorado, Accion, and New Mexico. To learn more about the amazing work that Accion is doing, please visit their website www.accionco.org.

The Chamber’s 2010 Business Awards luncheon, sponsored by Colorado Business Bank, was held at the Hyatt Regency Colorado Convention Center. Waste Farmers was one of three finalists for the award. The Business Awards highlight six categories of businesses, as well as the David E. Bailey Small Business Advocate of the Year Award. The categories include Small Business of the Year, Emerging Business of the Year, Minority-owned Business of the Year, Small and Large Non-profit Organization of the Year and Green Business of the Year.

More than 1,000 nominations were reviewed by a volunteer committee and accounting sponsor Clifton Gunderson. Three finalists were chosen in each category. All finalists were present and the winners were not aware that they had been chosen until their name was called during the event.

“All of our winners share a commitment to business, their community and to Colorado,” said Kelly Brough, president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Read Maxfield’s acceptance speech here.

Kathryn Reichert, March 24, 2010 | Read the story here.

A Highland elementary school is discovering that one person’s trash also can be another’s fertilizer.

In an innovative partnership, parent Yael Nyholm struck a deal with a commercial composting company to pick up compost from Academia Ana Maria Sandoval Elementary for free in exchange for getting her neighbors to pay for their own composting pick up.

Waste Farmers, a commercial composting company, was able to get business in an area they hadn’t previously served. So far, 16 households have signed up. While Waste Farmers makes its rounds, it makes an extra stop for free at the school.

Read more here.

Read more about the award here:
www.denverchamber.org/Events.aspx?eventid=2190

Jennifer Ryan | Read the story here

DENVER – In our last story of our Starting Over series we decided to revisit a young entrepreneur who truly puts his passion to the test. He is a dumpster diver with a love for compost.

Running your own business can be a lot like running a marathon.

“You anticipate it being hard,” John Paul Maxfield said, “but you don’t realize how hard it is until you get to the 23rd mile.”

Maxfield is practically running on empty these days. He started collecting trash for cash about twelve months ago and has not stopped to smell the roses.

“My heads been down too long that I have not had a chance to look back at how far we have come,” Maxfield said.

He has added more interns, more recycling bins and more customers who are all willing to let him dig through their dumpster to see just how much waste was being wasted.

“You don’t realize how much you’re throwing away because it’s so easy and convenient to you,” Maxfield said.

It is a labor of love for Maxfield who cashed in his life savings to buy a truck and plenty of recycling bins in order to start his own company called Waste Farmers.

Maxfield says it has been both rewarding and unpredictable being his own boss.

“What you write your business plan on you will not do,” Maxfield said, “and what you raise money to do you won’t do.”

Maxfield’s original plan was to collect compost from trash bins outside local restaurants and retailers. That plan did not pay the bills. So he added another element, a waste analysis in which he dives in the dumpsters and picks through the trash in order to show restaurant owners how much recyclable material they are trashing and how much compost they are wasting.

Maxfield’s new business plan is finally taking shape.

“We have a long way to go but we just have to continue working hard,” Maxfield said.

It is the hard work that keeps him busy but it is his support group that keeps him in the race.

“It is kind of like running that marathon, people are on the sidelines cheering and you don’t realize how much you appreciate it when you are running,” Maxfield said.

Renee McGraw | Read the story here

John-Paul Maxfield lost his job at a private equity firm about four months ago. In any other year, he would have looked for another job. Instead, he has cashed out his IRA, traded the family Volvo for a pickup truck and is starting his own recycling business: Denver-based Waste Farmers LLC.

“The job market is dismal,” Maxfield said. “So I said, ‘you know what? It’s time to take a shot. Just do it.’”

Maxfield isn’t alone. The number of phone calls from would-be entrepreneurs to the Denver office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has more than doubled since last summer, according to spokesman Christopher Chavez.

“Call volume is up 100 percent from six to eight months ago,” Chavez said. “Before, we might have gotten 25 calls a day; we’re now at 50 or 60 a day. Our workshops through SCORE, their numbers are up 100 percent. In August or September, they maybe had 15 people; now they’ve got 30 or 40 people in a workshop.”

Businesses die during recessions, of course. But others are born, as laid-off workers and struggling business owners re-invent themselves.

“We’ve definitely seen a surge of inquiries from workers who were let go and are choosing to open their own businesses,” said Derek Woodbury, spokesman for the city of Denver’s Office of Economic Development.

So far, that hasn’t translated into an increase in business incorporations. Filings for trade names and various types of business formation fell by 11 percent in the second half of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. Filings in January, at 10,341, were down 7 percent compared with January 2008.

Business formation usually rises during high-layoff periods, said Michael Williams, a Denver-based attorney who handles business formation and incorporation.

“In the past, when a major employer in the area has laid off workers, we’ve seen several folks come through that want to set up businesses,” Williams said. “It remains to be seen whether that’s going to be the case in a downturn as severe as this, though.”

One good source of recent business for Williams, and other business lawyers, is existing entrepreneurs who want to establish sideline businesses to deal with the recession.

“I haven’t seen new clients come in any more often, but I’m seeing existing clients taking on different projects, and forming new entities to do that,” said Harmon Graves, a Littleton-based lawyer. “I just had a builder in who is now buying up distressed properties.”

Some folks who started a business during Colorado’s last recession, in 2002 and 2003, say they’re glad they did.

Rob Ridge and his wife, Lynne, opened English Tealeaves, a Parker cafe and online tea retailer, in 2002. At the time, Ridge was working as a vice president of marketing for a Swedish company, but he believed his job soon would be eliminated.

“We’re pretty dumb. We did it at the wrong time,” Ridge said, laughing.

He can afford to laugh. English Tealeaves is now successful enough — business grew 14 percent last year, Ridge said — that the company is selling its first franchises.

“One couple is very, very interested, but the big issue for them is financing,” Ridge said. “A lot of people had so much equity in their house [that is now gone]. When you go for a loan, the banks ask you all these questions about the business, but they’re really not that interested. What they’re interested in is what equity do you have, what savings do you have … in case you default.”

Tight credit is among the obstacles to starting a business now, said Chavez of the SBA.

“In the 20 years that I’ve been doing this, there have always been ups and downs,” Chavez said. “But right now you’ve got an even more difficult situation, because you’ve got a tightening credit market, you’ve got an economy that’s slowing and consumer confidence has dropped. The majority of the people we’re counseling right now, we’re probably advising them against starting a business, just because of the risk involved in the current economic conditions.”

Williams, the lawyer, agreed that there are challenges in the current economy. “But certainly it’s a major opportunity to take risks, at this moment,” he said. “A lot of things are cheaper than they’ve ever been or ever will be — advertising is cheaper, costs of assets are cheaper. Things are available now that weren’t available before. Sometimes people can outfit their whole business just through Craigslist.”

For Maxfield, who’s still looking for investors, there’s no time like the present.

He’ll use his own retirement savings — and the help of his wife, Carrie, a teacher — to launch Waste Farmers.

“I’d sure as heck rather invest in me than in the market,” Maxfield said. “A lot of great businesses in this country were started with one pickup truck, with one fruit stand. You can throw a bunch of money at something and figure out how to spend it, or you can just start and do it.”

John McFadden, owner of Craftsman Extraordinaire LLC in Denver, was in a similar position after being laid off from Qwest Communications International Inc. in late 2001.

He’d worked for the company for 33 years, ultimately becoming supervisor of a T1 line crew that served downtown Denver, including the Pepsi Center, the City and County of Denver, and Denver Public Schools.

After six months of sitting around at home, he dusted off his tools and hung a shingle as an independent carpenter and builder. Volunteer work through his Kiwanis club was especially helpful in generating referrals and word-of-mouth business.

Today, he earns nearly as much as he did at Qwest, but with far less stress and fewer hours, he said.

“It truly was the best thing I ever did,” McFadden said. “I wish I’d done it sooner.”