Eco-Entrepreneurs: Making Bucks While Making A
Difference
by Tricia Judge
Recharger Magazine
August 1998
Like so many entrepreneurs whose stories have been told in these pages,
Vanessa Morganti started her business after careful consideration and
years of seeing the potential in a new and growing marketplace.
She shared her ideas with family and friends, who were dubious about
the business potential. But Morganti had a plan and the ambition
to make it happen.
She started Future Solutions, Inc. in her home. There she incubated
and nurtured it. "I never took out a loan, endured seasons of
slow sales and built on my customer base," she says. "I've been lucky
enough to have good growth, but I've also had my difficult times.
Morganti's company history could easily be the stuff of a RECHARGER
Magazine profile. Except Morganti doesn't remanufacture cartridges.
She has grown a business out of the demand for environmental services
and promotional products.
The gamble has paid off. Like thousands of other ecologically
minded entrepreneurs around the world, Morganti found a niche market
that is hot and prosperous. In 1993, Morganti was busy working
for Laser Concepts, a remanufacturer servicing the Denver area.
At that time, Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 12873 into law, and
the country had its first affirmative procurement law.
The Executive Order mandates a preference for environmentally correct
purchases by the federal agencies and related entities. "At the
time, the Department of Energy was a client, and they asked me to assist
them in meeting the mandate. I did the research and came up with
a two-fold plan for them, addressing both environmental products and
services."
Morganti's research unearthed a host of innovative products that included
recycled contents, and she was introduced to the array of remanufacturing
industries. "I was floored by the vast expanse of products that
are remanufactured, recycled, refilled or reused, as were my clients."
Future Solutions markets many of these products. The company offers
products in a variety of industries, and helps government agencies meet
the federal mandate. "We have built business sections in several
industries, including office supplies, construction, transportation,
and promotional products," Morganti said. And while some skeptics
might muse that this business could not generate big sales, guess again.
In less then a year, Morganti's Colorado based business is a $250,000
operation.
Her customers are not strictly government agencies. Morganti reports
that 20 percent of her business comes from the private sector and consumers
whose motivation to purchase green products is something other then
government mandates. "As you will know, a lot of remanufactured
products are just as good or better then the original," she explains.
"Add to that the cost benefit, and you have companies and consumers
that are trying to locate remanufactured products." morganti has
made her products available to the buying public through her website
at www.futuresolutionsinc.com.
It was the quest for remanufactured Sharp facsimile cartridges that
led Morganti to Allfax in New Orleans. "Everyone can find remanufactured
Hewlett-Packard cartridges," she explained. "But companies have
a hard time finding some odd fax and copier cartridges. That's
when I found Allfax and Lou Guidry."
Morganti toured the Allfax facility and was impressed both by the sparkling
clean production facilities and Allfax's commitment to the environment.
Allfax recycles all components it can't remanufacture or reuse as well
as paper and other office refuse. Guidry and Morganti struck an
alliance, and both companies have achieved improved sales as a result.
Morganti's quest for interesting and unique environmental products has
produced a wealth of odd tales of used products transformed to new products.
"Somebody always has a neat idea that I never thought of," she explains.
For example, many companies want to change their packaging and packing
materials to conform to more environmentally friendly materials.
Morganti secured dozens of packing material suppliers who use recycled
content materials. One such company has achieved the requisite
environmental benefit while simultaneously lowering damage problems.
"This packaging material is made of 100 percent post consumable material,
which is not rare," she said. "However, we have shipped
raw eggs wrapped in this by regular U.S. Mail without breaking a single
egg, and we've done this several times."
Morganti also has discovered a firm that sells a unique construction
material. "This stuff looks like granite and acts like wood,"
she said. "But it is made from 40 percent post-consumer newspaper.
You can build anything from this stuff that you could build with wood.
And it comes to life in 14 different colors."
One hot area for Future Solutions is promotional products. "Companies
that sell environmental products really want to show their commitment
to the environment," she explains. "These environmental products
are an excellent way to do that. Some companies that just have
implemented an environmental commitment with internal programs like
them too. It's a good way to get the word out."
Some popular environmental items include pencils made from blue jeans
and old U.S. Currency. "Each pencil has $7.10 worth of currency
in it," Morganti said. "That's not what you pay for it."
Other bestsellers include recycled seed packets, yo-yos, fly swatters,
and business card holders.
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