Greenfire: Creating sustainable communities
When I started Greenfire, I wanted to create a socially responsible business that would allow me make money while improving my community. My goal was to buy abandoned buildings and restore them to create a vibrant and diverse place for people to live, work, play and invest in their community. I completed the business plan for Greenfire Development just before joining the Weekend MBA Program.
I got the idea for my business while working for Kimberly Clark. My job was to help them reduce their environmental impact. I worked on everything from energy conservation, recycling and waste reduction to cleaning up environmentally contaminated sites. One of my responsibilities at KC was to help demolish a paper mill built in the mid-1800s. This project really got me thinking about how cities developed over time and how the disappearance of manufacturing facilities was transforming communities across the country. Having grown up in Durham, I knew there were a lot of abandoned historic buildings, many of them tobacco related, that needed some creativity to re-imagine. The manufacturing uses had left but the history and character remained. Taking that “potential” and turning it into a business model was certainly not going to be easy.
When I started the MBA for Executives Program, I was worried that I may have bit off more than I could chew, but starting a new business while earning my MBA had benefits I couldn’t have anticipated.
One of the reasons I chose UNC for my MBA was because of its reputation in sustainable enterprise and entrepreneurship. UNC offered more networking opportunities with faculty and students who shared my values and goals for combining for-profit ventures with social enterprise. My intuition really paid off – in fact, my first investor was a classmate, Stephen Mangano, who is now one of my business partners.
While attending the Program, I was able to apply my new knowledge immediately. During the Negotiations course, I was mired in difficult negotiations with a general contractor. This class helped me recognize the importance of identifying and addressing their needs and creating an outcome that satisfied both parties. Rarely is there a day that I don’t have an opportunity to use the skills I sharpened while taking this class.
I’ve also found the global immersion course focused on real estate development incredibly helpful. During the trip to Australia, we met with local bankers, investors, developers and city officials who answered detailed questions about local real estate projects that we toured. I learned how people in Australia think about real estate development, deploy capital and create vibrant, high density, urban environments.
Our business has grown very fast – a result that’s tied directly to people having confidence in our ability to make good business decisions. The UNC network has played a large role in this. Before meetings with my bankers, I had the opportunity to talk with classmates in the banking world. They helped me understand what drives lending decisions so I could target my presentations and be better prepared for my meetings.
By the time I finished the Program, Greenfire had acquired six buildings in downtown Durham and completed its first $3 million redevelopment project. Four years (and 19 employees) later we now own 31 properties and we’re working on a $300 million redevelopment project that should help transform the entire city center into the dynamic, sustainable, and diverse community that we originally envisioned. Clearly my experience in the MBA for Executives Program has played a critical role in this success.
