Note: This competition entry is fictitious and is posted to provide an example only.

1. Descriptive name of the initiative: EnergAir—Affordable, wind generated electricity and job creation

2. Description of your products or services:
   EnergAir is a recent venture of the Windy Tulip Company, a Dutch energy company. The primary service provided is low-cost, environment-friendly wind energy for low-income communities that are not connected to the electricity grid. Having electricity in their household dramatically improves the quality of life of these families. They can increase their production capacity or start a new microenterprise (65% of cases according to our recent customer survey), enjoy increased safety, reduce their use of nonrenewable, polluting forms of energy, and their children have more time to study. In addition, all installation, servicing, and maintenance of the systems is done by local entrepreneurs. An average of 20 jobs are created, directly or indirectly, per community from electrification.

   The EnergAir venture is unique in its use of wind power as the sole source of electricity for a community. The closest competition is solar energy but EnergAir's systems have a better production-cost ratio and have expandable generating capacity. The major innovation related to the product offer is that the technology has been developed so that power generation capacity within a community can be expanded as the customer base grows, either through the installation of more windmills, larger rotor, or more efficient nacelle. The Windy Tulip Company is a global leader in wind-generated energy and the EnergAir venture has greatly benefited from years of R&D. Windmills have also been tested with climatic conditions of coastal areas including tropical storms as our target customers are coastal populations where the wind power is the greatest.

3. Description of the operational model:
   The production of windmills, disassembled, has been decentralized as much as possible to generate local employment. Thanks to this unique model, we operate a network of efficient mini plants that each serves a region. We have closely analyzed the production process to design a plant model that optimizes production costs and capacity. Having a regional presence also enables us to decrease transportation costs. In addition traditional financial reports, social value generated for the region has been integrated to our reporting system.

   Windmill assembly and installation is operated by local entrepreneurs who have been trained by ED, our NGO partner that has a wide network in South America—the region where the venture started. Other parts are acquired from local suppliers. Our partnership with ED is crucial for local marketing and customer education (to instill a culture of saving that allows them to enable the initial investment). ED, which is focusing on microenterprise development, has a wide network of local entrepreneurs and is organizing demonstrations in villages near places of religious significance or major market tows for maximum exposure. While a community is saving for the installation, the partner is also promoting the job training program, enhancing new enterprise opportunities made possible by having electricity.

4. Description of the financial model:
   We have designed an innovative financing mechanism to enable low-income families to afford the investment in a windmill. This mechanism combines group accountability, savings, and credit to bring power to entire communities within five months of them joining the project. A windmill costs in average US$1,500. A group of 10 families gathers to save US$5/week for five months (this is equivalent to the average amount spent by month in nonrenewable energies). Once $1,000 has been collected, the system is installed. Each family then contributes $10/month to finance the remainder of the installation as well as pay for the local maintenance staff. A microfinance NGO has partnered with us to organize communities and help families save the required amount. If more families want to become connected, they must also raise $100 each and pay $10/month afterwards, and the company determines if a new windmill is to be constructed, or if the existing system can be adjusted. The venture has reached a break-even point after three years of operations.

   What approximate percentage of your operational budget do client fees represent?
   Client fees are covering 90% of the operational budget. In addition to this, a long-term agreement has been negotiated with the governments of Colombia and Venezuela to grant subsidies to the venture given the public value created. Thanks to this agreement, communities that will not be included to the national grid for at least five years have been identified and prioritized, justifying the community investment.

5. Key operational partnerships:
   Partnerships have been established with two NGOs to enable our model. ED, whose mission is to foster job skills and microenterprise, is contracted to train all EnergAir installation and maintenance employees, in addition to supporting marketing efforts. Entrepreneurship training (paid by trainees' fees) is also organized subsequent to windmill installation in a community, to take full advantage of electrification (new industries, skill building, and more efficient processes). MIF, the other partner, is a microfinance organization that assists community members in organizing themselves and starting the saving program. One of the difficulties was finding NGO partners who could work in all of our locations and who were open to our for-profit strategy. Both ED and MIF have a South America-wide network that will enable us to scale up more easily. Also, the obvious benefits brought to the community made the negotiations easier. Additionally, Windy Tulip Company has pledged to electrify local schools for free whenever possible, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility Program.

6. Current outreach:
   • What is the stage of your initiative? Scaling Up Stage—with two proven projects in different countries (Colombia, Venezuela).
   • Currently serving 10,000 clients
   • Roughly 30% of clients are below poverty line.

   There is a massive potential for wind energy. Two billion people in the world still do not have access to electricity. While our current clients are coastal communities in Colombia and Venezuela, we are planning to expand to the rest of South America and the Caribbean before entering noncoastal zones that require a slightly different technology in order to be cost efficient—and other continents. Expansion plans are developed in collaboration with governments and after ensuring that the regional demand is sufficient to justify the installation of a mini plant.

7. Scale-up strategy:
   Over the next three years, we plan to reach 200,000 low-income families in eight countries. Demand is high and we have 10 additional groups in the saving stage in Venezuela. We are exploring partnerships in Haiti, Ecuador and Brazil. Public partnerships will be a key requirement to enable initial investment in the plants. We need to locate additional microfinance partners to organize the saving programs. Fortunately, ED has an extensive network. Anticipated constraints as we grow are corruption within local governments and challenges to develop local networks of microenterprises that are vital for local economies.

8. The organization:
   The priorities of the Windy Tulip Company are to generate returns for our shareholders, promote and implement a cleaner, more sustainable energy solution for our clients, and maintain a concern for social and environmental values. Our goal for both our low-income clients in developing countries and our European clients is to provide excellent service. EnergAir is not the most profitable business unit of the company, but it increases sales volume and fosters a culture of constant innovation. The initiative began after our CEO spent a week in a village in India without access to electricity. This life-changing experience made him realize how many opportunities electricity can bring, and he was struck by the large opportunities for a business with social impact in this field.

9. On the mosaic diagram:
   • Limited Purchasing Power of LIC
   • Leverage Local Assets

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