If you’ve never heard of Kittanning, you’re not alone. Kittanning is a small town about 40 miles outside Pittsburgh and home to about 4-5000 people as of the last census.
Like many towns in America (not to mention the UK and just about every other developed country), Kittanning was once home to industry – in this case “iron and steel works, foundries, coal mines, glassworks, flour and lumber mills, china, pottery, brick, lime, and clay works, mirror and typewriter factories, breweries” – but its population has declined as those industries died out.
And like many towns, the people of Kittanning have decided to try and do something to reverse the decline. Mirroring projects in towns, cities and countries the world over, RefreshKittanning.com has been setup to encourage people to not only submit their ideas for the town but also get involved in helping to make them happen.
The focus for the town is entrepreneurship – how can they encourage more starts and attract new ones in. Founder of the site, Mike Rizzo got in touch to tell us a little more: More after the jump …
You wouldn’t think that technology and forestry had a lot in common but Irish software company Treemetrics would beg to differ.
Recent global finalists in the IBM Smartcamp awards, the company uses 3D laser scanning techniques to give forest owners a detailed picture of their ‘stock’. This information can then be used to monitor the forest’s condition, better plan their cutting and match “the right forest to the right mill”.
Measuring and mapping forests is already common practice but largely consists of clipboards and callipers. Treemetrics’ system can cut the costs of this process by up to 75% and provide more accurate, usable results at the same time.
No wonder then that they’re picking up awards and orders all over the place.
Proving that with a little imagination just about any experience can be reimagined, Germany’s Wash & Coffee is one part laundromat, one part coffee shop and one part community hub.
Not only does it not look an awful lot like the kind of laundromat I remember from my stint as a student – but it doesn’t act like one either.
Mixed in with the suds, soap and spin cycles are a coffee and snack bar, serious green credentials and an impressive calendar of events that includes everything from standup comedy to live music to charity drives.
And uniquely for a laundromat they’ve also got a rather funky wesbite and a growing Facebook following.
If you’ve ever thought that sites like eBay, Craigslist or Etsy felt a little anonymous then Krrb may well be for you.
Krrb follows the same basic premise but organises its online community around physical cities and neighbourhoods, allowing you to trade, sell, swap or give away stuff locally – and most importantly – in person. The site isn’t tecnically an ecommerce site in that Krrb simply brings the parties together, with transactions happening offline.
From the site:
Krrb is a safe place to buy, sell, trade or give to your neighbors — locally and in-person. Krrb puts you at the center of your stomping grounds and displays all that you and your neighbors have to offer.
Not only does this help set the site apart but it also creates a real sense of community and could even serve to help people get to know their neighbours better. Think garage sale rather than global marketplace.
It also goes to show that even in well-established online business models there’s room for real innovation.
We’ve long been big fans of home-business community Enterprise Nation here on Iddictive so when founder Emma Jones dropped us a line to let us know about the launch of their new site, we thought we’d give it a plug here.
Bitsy (http://bitsythis.com) is described as “the friendliest business to business marketplace on the web” – and was started following conversations Twitter.
The site boasts Facebook-like social networking features that allow small business owners to add friends, update their status, create and join groups.
Enterprise Nation founder Emma Jones said:
“Small business owners are growing by focusing on what they do best and outsourcing the rest. They’re looking for talent to take on jobs like marketing, design and bookkeeping – and Bitsy offers a place to do that.”
Bitsy will also be rewarding its friendliest members with extra profile. Those who subscribe to Bitsy as sellers may be interviewed for the Bitsy blog and considered case studies for press enquiries and Enterprise Nation publications.
It’s free to join Bitsy, costs £5 per month to list one service in the Bitsy directory and £8 per month to list up to five.
