By: Chris Wedding, PhD | Iron Oak Energy Capital “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Depending on whether you are from the South or the North, you’ll think that quote was attributed to Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky. With two degrees and a professorship at UNC Chapel Hill, I’m definitely going with More >
Vital – Absolutely necessary, essential Capital – Money used for a particular purpose After 25 years supporting financially under-served small to medium-sized American businesses through discrete private financings, we’ve honed the summary description of our businesses to: Meaningful Investments – Vital Capital Last month I addressed what Carofin means by Meaningful Investments. Here More >
By Chris Wedding In his latest article, Dr. Wedding, one of Carofin's investment bankers, speaks to a principle that I have espoused throughout my career. Diversity in the workplace (and our country) is not only the right thing to do... it's the most intelligent way to run any business. As you'll see below, the world's More >
by Chris Wedding If you only considered headlines like the ones below, you would think that COVID has obliterated the solar, wind, and related clean energy industries. Covid-19 Lockdown Could Kill 500k Cleantech Jobs (Forbes) Wind Energy Group Says $43 Billion at Risk from COVID-19 (Power) Tesla to Reduce On-Site Staff at Nevada Gigafactory by More >
In 72 hours, the first round of the Paycheck Protection Program exceeded the $350B capacity. In contrast, $120 Billion in loan capacity is still available after a month into Round 2. Congress interpreted this to mean that the loan forgiveness terms were too strict and passed legislation last night to add flexibility. Here we relay More >
By adopting a basic set of nature-informed rules as common practice, business owners can thrive to an even greater degree within the existing economic paradigm. While dyscalculia (in laymen’s terms, difficulty with math) often gets between me and the correct number, I have immense respect and appreciation for the concreteness of accounting—truly, even more so More >
While I now live in North Carolina, I’m originally from Kentucky where our state motto is “United we stand, divided we fall.” An essential attitude for these times … When I hear doubts about the U.S. and its ability to get through this crisis, I’m not buying it. We still, collectively, have enormous financial reserves More >
At this point, we’re probably each wondering what the world will look like when this crisis ends and whether we’ll get back to the “good ole days” of last month. I hope not. I hope not because, before COVID-19, the U.S. already had other major crises – we were just kicking those cans down the More >
The U.S. Treasury, the SBA and the Federal Reserve are moving quickly - trying to shore-up our economy. Nevertheless, private investment will soon be critical to our ability to respond to the “long tail” of COVID-19. HNW individuals, family offices and private investment funds will soon become the investors (lenders and equity holders) of last More >
As an investment banker for 36 years now, I’ve observed a significant number of world events during my career. I’ve always found myself wondering each time whether it’s signaled some new “world-order.” Usually, they didn’t, e.g., the 1987 stock market crash and various Recessions. But sometimes they did, such as the Berlin wall coming down, More >
This CARES Act update sends two messages: If you have applied for any of the SBA stimulus programs, you aren’t crazy, and you aren’t alone. Odds are that you haven’t received the $10,000 grant that was promised in 3 business days -- and your application to the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) has not been accepted, More >
The CARES Act now offers much needed financial assistance to business owners, but it can be a confusing process to navigate. Below are summaries of the most important SBA programs, steps to follow, and the forms and other company documentation needed to successfully apply. Eligible recipients include U.S. businesses that: Have been affected by More >
For sustainably-minded businesses, there are myriad solutions that will bridge us from a cradle-to-grave culture to one of a closed, cradle-to-grave goods market—and a thriving biosphere. Instead of moving on to a wholly separate subject matter from my previous column on biomimicry in business, I’d like to dive deeper. More specifically, I’d like to talk More >
By Gillie Roberts | Ware Don’t let the bureaucrats fool you: It is less about what a business is doing and more about how they’re doing it. For such a long word, “sustainable” seems to have found its way onto websites and advertisements by everyone from the service industry, to tech, to beauty products—reminding us all that no one pays by the letter for marketing materials anymore. More >
Just as numerous industries suffered in the great recession, so did surface and underground mining, and, consequently, mining equipment. But that was then, and this is now. The industry has reclaimed territory, and investors are taking notice. More >
Recent solar industry headlines (see the latest from Forbes) would suggest that international trade negotiations (or perhaps more precisely, disputes or wars) are among the most important things to know about solar. Opinions vary on the efficacy of such international policy, but suffice it to say that this escalating trade kerfuffle is masking the growing strength of the More >
In this article we ask and answer: “Should a private investor look closely at oil and gas exploration and development opportunities now? What do the pundits think?” More >
No, we’re not talking about developing drugs for orphans. But for 25 million Americans, according to the NIH, an “Orphan Drug” (one that serves fewer than 200k users and includes diseases such as cystic fibrosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and Tourette’s syndrome, among others) can spell the difference between misery (or worse) and getting through the More >
Okay, I know. Most people think of “dirty” coal or the Coal Miner’s Daughter. Understandably so, if those types of coal constitute greater than 95% of all the world’s known coal reserves. Did you know that Blue Gem Coal (and some valuable minerals derived from it) is used to make clean solar panels, cell phones, More >
It might be surprising to many investors to learn how large and how quickly the solar power market is growing. In 2017, 30% of all new U.S. electric generating capacity came from solar, ranking 2nd only to natural gas.SEIA-GTM (2018). U.S. Solar Market Insight In 2010, only 4% came from solar. And what may be even more surprising is that More >
By: Chris Clement, PhD A previous version of this article was published in the November 2017 issue of Real Assets Adviser. More >
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