In this time of rising social concerns, social entrepreneurs – those who want to found a business that meets a social, economic or environmental need and turns a profit – are growing in number. To help them, New Brunswick’s Pond-Deshpande Centre (PDC) has launched a social enterprise accelerator program called B 4 Change.

Starting today, B 4 Change is taking eight companies – six from New Brunswick and two from Nova Scotia – and giving them the kind of training and mentoring usually available to companies that focus primarily on profitability.

“We’re trying to foster the development of socially oriented ventures – the kind that are focused on doing well and doing good,” said Karina LeBlanc, Executive Director of the Pond-Deshpande Centre, which is based at the University of New Brunswick.

The project is an exciting example of inter-provincial co-operation, said Heather Spidell, President and CEO of Nova Scotia’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, Education and Development (CEED), which is sponsoring the Nova Scotia participants thanks to $15,000 of provincial government support.

"At CEED we are continuously encountering entrepreneurs who want to launch a business that will make a difference and we want to support them anyway we can,” said Spidell. “Through our Youth Employability and Second Chance programs, some of our at-risk youth have had the opportunity to work with social entrepreneurs through work placements. Social entrepreneurs have provided youth with compassionate, educational and meaningful placements.”

LeBlanc said the Social Enterprise Accelerator Program will gather a cohort of individuals and organizations that are in the early stages of launching a new social enterprise and provide mentorship, expertise and investor exposure over a six-month term. Mentors will include such high-profile figures as Gerry Pond.

The successful entrepreneurs will spend 60 per cent of their time in the Fredericton hub and 40 per cent in Halifax.

“We wish to bridge the gap between challenges facing social entrepreneurs – the lack of funding resources, lack of connections, lack of support network -- and the creation of sustainable, scalable social enterprise,” explained LeBlanc. “We are taking the traditional economic models – the non-profit and for-profit models – and blending them together to make these businesses viable.”

LeBlanc said those attempting to establish socially focused businesses find it especially hard to attract investors because most investors are looking to maximize the returns on their investments. Impact investing – investing in order to make a social impact -- is an emerging field, but the amount of capital available in this area is relatively small. Also, traditional business models for this kind of venture – the charitable model and the not-for-profit model – do not encourage entrepreneurs to innovate, pivot or prioritize profitability.

LeBlanc said those who start social enterprise businesses often have a lot of expertise in their area but limited business experience.

She said the organizers anticipate that bringing social entrepreneurs together will give them a stronger presence. “Essentially, when groups with the same struggle come together they gain a bigger voice. The accelerator may become a lobbying platform for change.”       

Participating companies will also benefit from linking into the organizers’ networks. “We will be connecting them and integrating them into our national and international partnerships,” LeBlanc said. These include: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Deshpande Center for Innovation and Technology, the Merrimack Valley Sandbox and the Deshpande Foundation Sandbox in Hubli, India.

“It will be good for the entrepreneurs to connect with others in the same space. Socially minded enterprises are blossoming in many jurisdictions as people realize that the current economic models are not working,” LeBlanc continued. “Our social challenges are bigger than our need for the next great technology.”   

The ventures chosen to participate include Business Board, which helps non-profits maximize their marketing and communications and minimize costs by leveraging online communication boards, and Common Roots Urban Farm, which promotes urban agriculture, healthy eating and the revitalization of urban cores.

The region already has some interesting examples of social entrepreneurs. Recently, Halifax’s Hope Blooms, the community garden enterprise, raised $40,000 after the child entrepreneurs pitched to the wealthy investors on CBC’s Dragons’ Den.