The Forest Foundation, Inc.

Now that we are comfortably settled in, we have started busily to work on the site, slowly upgrading, cleaning and improving the infrastructure. We hope to create a model site in sustainable development and alternative energy, housing our biodiesel production and distribution operation, a waste oil collection and processing system, and demonstrating an array of green technologies, including a green, roof-top garden, water catchment recycling system, solar hot-water, bioheat/geothermal mass heating/cooling system, composting toilets, and a host of others.

The site’s Building I has over 10K ft2 and 3 large office areas and Building II has 4 garage bays, two of which house our biodiesel operation and the other two have been sublet to My Taller mechanics shop. Having a mechanic on site has helped immensely, servicing Bull City customers as well as the fleets of Greenway and CBL. The site’s infrastructure lends itself to efficiency’s and closed loop engineering. We have partnered with Biologix of the Triangle to create a waste oil recycling and processing operation to provide feedstock for the biodiesel reactor. Forest of the World is comfortably housed on the warehouse space of which the new site abounds.

Since our move, we have had articles in the Durham News and Observer on our green transportation business and our biodiesel operation, and picked up our largest biodiesel customer, Orange Recycling (the Triangle’s largest commercial recycler), who is now running their fleet of 15 trucks on B100. ShimarRecycling came on board as well with their fleet of 6 trucks. CBL’s sales are expected to quadruple in 2007 and Greenway is slowly building its pedicab, limo and bus service, reaching out to restaurants and businesses for underwriting. We received a $20K grant from Triangle Clean Cities and have installed a card swipe B100 pump and tank.

The Site is located in an urban redevelopment zone and a great deal of funding and support is available as the site is an historic property, built in the 20’s, and qualifies for tax credits and low interest loans. The site boasts 400K in above ground storage tanks, rail spur, spill containment and oil/water separator system. We expect the site will need several hundred thousand dollars to bring it up to full operation and we are seeking investors and donors. We took on a new, part-time coordinator for Greenway, Dana Demaio, who has done a great job in managing the business and have some additional help with FOW and TFF. Kyley Schmidt worked with FOW this summer as an intern and helped with IT and sales of overstocked items. Katie Weber came on in August to help with our Grand Opening on Sept. 14th (among other super helpful things), before she headed out to South America again.

In other news, TFF and FOW exhibit again at the NY Gift show and introduced Peace Goods, a Malagasy silk company to the show. FOW entered into negotiations with Gecko Traders to purchase their line of silk and recycled rice bags. FOW sales have slowed and we have back-burnered investment in the handicraft business until we can stabilize the other businesses and their high time and capital demands during their rapid growth. MK and Marc took a vacation in April and visited Lake Tahoe, San Francisco and Monterey Bay (see their blog on the trip).