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Andrew Butcher and Chris Koch

2008

Andrew Butcher and Chris Koch

GTECH Strategies

http://www.gtechstrategies.com

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Community Improvement & Economic Development, Environment

The Bold Idea:

Reclaiming vacant land through the growth of alternative energy crops in order to remediate soil, produce biofuel feedstock, and serve as a platform for green job training.

There are thousands of acres of vacant and blighted lands in the Pittsburgh, PA region. Unmanaged vacant land is a substantial drain on urban communities and public resources, resulting in a range of negative economic, environmental, and social impacts. Additionally, there is an increasing demand for locally produced alternative energy, coupled with a growing population of people with limited access to the opportunities emerging from the “green economy.”

GTECH Strategies (Growth Through Energy & Community Health) will employ an integrated approach that utilizes vacant land and brownfields as mechanisms to extend the green economy into distressed communities by growing alternative energy crops, such as sunflowers. Their overarching goal is to emphasize the considerable economic development opportunities of sustainable land-use practices. Specifically, they aim to reclaim land in and around Pittsburgh, create new revenue streams, and bolster a growing movement for green jobs by providing a platform for education, exposure, and access to a new market of opportunities for underserved populations. This strategy will improve environmental conditions, bolster economic development, and engage their local community.

Andrew Butcher and Chris Koch pitching at Echoing Green Selection Weekend (May 2, 2008)

Biography:

As recent graduates from The Heinz School of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, Andrew Butcher and Chris Koch have been inspired to synthesize their passions in community development and renewable energy. Their work stems from their graduate research examining green strategies for vacant land management.

Moment of Obligation: What experiences led to the desire to start your own organization?
During our graduate work at Carnegie Mellon the opportunity to start GTECH emerged as a part of a widespread, critical mass of concern and motivation to address vacant land. By creatively looking at vacant land as resource we found traction and encouragement to put our ideas into practice. Realizing that we could, in fact, address an ongoing problem by creating unlikely solutions, we were compelled to take the entrepreneurial leap.

Gall to Think Big: What has given you the ability to dream big and take on deeply entrenched social and difficult problems? (Such as experiences, skills, events, etc.)
We both come from big families. Hence we recognize the power of dreaming big and the significance of turning ideas into reality. We are dreamers and doers. We have been fortunate to have been empowered by our surrounding environment and community. At the end of the day we feel that if you are going to be a bear, be a grizzly.

New and Untested: What's innovative about your new idea for social change?
While there is widespread recognition of the value of green strategies for vacant land management, no one has ever tried growing alternative energy fuel crops on distributed vacant land in an urban context. While there are limitations in the amount of energy that can be yielded from such an approach, the value of promoting renewable energy in marginalized communities is a sensible resource utilization with multiple unique benefits.

Seeing Possibilities: What are the most important qualities to be a successful social entrepreneur?
It is important to see the possibilities and not the roadblocks. Like many things, communication, collaboration, and creativity are critical qualities. A defining lesson for us has been finding the courage to start with out knowing the answers or outcomes.

Which musical artists/albums get you going and keep you inspired?
CHRIS: The Ramones, Sex Pistols, 10,000 Maniacs, Bikini Kill, and The Cowboy Junkies, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Ted Wulfer.

ANDREW: Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Talking Heads, Taj Mahal, Greg Brown, Yonder Mountain, String Band, Toots and The Maytals, Bob Marley, Miles Davis, Sam Cook.

ANDREW/CHRIS: Angry Canola.

What books do you recommend (pleasure, work and anything in between)?
ANDREW: Ecology of Commerce, 100 Years of Solitude, Flow, Deep Ecology, Desert Solitaire, Einstein’s Dreams.

CHRIS: Frankenstein, Crime and Punishment, The Hand Maid’s Tale, Art and Lies.

ANDREW/CHRIS: 1984, Brave New World, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, The Giving Tree.

Which websites do you visit often (work and/or personal)?
Work:

Personal:

What advice or quote do you keep close to your heart as a social change leader?
CHRIS: “I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.” – Antonio Gramsci

ANDREW: “If I am not for myself, who will be? Yet if I am for myself only, what am I? If not now, when?” – Mike Marqusee

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