By Monica Chen

mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636

DURHAM — Bull City Forward unveiled its three-year strategic plan on Tuesday, showing that it plans to form partnerships with local schools and universities, analyze the impact of social enterprises and create a directory for social entrepreneurs and help them find funding.

The nonprofit organization, which began ramping up last fall, has raised $100,000 for its initial launch, found space in the Kress building downtown and counts 31 members.

At the end of three years, BCF hopes to have 30 students from local schools trained and placed in social enterprises, have 50 regular members, raise $2 million for the Social Innovation Fund, have revenue of about $880,000 and begin plans to move into a 30,000-square-foot permanent campus.

This year, the organization hopes to raise $200,000 from foundations and appropriations.

As Christopher Gergen, head of BCF, said during his presentation to supporters and business owners, “We have larger aspirations. We have a bigger appetite.”

But as the organization is growing, explaining the concept of social entrepreneurship — still a murky idea for many — and the lack of funding remain challenges. Social enterprises are businesses that adhere to a triple bottom line of “people, planet, profit.” They’ve also been described as for-profits with a nonprofit heart.

“There is a lack of startup capital for entrepreneurs in this community,” Gergen said.

BCF has been building through broad collaborations with various groups and institutions in Durham and seeks to create a nest of sorts, utilizing resources and networks with different parts of the community, to grow entrepreneurs and keep them in Durham.

Although BCF is not the only social innovation campus in the U.S., Alison Dorsey, who handles memberships and partnerships with BCF, said they hope to stand out in at least one way.

“No one is looking at the ecosystem,” Dorsey said. “We hope to have private offices and service providers together, so all the pieces are together in one room.

Dorsey said she thinks of Durham as having five sectors: educational institutions, nonprofit/for-profit funding, nonprofits, for-profits, government. BCF’s role will be connect the sectors to make resources and opportunities more easily accessible for entrepreneurs.

The organization already has begun offering workshops in the Kress building. Dub Gulley, director of the Small Business Center at Durham Technical Community College, has office hours there.

Starting tonight, there will also be an event on every third Wednesday of the month, called the Innovation Café, which will feature a different startup every month and be held in Beyú Caffé downtown. The founders of Palmer Labs will speak tonight at 7.

“There is a tremendous synergy and excitement about really making Durham into an entrepreneurial hub,” Gergen said.