Community Development Venture Capital Alliance

SJF Ventures
(formerly Sustainable Jobs Fund)

400 West Main St, Suite 604
Durham, NC 27701

Contact: David Griest,
Phone: (919) 530-1177
URL: www.sjfund.com
Email: dgriest@sjfund.com

SJF Ventures is a venture capital fund that finances and assists expansion stage companies that produce financial, social and environmental gains. SJF invests in clean technologies, business services and consumer products companies that are experiencing rapid growth. These companies achieve a competitive advantage through proprietary business models, quality management, high-performing entry-level workforces and environmental efficiencies. SJF provides equity financing from $500K to $5MM, solo or in syndicates, to companies with annual sales of $1MM to $20MM. SJF Advisory Services, an allied non-profit organization, provides entrepreneurial, workforce and sustainability assistance services to SJF prospect and portfolio companies.

Story

Simon Smock, an employee at Salvage Direct, started at entry level and over the past four years has steadily moved his way up to the position of team leader. Salvage Direct provides salvage vehicle management services and on-line auctions for the auto insurance industry. The company is located in the small town of Titusville, PA, where founder Bob Joyce grew up and later returned. The company has grown from 27 employees two years ago when SJF Ventures invested to 55 today. Simon and his fellow employees make a livable wage with good benefits, training, and advancement opportunities, and many hold company stock options and stand to gain alongside top management and investors if the company succeeds financially. “Salvage Direct is creating great technology and customer service career opportunities in a rural region where most old line oil and timber industries are laying off employees,” said Smock. “These jobs are particularly attractive because the company shares ownership and is open to ideas from employees at all levels.”

SJF Ventures has assisted Salvage Direct with strategic planning, hiring a chief operating officer, restructuring debt, and gaining recognition, including the Community Development Venture Capital Association (CDVCA) 2004 Excellence Award for a Portfolio Company. SJF Advisory Services, the venture fund’s allied nonprofit, has helped the company with its broad-based stock option plan, given it advice on setting up a 401(k), and helped it evaluate options for providing childcare assistance to employees.