By Tim Krohn
MANKATO — View April Femrite's Forbes.com contest entry and video.
April Femrite wants your vote.
The Mankato woman — a finalist in an American Idol-style contest for entrepreneurs sponsored by Forbes.com — is hoping to land $100,000 in cash and advertising for her bamboo fiber clothing business.
She already bested more than 1,500 other entrants in the country to become one of 20 finalists. That honor came from her written submission reviewed by Forbes’ judges.
Landing in the final five — and getting a trip to New York where the winner will be picked — is based solely on online votes submitted at http://boost09.perfectprize.com/voting/.
Voting is open until Sept. 30.
“I’m a little nervous about the voting. I feel more comfortable doing a presentation in front of judges instead of just seeing who has the biggest e-mail list,” said Femrite, who started Naturally Bamboo two years ago.
She’s trying to spread the word through social media such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in hopes of garnering more votes.
A part of each of the finalists’ profile is a 30-second video of them pitching their business. Femrite’s video shows her talking fast about her business and dreams while a friend holds up large sheets of hand-drawn signs that include the messages: “Yes, she is actually wearing bamboo,” and “Yes, she will re-use & then recycle this paper.”
The video, paid for by Forbes and shot in a Twin Cities studio, was not long in the making, Femrite admits.
“I threw the video together with my friend the morning we taped it,” she said. “Thirty seconds is hard to do. I had to do it several times because I went too long.”
This is the third year of Forbes.com’s Boost Your Business contest. The winner gets $50,000 in cash and $50,000 in advertising on Forbes.com.
Some of the other finalists include a New Jersey man who started a business that rents books like Netflix rents movies and a California Web-based business called Plastic Jungle, where people can buy, exchange and donate gift cards that would otherwise go unused.
The mission of Femrite’s company — www.naturallybambooclothing.com — is to produce clothing that is made from sweatshop-free manufacturers and to employ business practices that have the lowest impact on the environment. Naturally Bamboo clothing is manufactured by sewing facilities that abide by fair labor standards.
Her long-range goal is to create a supply chain that is entirely American for her bamboo fiber lines. Right now there are just two factories, both in China, that produce the bamboo fiber. She buys finished bamboo fiber cloth from companies in L.A. and Toronto and hires contract workers in the Twin Cities to do the cutting and sewing.
She’s working with others in the bamboo industry to develop bamboo fiber agriculture in Mississippi. “Their climate is perfect for growing bamboo and their cotton and catfish industries are pretty much dead. This is just the kind of green, renewable jobs everyone wants to create.”
Femrite was a 2007 graduate of the Greater Mankato Business Accelerator program, which is geared to help entrepreneurs get started.
Jill Klinger, head of the accelerator program, said Femrite was given help in making business connections and developing a business plan.
“A lot of it was connecting her with individuals in the area who knew about international manufacturing,” Klinger said.
“We’re so excited for her. Anytime anyone we work with does so well, it’s all we need.
“If we can get people to vote for her, all the better.”
