Ventures in Development is a social enterprise that seeks to elevate the lives of the poor through growing the spirit of entrepreneurship. Venture in Development is currently trying to incubate two ventures, Mei Xiang Cheese Factory and The Shokay Company. The concept is to capitalize on Western China's abundant resource - 13 million yaks.

1. Mei Xiang Cheese Factory

Mei Xiang Cheese Factory is a bottom up initiative of Tibetan farmers. It was first launched by Chinese Exploration and Research Society (CERS) in 2004. CERS invited Ranee May, a dairy expert from the University of Wisconsin to teach the Tibetans how to make Western style cheese. After two years of product development, the cheese is ready! Our goal is to bring the cheese to market and help Mei Xiang Cheese Factory become a viable social enterprise in rural China. We believe this can be a profitable venture and on top of that, increase the local community's income.

2. The Shokay Company

The Shokay Company is a for-profit social enterprise that will bring Shokay yarn and throws to the U.S knitters market. Shokay is Tibetan for "yak down", a high quality fiber similar in quality to cashmere. By moving towards purchasing raw fiber directly from isolated local communities in Western China, we provide them with a steady source of income. Our value proposition is providing exotic yet affordable luxuries with socially conscious origins.

Why China?

Certain regions in Western China are currently left out of China's mainstream development plans for the following three main reasons:

1. Government focus on development of major cities
Over the past 20 years, the Chinese government has focused on developing coastal cities in order to drive economic growth. In recent years, it has launched the Go West campaign to invest in the neglected Western regions. However, even within the Western region, the distribution of resources has been unequal. Only major cities of strategic interest for the government have received funds for development, again excluding the more remote areas.

2. Lack of market information and access
Remote and mountainous locations have isolated many poor communities from the market and prevented contact with advanced urban areas. There is a lack of bilateral information flow on demand and supply of goods and services.

3. Poor utilization and development of natural resources
The poor are endowed with rich natural resources but most are only locally consumed. Local governments lack strategic planning and market facilitation capacities to better leverage their abundant natural resources to generate incremental income.