180? Properties & Building New Internet Startups; Chicago Innovation!

Over the next two weeks, Flyover Geeks will be the exclusive media outlet for an innovative initiative led by Jeb Ory, (whom our readers may know as the CEO of The App House) and Jennifer Kim. Ory and Kim are both MBA candidates at the Chicago Booth School of Business and will be recounting daily adventures as they tackle a unique “Midterm Experience” project offered in a class called ‘Building Internet Start-ups: Risk, Reward, and Failure’. The class, taught by Eric Lefkofksy and Brad Keywell, the co-founders of Groupon & founders of Lightbank challenged teams of up to five students to create as much value as possible in a two-week period. Each student was given $5 to start and was allowed to pool that money with the members of the group to buy a toy. The professors will determine what constitutes “value.”

So how are Ory and Kim going to do it? Their (very ambitious) goal is to trade and barter their toy (a $6.99 Beanie Baby lion) to items worth more than $100,000 in just two weeks. They will definitely need Chicago’s help to do it. They have partnered with an organization called 180? Properties LLC, a premier property services enterprise dedicated to community revitalization and the eradication of poverty by empowering individuals through the creation of sustainable jobs.

180? Properties is a joint venture fully owned by two non-profit organizations, Mercy Housing and The Cara Program. Ory and Kim will be working on behalf of 180? Properties, and will be donating everything they obtain over the next two weeks to the organization. The students will be posting realtime updates on their Facebook Fan Page called Transforming Chicago, which is available here: TransformingChicago. According to John Rush, the President of Cleanslate Chicago and 180? Properties, 180? Properties addresses property management needs throughout the city, providing value services to both clients and the workforce. “Our recruitment focus is designed to hire and train individuals from the communities hardest hit by foreclosure. Consistent with the mission of our founding non-profit workforce development organization, The Cara Program, which provides extensive career & life skills training to unemployed disadvantaged individuals who are homeless or at risk of homelessness; we offer a robust training and development experience. 180? Properties delivers intensive hard skills training with the goal of creating sustainable jobs and career advancement opportunities for individuals with significant obstacles to employment,” Rush said. 180? Properties needs many things to grow and expand its operation, including: coffee, paper, pens, hammers, tool belts, drills, saws, panel saws, plywood, computers, printers, route management software, rehab/remodeling estimation software, generators, line-trimmers, lawn mowers, back pack blowers, cargo vans, box trucks, gasoline, utility bill payment, insurance payment, 2% loan of $200k, and cash donations of any size. How will the next two weeks work? Ory and Kim are actively seeking out prospective donors in the Chicagoland area who would be open to donating any of the above-referenced items to them on behalf of 180? Properties. If in-kind donations are made that directly address a need listed above, the donor will be able to deduct the value of the donation. If they donate or exchange for something that is not requested by 180? Properties, their donated item will be used by Ory and Kim in their bartering efforts to “trade-up” to secure something else of need. To donate cash directly to 180? Properties, please visit: http://www.gofundme.com/TransformingChicago. Ory and Kim made their first trade yesterday. They traded the Beanie Baby for a Garmin GPS NUVI with Michael Cates, another Booth MBA student. “I am really happy about trading something that doesn’t have any value to me for something that does. My 10-month old daughter will like the lion much more than the GPS, and I feel great about helping 180? Properties,” Cates said. Be sure to tune into their progress each day. Ory and Kim will be providing daily updates of their progress, and you will be able to read about here, exclusively, on Flyover Geeks! More information about 180? Properties (previously known as Cleanslate Property Services). A former division of Cleanslate Chicago, founded in 2005, 180? Properties incubated as CSPS beginning in 2009. Due to the overwhelming success of the property services division, the magnitude of the opportunity, and to support the growth of the business, we transitioned into an independent full service property services organization. We specialize in the maintenance of REO foreclosure properties, our scopes of services include: REO services; PPO services; Inspections; Property Maintenance; Demolition; Construction & Rehabilitation services; Hazard Claims; and Metal Securing. Our Key Partnerships include Bank of America; Wells Fargo; the City of Chicago Dept. of Buildings; Safeguard Properties; JP Morgan Chase (our Founding Funder); Mercy Portfolio Services, administrators of the City of Chicago NSP funds, NHS, Historic Chicago Bungalow Association, and other. Stellar Customer Service… Ongoing foreclosure challenges and the demands of a changing marketing fueled 180? Properties’ commitment to provide quality and flawless execution. We launched our Expansion Initiative in the Fall of 2010, extending our services to offer statewide coverage in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. We are positioned to partner with local community-based and workforce development organizations to provide training and permanent job opportunities throughout the Midwest. What distinguishes 180? Properties from many preservation companies is that we provide a distinct presence in the communities we serve. We endeavor to achieve flawless execution and the highest quality while working alongside our client partners to manage the operational and reputational risks associated with the foreclosure challenge. We pride ourselves on the being a property services enterprise with a social responsibility to go beyond what is expected, we are …The Next Step.