On this week’s episode of The Friday Nooner sponsored by Dualboot Partners, Jackie took over the role as third co-host because Chantal is on spring break with her family. Pete, Joe and Jackie talked about the rising home and rental prices in the Triangle and the many impacts and responses—including some new local startups in the real estate space.
Our featured guest is Leigh-Kathryn Bonner, CEO and founder of Durham-based Bee Downtown. Launched in 2015, Bee Downtown installs and maintains beehives on corporate campuses in urban areas to support sustainable agriculture. It also provides leadership development programming and employee engagement to its partners—which is the primary revenue driver of their business model.
Here are some highlights:
- Surprise! Jackie’s back. (She was unaware she would be the third co-host today, but hey, you’ve got to roll with the punches!) She talked with Joe and Pete about the rising home and rental prices in not only the Triangle, but the rest of the country.
- Leigh-Kathryn—she said we could call her LK—was always fascinated by the world of agriculture. Growing up, her family’s farm kept bees because they increased crop production. She talked about the various types of bees, Bee Downtown leadership programs, and how exactly a corporate partnership with the startup works.
- Bee Downtown installed and maintained about 500 bee hives in the Triangle and Atlanta area this year, including about 150 of their own “in-house” hives. LK said that they install the hives wherever it is safe to do so because that’s a priority of theirs. “We want people to love the bees, learn about agriculture, rebuild a new sense of respect for agriculture,” she said. “We never want to scare people by any means.” Though Pete still seemed scared by the mere mention of bees. Wimp!
Thanks again to our sponsor, Dualboot! Watch the full episode LinkedIn here or on Facebook here.
Or on YouTube:
Or if you’re an audio learner, check out the podcast version:
