potrero view
Photograph by Lisa Tehrani

Photograph by Lisa Tehrani

Foodies flocked to Dogpatch last month for the Outside in 5 street food event. More than one-dozen specialty foods were offered by vendors and local businesses, drawing hundreds of locals and others to the normally quiet neighborhood.

July 2010

New Economy Emerges in Dogpatch Historic District

By Bill Slatkin

In the midst of the Great Recession, a new economy – built around concepts like energy independence, green practices, and innovative approaches to health care – is emerging in Southeast San Francisco.  Enterprises located throughout the area are transforming vehicles from gasoline dependence to electricity, creating back-to-the-future manufacturing processes, and integrating eastern and western healing modes, among other ventures.  Anchored by the University of California, San Francisco Mission Bay medical center to the north, and someday potentially extending to a new green technology center at the former Hunters Point Shipyard, a neglected former industrial zone is steadily re-emerging as a node of employment and innovation.

DogPatch Biofuels
DogPatch Biofuels, located on Pennsylvania and 23rd streets, is in its third year as the City’s only retail biofuel station.  The facility is a model of modern sustainability, offering a depository for used cooking oil, and pumping vegetable oil-based fuel into diesel powered vehicles.  Those vehicles include the 15 passenger vans operated by Incredible Adventures, an ecologically aware tour company that recently purchased DogPatch Biofuels from founders Michele Swiggers and Robin Gold.

The acquisition enables Incredible Adventures to continue its green and clean practices and “continue to foster this business model as Robin and Michele always intended, “ chief executive officer Jolie Ginsburg said.    “This is a great neighborhood. We’re very happy to be part of it.” said the company’s president, Brian Deninger.   

According to manager Joe Marlin, the station has been pumping from seven to ten thousand gallons of biofuel monthly, with a recent marked increase, as more diesel-powered vehicle owners discover a way to fuel up without buying a petroleum product.  BP’s Gulf Coast oil spill has also been good for Dogpatch Biofuels’ business. “People have told me they used to come here just when it was convenient; when they were in the area. Now I’m hearing customers say that because of what happened in the Gulf, they make it a point to buy biodiesel,” Marlin said.

 “It’s not a matter of vegetable oil coming in on one side [of the station], and going out the other as fuel,” Marlin pointed out.  There’s an intermediate process, conducted by specialized facilities, that converts vegetable-based oils to B-100 biofuel.  “I’ve been in fleet management for many years and it used to break my heart a bit to send vehicles out to pollute the air. It’s great to know ours are running so clean,” said Marlin.

Green Gears
Another campaign to wean vehicles off petroleum is being waged less than a half mile from Dogpatch Biofuels.  At Green Gears technicians install lithium ion batteries in Prius automobiles to shift the electric-gasoline balance towards electricity.  Green Gears uses hymotion 123, one of several conversion technologies, to increase fuel economy and reduce harmful emissions. It’s the only approach that doesn’t compromise an automobile’s ability to meet federal crash-test standards and emissions requirements.

Green Gears emerged from Pat’s Garage, located at 24th and Indiana streets.  An entrepreneur more than a mechanic, owner Pat Cadam has been learning and teaching the latest automotive technologies for a quarter-century.  “My shop was the first one in San Francisco to computerize so we could handle the newer vehicles and stay on top of the technology,” he said.   There were bumps along this road, according to Cadam.  Electronic vehicles manufacturers – Ford, Honda and General Motors – “were not willing to share the information about their cars.”  Cadam participated in the independent repair industry’s battle, which achieved some success in the early-1990s, to extract information from manufacturers to enable non-dealers to work on the vehicles.

While nurturing a life-long passion for automobiles, Cadam is also dedicated to the environment.  “I think what really impacted me as a kid was spending time on my uncle’s farm in Iowa.  And I still remember fishing for catfish on the Mississippi with Grandpa and Grandma.”  Cadam recently helped San Francisco City College secure a half-million dollars of Federal Stimulus Act money to train students in electric vehicle technology.  The resulting curriculum is available to independent auto garages, as well as the crew responsible for maintaining the City and County of San Francisco’s  fleet of hybrid and electric cars.

Cadam established Green Gears – a partnership he founded with Nick Rothman, an engineer he met at Farley’s – to modify hybrids so they’re less petroleum dependent, at a cost of roughly $4,000 a vehicle.  “The modification makes it possible to get a lot more energy out of a vehicle’s battery,” said Cadum. “A typical Prius owner might get 50 or 55 miles to the gallon. When I drive mine right, I can get 125 or more.”  Cadam worked with the San Francisco Public Utility Commission and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E ) to set-up three electricity recharging stations in front of City Hall.  Cadam is establishing similar conversion enterprises throughout the country.

Cadam pointed out that the Prius and other hybrids display engine performance details, such as the rate of fuel consumption, enabling drivers to operate their vehicles in the most fuel-efficient manner.  “The brilliant thing Toyota is doing is teaching people how to drive in a new way. It’s making them engaged with the vehicle, forces them to be aware of what they are doing,” he said.  “The company is preparing drivers – training us – so we’re ready for all-electric vehicles.”

San Francisco Community Power
In the American Industrial Center (AIC), located on Third Street, a nonprofit working to help lower utility bills for low-income families and small businesses considers the flow of information to be as important as the flow of electricity.  San Francisco Community Power (SF Power) launched its  “demand-response” (DR) initiative in 2006.  With cash as an incentive, SF Power encourages small companies to reduce their electricity use when demand for electricity peaks.

According to Steve Moss, SF Power’s founder, publisher of the View, and a candidate for Distict 10 Supervisor, when Bay Area demand for power peaks, PG&E puts its most expensive and polluting resources into service.  “That increases energy costs as well as pollution, because the last-in-line resources typically consist of older equipment that’s not as clean,” he said.  Under SF Power’s DR program, which is funded by utility ratepayers, participating small companies and some cities – including Hayward, Pittsburg,  Antioch and Fremont – are notified when demand for the area’s power grid is approaching available supplies. The participants then turn off lights and shut down power-using equipment to reduce pressure on the system.  

In exchange for their efforts, over the past three years more than a quarter of a million dollars has been distributed to roughly 200 small businesses and cities, according to SF Power’s associate director, Paul Liotsakis.  Liotsakis noted that when the initiative began SF Power was “the only organization in the state, as far as I know, actively enrolling small and medium-sized businesses” in a DR program.

When the enterprise first set-up shop on Evans Street in 2001 – near the Hunters Point Power Plant – and later moved across the street from the Potrero Power Plant, it wasn’t because of the neighborhood’s attractions.  “Being in this area,” said Moss, “is actually part of our mission. We work with low income families in Bayview-Hunters Point to improve their energy efficiency.”  An important part of the nonprofit’s mission, according to Moss, is to fight for a cleaner environment.  SF Power was active in the successful campaign to decommission the Hunters Point Power Plant, and has long targeted the Potrero Power Plant, which will likely be shuttered once a cable delivering power from the East Bay is placed into service.

Rickshaw Bagworks
Rickshaw Bagworks moved into the heart of the Dogpatch commercial area two years ago.  According to founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Mark Dwight – a Stanford University Masters of Business Administration graduate and former CEO of Timbuktu – there’s a place in the economy for “companies that can produce and distribute things cheaply, things we don’t have an emotional attachment to.  I want my razors to be cheap. I use a lot of them. I don’t have a real connection with something like that.”  But there’s also demand for artisanal products produced and sold by companies that nurture authentic and enduring relationships with customers.

Rather than manufacturing shoulder bags as a commodity – grabbing finished products off the shelf to fill orders – Rickshaw Bagworks collaborates with its customers to create one-of-a-kind items.  “People are really attached to their bags,” said Dwight.  “Our bags are a fashion accessory. They say something about us.”  To keep made-to-order products affordable, Rickshaw has adopted a manufacturing model developed decades ago by automobile companies.   Starting with a basic black chassis for the bag’s structure – similar to an automobile manufacturer beginning with a chassis – the company adds the customized parts:  color, fabric, and style.  “That’s what gives the bag its personality. We can deliver exactly what the customer wants. Within certain parameters, you can even design your own bag.”

Production costs are kept low because the expensive component – the handwork that goes into constructing the chassis – is mass-produced in China.  While “some people might have a problem with the idea that part of the bag is made in China,” said Dwight, “we are up front about it. You can find out about this on our website.”  Dwight strongly believes that mixing components from the best available sources is an effective way to build products that satisfy consumer desires and match their budgets. Ranging in price from $40 to roughly $180, Rickshaw’s offerings represent “our brand with a specific price/performance balance.”

The company’s four product groupings include its Commuter 2.0 bag, a Moleskin folio, an iPad sleeve – its newest item – and the Zero Messenger, named for the amount of wasted material that goes into its manufacture.  Rickshaw Bagworks – the name is meant to recognize customers who are bicyclists, with the Japanese term for a “human powered vehicle” – even converts recycled beverage bottles to a form of material far more attractive on a Rickshaw bag than it was when stacked in the soda cooler at 7-11.

Dwight has a passion for what he calls “the fun of making things,” a feeling that’s matched by his enthusiasm for the City and the neighborhood.  “With wine you talk about an appellation…a geographic region. Here we are in San Francisco and the geography is an ingredient, it informs our brand.  This is a working family neighborhood.  Dogpatch has a rich history as a working class area. We like that; the mixture and the vitality of this area.”  It was this thinking that inspired Dwight to found SF Made, a nonprofit with more than fifty members devoted to recognizing and celebrating the innovative approach to manufacturing practiced by many San Francisco companies.

Acupuncture Kitchen
“It’s like living in an Ayn Rand novel,” said Caylie See, operator of Acupuncture Kitchen, referring to the “edginess” and industrial feel of the blocks along and adjacent to the Third Street corridor.  That industrial influence is obvious in her business, located in the AIC building, with its high ceilings and exposed brick and beam.  But the vibe is personal and serene.

The Kitchen provides a range of health services, with a focus on women’s health and fertility.  A licensed acupuncturist, See works with another acupuncturist, Nikki Fancher.  Nell Waters offers curative massage, and Claudine Solin Radford provides psychotherapy services.  “There’s a saying that western medicine is hard to learn but easy to use. And eastern medicine is the opposite.  The reason it is hard to apply eastern modes is because we recognize that every patient is different and each needs care specific for that individual,” said See.  According to See, acupuncture is “about integrative medicine. We feel it’s important to be aware of both [eastern and western] approaches. Whatever is most effective to meet the individual’s needs.”

The Kitchen – given its name, said See, because it’s a place where “people get nourishment and the ingredients for good health” – offers a range of herbal curatives, reflexology, skin care, nutritional information and education to help patients address health and fertility issues. That includes learning how to mix up an herbal brew to restore energy, or a salve to promote healing.  “It’s important that our clients are involved in their own healing. That’s the way we can help people to make the changes that are realistic and impactful.”  See explained, for example, that pain treatment using acupuncture “is not just passive where the patient lies there for the needles. We use an active approach incorporating movement. And we get much better results than passive treatment alone.”

Ordinarily a quiet place with colorful paintings displayed on a rotating basis featuring local artists, the Kitchen’s large reception area is often used for community events.  Monthly gatherings typically focus on health education, with medical professionals, authors and cooking experts sharing ideas and information.  In somewhat of a departure, the Kitchen’s most recent event was its  “Lesbian Kung-Fu Vampires in the Dogpatch,”  a party featuring Chinese elixir drinks, organic popcorn, a movie and prizes contributed by local businesses, including Rickshaw Bagworks.

A New Economy
The American corporate landscape may be populated with organizations exploiting customers - even the environment, if necessary – to increase profits.  But there are emerging enterprises in a new economy:  companies and nonprofits that educate and nurture relationships with customers, behave like responsible citizens and work to solve problems through innovation.   Some of those organizations can be found at the base of Potrero Hill.

Dogpatch resident Bill Slatkin is a business writer and marketing consultant.

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