Media Kit

• Flyer

• Slide Deck

• Press Release

• General Description:

  • The NextCycle Washington Circular Accelerator Program is designed to identify and support promising businesses and projects focused on reuse, repair, recycling, composting, and the use of recycled content in new products. Applicants are selected for a six-month program that includes one-on-one consulting, a 2-day Accelerator Academy, funding pathway identification, partner and network facilitation, pitch development and other support efforts to move projects to investment-attractive and implementation-ready status. The culmination of the program is a showcase event where participants pitch their projects and compete for monetary awards in front of a judging panel and an audience of business leaders, public sector, and nonprofit representatives, as well as potential investors.   

• Cohort 2 Description:

  • NextCycle Washington is seeking applicants for the second cohort of its Circular Accelerator Program. The application period starts December 1, 2023, and extends through January 26, 2024. The program is seeking projects in two areas: 

    • Upstream Projects: businesses and projects that prevent waste or improve and expand reuse and repair of materials. 

    • Downstream Projects: businesses and projects that improve, innovate, or expand material and organic recycling, recovery and end uses. 

    Applicants selected will participate in a six-month program (Mar 2024 – Sep 2024) where they will attend a 2-day Accelerator Academy and receive one-on-one consulting to develop their business plan, refine their project pitch, identify partners and potential funding, and other business and technical support. These efforts culminate in a showcase event where teams pitch their projects and compete for monetary awards in front of a judging panel and an audience of business leaders, public sector, and non-profit representatives, as well as potential investors. 

    NextCycle Washington welcomes applications from businesses, entrepreneurs, universities, non-profits, community-based organizations, or tribal governments that have project ideas with the potential to contribute towards zero waste goals, greenhouse gas reductions, and equitable outcomes while stimulating the circular economy. 

• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Commitment:

  • The NextCycle Washington vision for a local circular economy is one where the people, businesses, and local economy benefit first and foremost. This program aims to be inclusive in its engagement, practice, and process, and has a goal to help reduce barriers to participation in Washington state's circular economy ecosystem. 

    NextCycle Washington strives to create an equitable system, especially for businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged persons, as defined by the Washington State Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE). 

    We anticipate that successful applicants will explicitly recognize how their project reflects Washington State Department of Health’s principles of environmental justice, equity, and inclusion, and demonstrate how it will serve and engage with overburdened members of the community. Applicants are encouraged to design projects that include benefits and positive economic impacts (such as jobs, livable wages, and labor income) for overburdened, under-resourced, or under-represented communities. 

• Funding and Facilitation:

  • NextCycle Washington is an initiative of the Washington State Department of Ecology and the Washington Recycling Development Center, with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The program is implemented by RRS, Cascadia Consulting Group, Traversal and Start Consulting. Special thanks go out to King County, Seattle Public Utilities, and the Washington State Department of Commerce for collaborating on the inaugural cohort in 2022-2023. conomy. 

LinkedIn: @NextCycle-Washington 

Sample social media text:

• SEEKING APPLICANTS: #NextCycleWashington is a free business accelerator for reuse/recycling/recycled content projects that provides business & technical consulting, pitch development, partner & network facilitation, pitch development and more! Businesses and non-profits are welcome to apply. Applications due Jan 26, 2024. https://www.nextcyclewashington.com/apply

• #NextCycleWashington is a free, 6-month business accelerator supporting projects focused on reuse, repair, recycling, composting, and the use of recycled content in new products. Applications due Jan 26, 2024 https://www.nextcyclewashington.com/apply

• Receive business & technical support for your reuse/recycling/recycled content projects from #NextCycleWashington. Apply for the free, 6-month business accelerator program by Jan 26, 2024. https://www.nextcyclewashington.com/apply  

Sample social media text (Spanish):

• BUSCANDO SOLICITANTES: #NextCycleWashington es un acelerador de negocios gratuito para proyectos de reutilización, reciclaje y contenido reciclado que ofrece consultoría empresarial y técnica, desarrollo de presentaciones, facilitación de socios y redes ¡y más! Se invita a empresas y organizaciones sin fines de lucro a presentar su solicitud. La fecha límite para presentar solicitudes es el 26 de enero de 2024. https://www.nextcyclewashington.com/apply

• #NextCycleWashington es un acelerador de negocios gratuito de 6 meses que apoya proyectos centrados en la reutilización, reparación, reciclaje, compostaje y el uso de contenido reciclado en nuevos productos. La fecha límite para presentar solicitudes es el 26 de enero de 2024. https://www.nextcyclewashington.com/apply

• Reciba apoyo empresarial y técnico para sus proyectos de reutilización, reciclaje y contenido reciclado de #NextCycleWashington. Solicite su participación en el programa de aceleración empresarial gratuito de 6 meses antes del 26 de enero de 2024. https://www.nextcyclewashington.com/apply

Hashtags:

• #NextCycleWashington

• #CircularEconomy

• #Accelerator

• #EconomicDevelopment

• #SmallBusinessSupport