Bloomberg Businessweek Announces America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs of 2010

Bloomberg Businessweek just announced America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs of 2010, the second annual competition to highlight socially conscious entrepreneurs across the country. Readers selected five winners from a slide show presentation of 25 finalists. The winners are as follows:

1. Hello Rewind, based in New York City, makes custom sleeves for laptops out of old t-shirts to help sex trafficking victims with job training and placement.

2. The Redwoods Group of Morrisville, N.C. insures under-served organizations like YMCAs.

3. BlackGold Biofuels of Philadelphia, PA is changing “the economics of disposal” by developing equipment that chemically transforms sewer grease into biodiesel.

4. Tied for fourth place are Arkansas-based rural development bank Southern Bancorp and California-based Driptech, which makes affordable drip irrigation systems.

5. Global Cycle Solutions of Cambridge, MA makes bicycle attachments for farmers in developing countries to shell corn and charge their cell phones with “pedal power.”

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.