Deep Springs International was founded at Grove City College (GCC), a highly rated Christian liberal arts college in Pennsylvania. Many GCC students are involved in helping disadvantaged people in the United States and around the world, often using their professional training and expertise. These experiences apply and reinforce classroom instruction and, more importantly, show students how they can fight poverty in the context of their vocations. In fact, several Grove City professors have made concerted efforts, with successful results, to provide opportunities for business and entrepreneurship students to fight poverty.

Deep Springs International began when Ruth Dykstra, a student majoring in entrepreneurship, began working with Hope for the Children of Haiti (HFC), a Christian NGO that serves children in Haiti, primarily through its school in Port au Prince. With guidance from Gerald Walle, Chairman of HFC’s Board, and Timothy Mech, Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship at GCC, Ruth explored ways to create jobs for HFC clients in Haiti. It quickly became apparent that there was an enormous need and potential for water treatment businesses, and that additional help would be required to evaluate possible ways to enter this market. In addition to making many phone calls to NGOs and government agencies involved in water treatment, three other students were recruited to assist in this research.

Katie Garland and James Palmer contributed business, research, and financial skills, while Michael Ritter — a senior in molecular biology with a strong interest in public health — studied water treatment methods and already had made three visits to the Dominican Republic.

After exploring the activities of other organizations, it became clear it would be feasible to incubate water businesses by building partnerships between schools, MFIs, and other NGOs. The GCC students involved in this effort wrote an 80-page business plan to establish Deep Springs International to facilitate these partnerships. This plan was reviewed by outside experts and received first place in the not-for-profit sector in the Grove City College Annual Business Plan Competition in spring 2006. Since then, Dykstra, Ritter, and Mech, with logistical support from HFC, have taken steps to incorporate DSI and to undertake its first project.