Tales of Change

An Interview with Leslie Christian of Upstream 21

The Impact Investor has a detailed interview with Leslie Christian of Upstream 21. Upstream is a holding company that "that acquires small, privately-owned firms in the Pacific Northwest and operates them, under very focused sustainability guidelines, as wholly-owned subsidiaries."

Those of you that read my Seattle Weekly feature Investing for Change may remember an unnamed investment I was making - Upstream 21 is that company. It's been around for a few years.

Leslie is also a manager in the Portfolio 21 fund, an excellent, large cap diversified eco-sensitive SRI mutual fund suitable for investors of all sizes.

The company's carefully articulated business philosophy is grounded in the view that, over the long term, the companies that will prosper will be those that are committed to fair wages and environmental and work-life quality.  It is Upstream 21's belief that small local businesses, when properly managed, can operate leaner and with less resource waste than large, global ones. Management also takes the view that companies that have learned to internalize what have traditionally been considered the external costs of doing business will be better positioned to operate in a more regulated and resource-constrained economy.   Upstream 21’s unique charter (its Articles of Incorporation)  states that the company’s “best interests” will always be defined by, and aligned with, those of its employees, customers, suppliers, the environment  and the communities in which it operates, as well as those of shareholders.

Upstream 21 currently owns three companies in the forest products sector: Jefferson State Forest Products, a manufacturer of retail display fixtures using sustainably harvested wood; Community Smallwood Solutions, a manufacturer of posts and poles for vineyards, orchards, hops farms, and fencing; and Roguewood Furniture, a maker of hardwood home furnishings.

Read the full interview here 

Move Your Money to a Credit Union

I just moved $11,000 cash from Citigroup to BECU.org and I set up my account and transferred initial funds online in just a few minutes. 

Note: BECU, formerly known as Boeing Employees Credit Union, is now open to all Washington State students, residents, Boeing employees and relatives and descendants of any of these. See member eligibility for more information.

Want a no risk way to participate in the Move Your Money campaign and earn 6% interest on a fully FDIC insured account with no fees?

Sign up online, move $1,000 from your big bank account to BECU and earn an unheard of 6.17% interest on the first $500 in checking and first $500 in savings. There are no fees for this account.

A social investment manager whom I trust explicitly highly recommends BECU. This may be the best way for Seatle and all Washington residents to participate in Move Your Money.  

Seriously, what are you waiting for? Do it now...

Invest in Fair Trade: Equal Exchange's Three Year Certificate of Deposit

Full disclosure: I am an investor in Equal Exchange, a cooperative fair trade innovator in the coffee, tea and chocolate industry. Since I wrote Investing for Change in 2005, I've invested more than $45,000 in Equal Exchange. And, each year, the company's provided a steady 5% return on my investment.

I was most thrilled at the end of 2008 - after watching my corporate stock holdings decline more than 40-50%, I received a letter from Equal Exchange announcing another steady 5% return. You can check out photos from my trip to visit Equal Exchange's farmers in Peru.

I'll write more about the socially responsible nature of Equal Exchange's transparent, fair trade practices at another time. But, I wanted to mention the 3 Year Equal Exchange Certificate of Deposit available through Wainwright Bank for people considering the Move Your Money! campaign.

While most savings accounts are only offering 1% interest, the 3 year Equal Exchange CD currently offers 3% interest and helps support the company's ongoing efforts. While savings accounts are fully insured by FDIC up to $250,000, the Equal Exchange CD has more risk associated with it.

Investing in the Wainwright CD is a way for you to directly finance Equal Exchange and Fair Trade. As Equal Exchange grows we buy more coffee. $2,000 allows us to purchase coffee from a typical family farm supporting 6–8 people. Your dollars make a real difference to real people. Although the Equal Exchange CD assumes some risk, it is fairly secure. You might think of CDs as being “safe as houses,” and usually they are. In fact a typical CD might help finance a subdivision in Miami or a hotel in Las Vegas. The Equal Exchange CD, however, helps to secure a loan to us to finance Fair Trade coffee, so your money is more like “safe as coffee.” If Equal Exchange cannot repay its loan you may lose some of your CD. However we have a twenty-year track record of running a sound business with sound financials and haven’t lost anyone’s money yet. - excerpted from Equal Exchange blog

If you currently have a portion of your assets invested in a community fund with a 1% return, Equal Exchange's 3 Year CD might offer another community investment option with a higher return. 

Check out Wainwright Bank and the 3 Year Equal Exchange CD! Also, you can read Wainwright Bank and Equal Exchange Partner to Offer the First Branded Certificate of Deposit.