July August 2017
Where Christian faith gets down to business
South Dakota’s Bob Engbrecht:
A man of two callings Hot market foreseen for values investing Fitting conveyance for the sport of kings Zoona in Zambia: mobile money magic
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The Marketplace July August 2017
Roadside stand
Marketplace after Wally No one will ever replace Wally Kroeker, the much-loved author and storyteller who was the heart and soul of this publication for the past 32 years. So, no, I have no aspirations of trying to fill his large shoes. A more realistic and attainable goal is to try to honor the traditions of the magazine, the culture that has made The Marketplace a fixture in homes across North America. When I was interviewed for this position, my thoughts about the secret sauce that has made The Marketplace so well-loved were boiled down to five letters: four Ps and a C. The Ps are people, places, problems and the projects that create business solutions to poverty, lessening or eliminating some of the problems in the communities and countries where MEDA staffers serve. Balancing stories about the hope MEDA projects create and the needs that have us working there in the first place will continue to be a focus. C stands for curation. Marketplace readers are busy people. We will try to continue to point out books, articles, issues and trends of interest to our readers, people deeply committed to the connection between Christian faith and business. Please let me know what you think. — MS
time workers all suffer from moderate to high income volatility, according to a national study done for the TD Bank. Income volatility affects close to four in 10 adult Canadians, including 3.3 million whose monthly income changes by 25 per cent or more. Former MEDA staffer John Longhurst, who currently serves as Director, Resources & Public Engagement with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, wrote about this unfortunate trend in a blog post a couple of years back. Citing a book by Guy Standing, a British economics professor, Longhurst urged people to pay attention to the precariat — a growing group of people who are walking an economic tightrope. Members of the precariat, people living a precarious lifestyle, are a growing tribe “everywhere” Longhurst says. They present a particular challenge for charities and non-prof-
Precarious pay Steady paycheques are becoming the exception for a rapidly growing number of Canadians, a report by a major Canadian bank suggests. Young women, men aged 45-54, self-employed, seasonal and partCover photo of South Dakota farmer Bob Engbrecht by Wally Kroeker
The Marketplace July August 2017
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its, given that these people will tend to give little if anything to charity. Even baby boomers who have loaned money to their precarious children are feeling the pinch, he noted. MEDA alumnus honored Former MEDA board member Philipp R. Ens has been recognized with the Order of Manitoba, the province’s highest honor, for enriching Manitoba’s social, cultural and economic well-being. Ens, a founding partner of Triple E. Canada Ltd. based in Winkler, Man., is a celebrated entrepreneur known for wide-ranging community service. Among his many voluntary services, he was the president of the former P.W. Enns Family Foundation, a charity which has supported such projects as the Heritage Centre, located at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, as well as a hospital in Taiwan.
In this issue
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Roadside stand Soul enterprise Review Soundbites News
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Volume 47, Issue 4 July August 2017
Editor: Mike Strathdee Design: Ray Dirks
A classy ride for heroic horses
It takes more than just a truck and some hay to transport a horse race megastar like Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. The Gotwals of Pennsylvania have made it into an art form.
Departments
The Marketplace (ISSN 321-330) is published bi-monthly by Mennonite Economic Development Associates at 532 North Oliver Road, Newton, KS 67114. Periodicals postage paid at Newton, KS 67114. Lithographed in U.S.A. Copyright 2017 by MEDA.
Values investing: Hot market ahead
Looking for a smart investment? Then pay heed to environmental, social and governance issues, says researcher Michael Jantzi, who foresees a coming bull market in the U.S. By Mike Strathdee
Access to money services takes root in Zambia. Page 14
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A man of two callings
What to do if you feel called to two different careers? Bob Engbrecht did both — feeding the spirit and feeding the hungry. Now he’s making sure both his land and his values live on after him.
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Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201, Lancaster, PA 17601-4106.
Mobile money magic
Eight years ago a new way to provide electronic money transfers and other financial services was introduced in Zambia. Today, 230 locations serve a third of a million Africans in three countries.
Wanted: Mentors for students
What do young people want as they enter the work force? To connect with elder wisdom, a business panel was told — mentorship, coaching and how to “get over the wall to get started.”
To e-mail an address change, subscription request or anything else relating to delivery of the magazine, please contact subscription@meda.org For editorial matters contact the editor at mstrathdee@meda.org or call (800) 665-7026, ext. 705 Subscriptions: $25/year; $45/two years.
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201 Lancaster, PA 17601-4106
Published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), whose dual thrust is to encourage a Christian witness in business and to operate business-oriented programs of assistance to the poor. For more information about MEDA call 1-800-665-7026. Web site www.meda.org
Visit our online home at www.marketplacemagazine.org, where you can download past issues, read articles and discuss topics with others, all from your desktop or mobile device.
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The Marketplace July August 2017
Lesson from Dad
Mohammed cleans up Start-ups can be stressful. MEDA field manager Janice Bothello shared some of her start-up pressures when establishing the Jordan Valley Links program, which helps women and youth in the Middle East to embrace new market opportunities. Speaking to MEDA staff at an annual planning session this spring, she related early successes — registering MEDA’s presence in the country, setting up an office, recruiting staff, establishing partnerships, undertaking assessments and building local relationships. But there were setbacks, too, and when they came in clusters they could “discourage even the seasoned manager,” she said. “You sit back and wonder, after the third setback in a row, how can I help my team withstand this?” One day she was reeling from the sudden unexpected departure of a couple of team members. “The mood was naturally a bit somber and mellow,” she recalled. “I looked up from my desk and I saw our young office cleaner, Mohammed, in the meeting room, having serious one-on-one conversations with each of my staff. I groaned inwardly. What now?” Uneasy, she asked a colleague, “What is he doing? What is going on?” Bothello relaxed when she heard the answer: “He is asking each team member about how he can do his job better and how he can support each of us to help us do our job better.” Behind the clouds, a message of uplift.
The Marketplace July August 2017
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It’s not easy to close a company you love, or part with employees you care about. Marlin Riegsecker faced that in 1997 when he shut down Royal Creations, a ready-to-assemble furniRiegsecker ture company with 400 employees in two locations. His daughter, Laura Stephenson, recalls how he maintained his values through the difficult process. “Some employees had been with us over 30 years,” says Stephenson, who now coowns 4D Concepts, a California importer and wholesaler of furniture and other products for e-commerce firms. “In Georgia we had a job fair on our premises and called in all of the local businesses, temp services and head hunters in our area. By the time the company closed, everyone who wanted a job, had a job. Dad saw this as a moral obligation.” The California location had 20 people in its office. As she called around to find placements she got an interesting response. “The companies told me that ‘they must be great employees if their boss is calling personally and recommending them.’ They had never before received a call from an employer recommending their employees,” says Stephenson. “At the close, we felt we had done everything we could to help make sure the employees who worked with us and stuck with us in tough times, were taken care of. We felt like it was just the right thing to do.”
Churches need to talk (more) about work In their provocative book Slow Church — Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus, C. Christopher Smith and John Pattison make a passionate case for more discussion about work in our faith communities. “Work is such a complex, important and even intimate part of what it means to be human that it’s surprising how little the American church has had to say about it in recent decades,” they write. “Oh, every few years we’ll hear from a business guru about ‘God the CEO’ and ‘Jesus the Management Entrepreneur,’ but we don’t often look at work from the ground up. How relevant can the church be to the day-to-day life of the world if it is silent on this topic? How peculiar can the church be if it lets society’s dominant approaches to work go unexamined, and when necessary, unchallenged? Churches have particularly given a pass to the prevailing assumption of industrialism that work should be avoided as much as possible.” G.K. Chesterton once quipped that “the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” Easy shortcuts, the authors say, dilute the vibrant joy of the gospel. In a culture that seems obsessed with convenience, churches would do well to recover the deep significance of good work. “Soulless work is one of the alienating effects of industrialization, along with unemployment, underemployment, low wages, child labor, the imposition of degraded work on degraded people and a ream of other consequences. But we have a very different view of work, one that seeks a balance between taking work too seriously and not taking it seriously enough. Doing good work is one important Overheard: way we respond as followers of Jesus to the work God is already doing around us.”
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A portion of the note Fensel’s Motel now posts for travelers who show up after hours.
On your honor It was late and the family needed lodging. They stopped at Fensel’s Motel in Freeman, South Dakota. The office was closed, but a note on the door said, “We’ve gone to bed. The following rooms are open. Make yourself at home and settle up in the morning.” Which the family did. Some years later, the traveler happened to encounter the motel’s owner at a church conference and mentioned his visit. “We do that all the time,” said the owner. “Not having to staff the office in the evenings saves us money. And very few people skip without paying.” That policy persists today, says motel manager Deb Beier, a granddaughter of Wilmer Fensel who started the motel some 65 years ago. She remembers one man who did skip without paying. Six months later he came through town again. Stricken with guilt, he stopped by, but there was no one in the office. He left an envelope on the counter with a note of apology and some money. “He paid about twice as much as he owed,” Beier says.
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others have thrown at him.” — David Brinkley
The Marketplace July August 2017
A man of two callings Feeding the spirit, feeding the hungry — for Bob Engbrecht, both are God’s will
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or many people, one “calling” in life is enough. Bob Engbrecht has had two — one to pastoral ministry, the other to feeding the world. Today, at age 78, Engbrecht has retired from one but not both. He still lives on the farm he grew up on near Marion, South Dakota. Now he rents out the 600 acres on which he raised corn and soybeans for many years. His eyes light up as he talks about the vintage Farmall tractor standing proudly at the entrance to his farm. And he still serves as a visitation pastor, mostly to the elderly, bringing spiritual comfort and his own brand of warm exuberance to residents of three care homes in southeastern South Dakota. “I grew up on this farm,” he says, gesturing to the outbuildings and the Farmall. “It was my Dad’s farm. This was where I grew into my calling to be a farmer — working alongside my Dad, getting involved with 4-H and FFA,” referring to two historic agricultural organizations, 4-H clubs and Future Farmers of America. While farming remained part of his personal and spiritual DNA, Engbrecht also sensed a call to pastoral ministry. As a young man he studied at Grace College of the Bible in Omaha, planning to become a spiritual counselor. The 1967 Six-Day Arab-Israeli war delayed some of those plans, as it did for many who followed Dispensational theology and its emphasis that “the end times are near” and “this was no time to start a career.” With the preparation he had, Engbrecht took a position with a community church in Iowa. While there, he continued his studies at The Marketplace July August 2017
Dubuque Theological Seminary and gained a broader outlook. His ministry included pastoring Reformed and Mennonite churches and working in eldercare, including administering a nursing home and hospital. From 1992 to 2007 he pastored the Salem-Zion Mennonite Church in Freeman.
Meanwhile his wife, Joanne,
was diagnosed with Alzheimers, and Engbrecht became her primary caregiver for 10 years. She died in 2005. In 2007 he married Marla, who owns a farm in Nebraska that also produces corn and soybeans.
“It’s important to be able to express what you believe in your work” Some four years ago Engbrecht accepted a half-time visitation position from Salem Mennonite Church in Freeman (a sister congregation), making regular rounds providing comfort, healing and restoration. “Ninety percent of my time is visitation,” he says. “I preach maybe three to five sermons a year.” “And he’s very good,” interjects Marla. “Every time I hear him preach I learn something.” Engbrecht keeps active in his so-called retirement. He no longer maintains the dog kennel business he ran for 35 years, raising Shih Tzu, Pekingese, silky terriers and Bernese (named after the Swiss canton), but still supervises a few litters a year. 6
He also tends 10 hives of bees and produces golden honey for home use as well as for donations and gifts.
Through it all, farming has
remained part of the mix. He sees it as another spiritual calling, thanks to the influence of his father. “He had a heart for people who were hungry,” says Engbrecht. Though he didn’t speechify on his calling, he expressed his vision “while fixing a machine or cleaning the barn.” Engbrecht remembers a prolonged dry spell. When rain finally fell on some nearby land but not on theirs, his father mused, “It’s important that people get rain because people need to be fed.” “He was farming to feed people,” Engbrecht recalls. “He felt that he had a call like unto the call of a pastor. For him, that calling was to feed the people of the world.” Engbrecht learned lifelong lessons. He learned that farming was a noble endeavor. The soil — “the place where it began” — became part of his stewardship. “Soil, ground, agriculture — that’s what sustains us.” To this day, Engbrecht sees work and worship as intertwined. “It’s important to be able to express what you believe in your work. As a farmer, you are doing God’s will when you feed people. Agriculture is a calling. Food production is a calling.” He jokes that he has never fully appropriated the biblical parable that says you can’t serve two masters. “It didn’t work for me,” he says. “I have loved both.”
Retirement hasn’t dimmed
Engbrecht’s view of his agricultural calling. He wants his estate to
Bob and Marla Engbrecht both grew corn and soybeans — he in South Dakota and she in Nebraska. Bob is also a “very good” preacher, says Marla. “Every time I hear him preach I learn something.”
continue to uphold his values long after he’s gone. For him that means supporting projects with long-term transformational impact — “not just gratis gifts but helping others to help themselves.” His stewardship vision gained focus on a trip to Guatemala in the 1990s where he saw hands-on development. Later he purchased shares in MiCredito, a Nicaragua microfinance institution started by MEDA. He plans to turn his 600 acres of farmland over to MEDA in coming years while honoring relationships with his current tenants and thus continuing to support family farms. Upon his death, the proceeds will support MEDA’s global agricultural programs. “He has arranged the stewardship
of his land so that it ends up in the hands of families who share his work values and also helps tens of thousands of families on the road out of poverty and onto the path to hope,” says Mike Miller, MEDA’s senior director of resource development. Miller notes how Engbrecht’s long-range vision aligns with MEDA’s perspective. “Much of our work is
Careful estate planning ensures his land and his values will keep working after him 7
helping smallholder farmers to have sustainable livelihoods through better access to markets, financial services, appropriate technologies and environmental best practices. Concurrently we share our values: stewardship of land, human and financial resources; and go the second mile to create opportunities for the poor to realize their God given potential.” “I see MEDA as the connecting link,” says Engbrecht. “It made sense, logically and spiritually, to do it. Giving land to MEDA is a way to feed people long-term.” His gift will bring both his callings into final convergence. “I am a steward of what God has entrusted,” he says. “I didn’t have children, and here’s a way to extend my life’s efforts.” ◆ The Marketplace July August 2017
iStock photo by NicoElNino
Values-based investing soars in U.S., researcher says
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nly a few years ago, Europeans were far more interested in including social and environmental concerns in their investment decisions than their U.S. counterparts. Those days are done, says one of North America’s leading researchers into environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment issues. In fact, Sustainalytics CEO Michael Jantzi expects that the U.S. will be his firm’s largest market in 2018, for the first time ever. “The U.S. capital market is the largest in the world, and once you start to find traction in that market, it can become meaningful very quickly.” Over the past three to five years, The Marketplace July August 2017
American investors have become increasingly convinced that “environmental and social issues can have a real impact on the performance of a company, good or bad. As investors, these are issues we need to know about to make the most informed decision that we can.”
”Looking at ESG issues is a smart way to invest. It helps you make smarter decisions.” 8
Historically, the U.S. had a very narrow understanding of what fiduciary duty meant compared to Europeans’ understanding of the term. A major shift occurred in late 2015, when the U.S. Department of Labor issued a clarification stating that considering environmental, social and governance issues as part of an investment decision was acceptable. “That was a huge turning point,” changing attitudes among institutional investors almost overnight. A report by the U.S. SIF Foundation supports Jantzi’s optimism. Last year, professionally managed assets that use ESG strategies reached $8.1 trillion in the United States. Two years earlier, the total was $4.8 trillion. “Looking at ESG issues is a smart way to invest,” Jantzi said in an interview from his Toronto office. “It helps you make smarter decisions.” As retail investors became increasingly focussed on impact-focussed outcomes as well as financial outcomes in their portfolios, U.S. financial institutions have had to react “in a way we have never seen in the history of this space.” Jantzi points to his firm’s partnership with the Morningstar organization as evidence of this. Chicago-based Morningstar is a publicly-traded investment research firm that operates in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Morningstar launched the industry’s first ESG scores for mutual and exchange-traded funds based on Sustainalytics’ ESG research and created
Photo by Chelsie Hunt
a series of sustainability indexes. As recently as 2013, interest in ESG from retail investors lagged far behind institutional investors. Now that is changing dramatically. In part, that could be due to the increased involvement of women in investment decisions, Jantzi said. Even mutual funds that are not branding themselves as socially responsible are starting to incorporate ESG criteria into their investment criteria, “because they believe this will help them make more informed investment decisions.”
In Canada, there is robust growth occurring in funds focused on impact, including the areas of social housing, micro-finance and transition to low carbon. “There’s a lot happening in Canada that we just simply haven’t seen before.” MSCI, a New York-based provider of market indexes, is Sustainalytics’ single largest global competitor. “They will say the same about us. “The market seems to view Sustainalytics and MSCI as the two most important global players in the ESG research space,” Jantzi said. The firm has many other competitors, some in specific countries or regions, others that focus on specific
Sustainalytics CEO Michael Jantzi says considering ESG issues is a “smart way to invest.”
Jantzi is social investing pioneer
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ichael Jantzi’s ground-breaking research into socially responsible investing over the past 25 years was recently profiled in the Forbes business magazine. What readers of the “This Man Will Purify Your Portfolio” article may not realize is that Jantzi has Mennonite roots. Jantzi, raised in London Ontario, where his parents still attend Valleyview Mennonite Church, started Jantzi Research in 1992. He earned degrees in economics at UWO (now Western) and international affairs at Dalhousie in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His firm, known as Sustainalytics in most of the world since being acquired by Sustainalytics BV in 2009, still operates in Canada as Jantzi-Sustainalytics Inc. Sustainalytics employs more than 340 at a dozen offices on three continents. Jantzi serves as chief executive officer and is the second-largest shareholder of a company that he likes to call a “micro-multinational.” Jantzi is the co-author of The 50 Best Ethical Stocks for Canadians: High Value Investing. He has received many industry accolades. In 2010, Michael was awarded the
Lifetime Achievement Award by the Social Investment Organization (now known as the Responsible Investment Association) for his contributions to the Canadian sustainable and responsible investment market. Sustainalytics was also internationally recognized in 2012, 2013 and 2014 as the best independent responsible investment research firm
Jantzi calls Sustainalytics a “micro-multinational.” by a Thomson Reuters Extel Survey. After a stint in France, Jantzi and his family now live in Toronto. Jantzi’s screening research gave birth to the Jantzi Social Index (JSI). Launched in 2000, the JSI is a market capitalization-weighted common stock index consisting of 50 Canadian companies that pass a set of broad-based rating criteria. These criteria include environmental, social and governance issues, known as ESG in the industry lingo. The JSI was used by the founders 9
of Meritas Mutual Funds, Canada’s first faith-based, socially responsible investment firm to launch the Meritas Jantzi Social Index, their first Canadian equity fund. Since that time, many other mutual funds and ETFs have been launched with the Jantzi moniker. A recent search found 15 Canadian funds and ETFs using the Jantzi name, sold by Ocean Rock/ Meritas, RBC and iShares. Sustainalytics avoids the simplistic approach of dividing the corporate world into good and bad industries. Their research takes a best of sector approach. Jantzi has seen a huge shift in investor attitudes during his 25 years in the business. “The client base has gone from being values-driven to being value-driven,” he told Forbes. The magazine notes that “it isn’t just lefties who favor high-pay, lowturnover Costco over Wal-Mart. It’s investors who see happy workers delivering growth. Costco’s share price has tripled over the past decade; Wal-Mart’s is up 50%.” You can read the Forbes article at this link: https://www.forbes. com/sites/baldwin/2017/04/03/ this-man-will-purify-yourportfolio/#1f8114c0280a ◆ The Marketplace July August 2017
sectors. Jantzi is more focussed on Sustainalytics’ need to scale up its operations than what its competitors are doing. Ironically, in some areas, secular investors are quicker to adopt ESG considerations into investment decisions than their religious counterparts. Response from faith communities tends to vary depending on the group. “It still remains one of those things
that I sort of shake my head at from time to time,” he said. While he can point to some leaders who are deeply committed and have long embraced the idea, some others are “dinosaurs.” He is surprised that while the largest, most sophisticated capital managers in the world have incorporated ESG criteria into their investment criteria, but not all faith groups have. Jantzi doesn’t spend much time
How MEDA uses ESG
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SG investing uses environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria to achieve desired outcomes. Historically, the term came out of the field of socially responsible investing (SRI), which can include impact, ethical, values-based or green investing. All of these approaches rely on some form of environmental, social or corporate governance perspectives. Initially, ESG investing excluded or included equities based on selected moral values. Additional screens have been added as the industry has matured. For example, “best-in-class” or positive screening refers to investing in sectors, companies or projects that seek superior ESG performance. “Shareholder action” uses proxy voting to encourage companies to integrate more ESG in their operations. “Impact investing” invests in companies, organizations and funds in the private markets to achieve a social or environmental outcome, such as sustainable agriculture or financial inclusion. For MEDA, environmental and gender considerations are vital to create and sustain meaningful change. One way MEDA applies ESG investing at the project level is through matching grants. For example, the INFRONT project (Impact Investing in Frontier & Emerging Markets) deployed a positive screening/best-in-class approach by selecting grant recipients who propose new environmental or social initiatives. One grant recipient, Cimory, is the leading local dairy manufacturer in Indonesia. It employs an expanding female salesforce to sell its Miss Cimory line of products door-to-door, thus enhancing the jobs and livelihoods of women. As a result, the staff turnover rate has dropped from 50 percent to 30 percent, signaling to more women that this can be a full-time job and creating new incentives for them. These changes have increased employment from 350 to 403 women. An example of direct investment by MEDA’s Sarona Risk Capital Fund (SRCF) to promote ESG values is Tree Global, an international nursery business in Ghana providing high-performance seedlings (mostly cocoa) to large projects aimed at agriculture, environmental restoration and sustainable timber. This project has delivered 450,000 cocoa seedlings to small producers in Ghana and has expanded capacity from 100,000 to 800,000 seedlings. The seedlings produced are 50 to 60 percent larger in height and caliper, respectively, and have a 28 percent higher survival rate than conventional products. ◆ Chelsie Hunt is MEDA’s program manager, Monitoring and Impact Measurement, CrossCutting Services
The Marketplace July August 2017
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trying to convince skeptics, a group that is declining in number. “There’s too much work to do with folks who want to do this.” Japan is another fast-growing, dynamic market for ESG investing, he said. He expects that within the next two or three years, the Japanese will go further in making ESG a central part of investment decisions than some other countries achieved in a decade. Overall, Jantzi sees increasing growth in the “mainstreaming” of the ESG approach. “The trend lines are clear. We are continuing to see an expansion of ESG across asset classes.’’ He’s not just talking about the stock market. ESG analysis is increasingly used in the fixed income, real estate, private equity and infrastructure sectors. Discussions in the responsible
Faith groups can be slow to factor ESG into investment decisions investment industry swung from an original focus on values and ethics over to questions of material value about a decade ago. Now Jantzi sees the pendulum swinging back. “Even the mainstream investors are becoming concerned with the values side of the equation.” Large institutional investors, including pension funds, now view ESG considerations as “just being a smart way to invest.” “What good is a good pension cheque (for a plan member) if they can’t go outside and breathe the air, they can’t drink the water, those types of things?” The next stage of responsible investment will be about the combination of value and values, he believes. “To me, that’s the next frontier of fiduciary responsibility.” — MS
Fitting conveyance for the sport of kings
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ou’ve seen the triumphant photos of horses, jockeys and owners, wearing garlands of roses in the winner’s circle. Who you may not see are the unsung heroes who got them there. Literally. Those who not only groom and train but also transport the major players in the sport of kings often go unheralded. One of those is Brook Ledge, a family-owned Pennsylvania company that has gained international renown for safe and efficient horse transport — a vital factor in ensuring horses maintain peak performance.
Brook Ledge founder Bill Gotwals started off as a farmer, buying a dairy farm in the mid-1950s; then got into the business of trucking. “He and his brother bought a truck to haul pigs to the packing companies in Philadelphia,” says his daughter, Joan Gotwals Yoder, chief administrative officer and one of eight family members working fulltime in the company. “They would haul from Iowa, Illinois and Indiana to Philadelphia. It grew from there.” The same dealer who sold trucks to Joan’s father and uncle also sold trucks to a horse transportation company. When the men who had started that operation were ready to retire, the question came up, “Why not look at their company?”
Photo by Rick Samuels
Hauling horses can be an art form. Just ask the Gotwals family of Pennsylvania
Bill Gotwals with American Pharoah, who won racing’s Triple Crown in 2015.
So in 1973 the company known today as Brook Ledge was purchased by the Gotwals family.* “They had about 13 truck/ trailer combinations at the time of purchase,” says Andrea Gotwals Boone, who directs marketing for the horse division. “We started hauling their current clientele which was mostly standardbred race horses. We then slowly transitioned into thoroughbred race horses as the market appeared to be growing where the standardbred business started to * Xpressway Trucking, a division of Brook Ledge, owns and operates its own trucks out of the same office in Oley, Pa.
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decline. We’ve grown slowly over the past 30 years by traveling to the tracks and sales where these horses are located and establishing relationships with the trainers and owners. That has also evolved into transporting all breeds of sport horses.”
Brook Ledge is known as one of the top horse transportation companies in North America. By its own description, it is “literally, all over the map” as it specializes in horse shows, race tracks and breeding farms. Sales agents are located throughout the racing circuit and in strategic locations for their equestrian clientele. Those places include The Marketplace July August 2017
Peeking out of a racetrack display (center) is Joan Gotwals Yoder, chief administrative officer. At right is Andrea Gotwals Boone, director of marketing for the horse division.
the company’s terminals in Lexington, Ky., Ocala, Fla., and home base in Oley, Pa. It ships horses throughout the continental U.S. and Canada (truck load and less than truck load). Brook Ledge recently completed one of the busiest cycles of the racing season. The first Saturday in May is the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Ky. The other Triple Crown races follow: the Preakness Stakes (Baltimore, Md.) two weeks after the Derby, and the Belmont Stakes (Elmont, NY) three weeks after the Preakness in early June. This year the company attracted the attention of The New York Times (see sidebar). Brook Ledge is famous on the circuit for hauling superstar American Pharaoh, which won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders Cup Classic in 2015. Officially called the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred The Marketplace July August 2017
A star client in
1978 by a horse named Affirmed.
2015 was American
Back when Brook Ledge transported the megastar, “we would have hauled the horse all along that circuit and other races before he was retired to stud,” says Joan. Such a multi-million-dollar cargo requires a deft touch and a painstaking concern for equestrian safety. Logistical efficiency and animal care are priorities for owners. As Brook Ledge says on its website, “What that means for you, the customer, and your horse(s) is we use the quickest routes possible and don’t zigzag across the country to fill our vans.” Trucks stop every five hours so drivers can refuel the vehicle, fill water buckets and hay bags and visually inspect horses for slipped bandages or any signs of distress. During the trip horses have access to
Pharoah, the firstever winner of horse racing’s “grand slam” Racing, it comprises three races for three-year-old thoroughbred horses (Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes). Winning all three is considered a huge accomplishment, so when he also captured the Breeders Cup American Pharoah became the first horse to win the “grand slam” of horse racing. The last time the Triple Crown was won prior to American Pharoah was in 12
hay and water and are continuously monitored on closed circuit video systems installed in all trucks. For the last 25 years Brook Ledge has been building its own climate controlled horse vans (from 48 to 52 feet) with wide doors and lower ramps for ground loading. “No horse spends any more time on the truck than absolutely necessary,” company officials say. Another point of pride is the extensive equestrian experience of its 30 lead drivers, whose average length of employment with Brook Ledge is
Chaplains minister to track workers on the fringes of the racing community 13 years. All have previous horse experience as trainers, farriers, jockeys, professional competitive riders, grooms, horse farm managers, yearling managers, broodmare managers and professional horse haulers who
Air Horse One
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Derby horse may work hard on the track but when traveling it’s nothing but first cabin: “getting from one track to the next will be about as comfortable a trip as anyone could imagine — and it won’t be cheap,” writes Paul Sullivan in The New York Times. That’s to be expected for a thoroughbred worth millions. A crosscountry van ticket can cost $10,000 — to Saudi Arabia, three times that. Just like people, horses can be finicky. So the stall may be lined with hay or shavings or whatever the horse prefers. Grooms may be on hand to lead the horses off the aircraft (dubbed Air Horse One by another conveyance company). A veterinarian may check horse health on arrival and perform any tests required to clear customs. A horse-hauling van will ensure good air circulation and likely airride suspension to soften bumps. The article features Brook Ledge Horse Transportation to illustrate top-notch handling. “You don’t want a horse who’s been on a long trip to be stressed out about anything,” it quotes Curt Lange, manager of accounts receivable, as saying. “You want him to be in the same environment as at home.” Like children, he says, horses “have a natural propensity to stick their nose in places it doesn’t belong. You need to create an environment where they have nothing where they can get in trouble.” The special treatment is not mere pampering. Besides getting stressed out, horses can get a fever or develop circulatory problems, trainers say. Another risk: “Putting hormonally charged colts and fillies too close together can spell trouble,” writes Sullivan. Lange told The Times it was important to load fillies so colts don’t catch wind of them. “Otherwise,” he says, “you can have fireworks.” ◆
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have worked for other companies or owned their own. “Most are current or past horse owners and many are second and third generation horse people — the horse is in their blood,” officials say, adding that Brook Ledge has achieved the Department of Transportation’s highest rating.
Brook Ledge is also committed to equestrian welfare and bolstering the prospects of people who work on the fringes of the racing industry. Andrea Gotwals says Brook Ledge works closely with thoroughbred aftercare programs helping ensure safe transit, transition, reschooling and adoption for horses “whose racing career isn’t meant to be” into a new career off the track. These include Thoroughbred Charities of America, New Vocations and the Secretariat Center. Brook Ledge is deeply involved with the Race Track Chaplaincy of America (Bill Gotwals has served on its board). “It’s an outreach of our ministry,” says Joan. She explains that a lot of workers on race tracks, the grooms who care for the horses, come from other countries and may be low-income folk who live in little dorms or apartments at the tracks. The chaplaincy has 43 chaplains at 36 tracks and training centers across the country ministering to track workers. “They advocate for those people, their conditions and their spiritual well-being.” Supporting that and other ministries is important to the Gotwals family. “Dad says, ‘We make profits so we can give ‘em away,’” says Joan. “We want to support our employees and make a profit, but this is really our ultimate goal.” ◆ The Marketplace July August 2017
Mobile money mastery
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oona, an African financial services start-up firm that MEDA has been supporting since 2011, was recently featured in The Economist magazine. Zoona is an eight-year-old company offering electronic money transfers, entrepreneur credit, payment services, and voucher programs through mobile phones and an agent network that serves rural communities and people who don’t have access to financial services. MEDA’s Sarona Risk Capital Fund invested in Zoona, and three MEDA field consultants provided technical expertise to the company. One of the consultants eventually went to work for Zoona. By the end of a three-year project in 2014, MEDA helped Zoona reach 332,886 clients with electronic money transfers, vouchers and payment services and expand to 230 client locations. Jennifer Ferreri, a senior project manager at MEDA and former consultant in Zambia, described MEDA’s engagement with Zoona as a “shining example” of the tremendous impact that development can have in helping a start up enterprise soar. “During my year as a consultant to the project, we supported the company through a variety of different business model iterations while it found the perfect recipe for driving cashless transactions in Zambia.” MEDA board member Donovan Nickel represented the organization during the early stages of its investment in Zoona, travelling to Zambia quarterly for several years. At the time, 80 per cent of Zambia’s population didn’t have banking accounts or formal financial services. Zambia was largely a cash-based economy. Even the middle class was The Marketplace July August 2017
Photos by Steve Sugrim
MEDA-supported firm gets noticed by business press
Zoona’s mobile money transfers save clients from having to make long bus trips to get cash to family
more likely to have a safe in their home than a bank account, he noted. Inability to buy things at remote locations, or to move money to other locations, meant people had to take cash on a bus, a trip that could take a day each way in some cases, or entrust funds to someone else for delivery. When international aid organizations wanted to deliver funds, they had to drive around with a chest of cash and two guys with shotguns in 14
the back of a truck, Nickel said. That made distribution difficult, and left no accounting trail. A couple who operated a small business logistics firm found the inability to move money around the country conveniently to be a major disadvantage when it came to paying drivers, shipping materials, repairing their small trucks and other issues, he recalled. Once the couple set up an account with Zoona, it “was just a big
step function improvement in that young couple’s ability” to manage their firm. As trust in Zoona grew, it created employment opportunities for ambitious, educated young people to run their own business as Zoona agents in a country where few such opportunities existed, he said. “It’s very difficult for a young individual to go to college, graduate and then get a good job. That path to some form of success is pretty limited in countries like Zambia.” MEDA provided various types of assistance to Zoona in addition to financial investment. Field staff helped Zoona (originally known as Mobile Transactions) to improve and expand their agent network by setting up an agent mon-
” It’s very difficult for a young individual to go to college, graduate, then get a good job.” itoring system and to improve their training process. Support provided included expanding and improving Zoona’s market presence, using datadriven customer analysis and social media marketing to increase awareness and streamline management decisions. They also used MEDA expertise to help Zoona launch a pilot that provided e-vouchers to Zambian farmers. This allowed smallholder farmers (farmers owning small plots on land on which they grow subsistence crops and one or two cash crops, relying almost exclusively on family labor) to receive electronic vouchers in lieu of cash payments for their cotton crops. In addition to the logistical and financial benefits for companies buying cotton, the vouchers helped farmers and their families save for future capital purchases and manage their cash crop incomes better. These
Zoona now operates in Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique
vouchers could be redeemed at Zoona registered businesses. Vouchers were used by clients to purchase plow parts, maize and cotton seed, chemicals, iron sheets for home roofs, solar panels, generators and basic staples for family consumption. MEDA’s support enabled Zoona to integrate gender into its business model. Zoona now specifically targets and empowers young African women as part of its agent entrepreneurs. Within a few years, some agents have grown to operate two or
Zoona clients use e-vouchers to buy farm supplies and household staples 15
three locations, have multiple employees “and earning at a rate of very substantial middle to upper middle income for their families relative to the standards of Zambia,” Nickel said. “It just was a lot of fun to see.” Support from MEDA’s TechnoLinks project helped Zoona become more data-driven in its business decision-making, by deploying data management software to evaluate agent performance, client outreach and social impact. Zoona now operates in three African nations — Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. Last year Zoona processed $200 million in transactions. The Economist article quotes its chief executive as targeting one billion customers. Zoona is unlike many players in the burgeoning African money transfer sector in that it is neither run by a telecommunications firm nor owned by a financial institution. Zoona raised $15 million from venture capital investors in 2016. Earlier this year, MEDA was able to sell half of its stake in the company at a healthy profit. That money will be returned to Sarona Risk Capital and re-invested in new projects. MEDA expects to sell its remaining shares in ZOONA three years from now, subject to certain sales targets being attained. ◆ The Marketplace July August 2017
Seeking elder counsel Students yearn for mentors, Grebel audience told
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The Marketplace July August 2017
“Don’t be afraid to talk to people.” Parsons ran a long-term care home, a business her family has been involved in for several generations, before having three children. She decided to buy the ice cream store, which is run by a full-time manager, so she could give the best care to her family. She is grateful that her Schlegel grandparents provided strong role models. “Their humility is something that has influenced my life decisions all my life.” Likewise, her father reminded her of the temporary nature of her role at the nursing home. “We never really own a business, we’re just the caretakers for a little bit,” she recalls him saying. Parsons mentors teens in her home community as well as coaching store staff. Teaching entrepre-
neurship and business lessons is an important value for her. Running a retail operation has helped her to realize how difficult minimum wage jobs can be. “They are not easy. Especially if you are 41. It has made me realize (the importance of) giving people opportunities and helping move them forwards.” Mirza is grateful for the role several mentors have played in his life. One of his first bosses wrote down the word planning several times on a piece of paper, then wrote the word execution, and scratched out all the references to planning. This simple focus on the importance of executing a plan “was a pretty powerful experience,” he said. His current boss taught him to manage multiple scenarios at the same time. He also understands the importance of giving positive feed-
Photo by Mumtaz Ahmed
onnecting with older people who are open to answering important questions is a key quest for young people starting out in the workforce, a panel on entrepreneurship heard recently. “Something that everyone needs is relationships with people who aren’t the same age as them,” Jonathan Smith told a group of students and entrepreneurs at MEDA’s professional panel at Conrad Grebel University College. Smith, a third-year computer science and business administration student at University of Waterloo, moderated an evening panel filled with provocative questions from fellow students. Panelists included: Andrew Yantzi, manager of Kindred Credit Union’s Waterloo branch; Andrea Parsons, owner of a Marble Slab Creamery ice cream franchise; Jeffrey Jane, executive director of MUFG Investor Services, which is Mitsubishi’s banking arm; and Majid Mirza, senior project manager at MEDA. Questions about mentorship, coaching and how to “get over the wall” to get started in a chosen field dominated the session. “Whether we call it networking, or whether we call it mentoring, or whether we call it church, or whether we call it university — all these differing institutions are helping to bring that (connection) about,” Smith noted. “Being intentional in those relationships, that’s the most important thing that anyone can do.” Being aware of people around you who can help is key, several panelists noted. “Sometimes mentorships just come to you,” Jane said. Yantzi encouraged the group to attend networking events regularly.
MEDA staffer Majid Mirza speaks with seed farmers in Pakistan 16
Photo by Steve Sugrim
back. “You’re usually doing better than you think you are,” he said. “Pay attention when people mention this.” Mirza has mentored several young people. It isn’t always easy. A former small business owner, he struggles with hearing people propose ideas he knows will be unsuccessful. In a recent conversation, he struggled to tell someone their plan wasn’t a good idea. Eventually he convinced the person to adapt their idea “so it seemed much more compelling, even to him.” Keith Regehr, who teaches peace and conflict studies at Grebel, spoke of frequently being approached by students at the end of an evening class, and the importance of making time for these encounters. “For those of us who are older, when the opportunity comes, and you think, I’d really rather be (home)… Make it happen… Accept the opportunity to speak into somebody else’s life.” That inter-generational connection is just as valuable for older people as it is for young folks looking for answers, Parsons said. Being available helps mentors stay young, stay fresh and remain connected. Not all students have the courage to approach a busy, established entrepreneur for advice, an audience member suggested. “It’s extremely intimidating for a younger person to ask someone higher up if they want to be a mentor,” she said. Questions that students in the audience asked to hear more about included understanding why people find meaning in their work, how people in the workplace see entry level jobs changing and how students can get a first position that will allow
Andrea Parsons (right), shares a laugh with her “strong role model” grandmother Florence Schlegel
them to prove themselves. Moving from looking for mentors to being able to help others takes time, Jane noted. You can’t mentor others until you have gained a certain level of knowledge, he said. When he reached that tipping point about 10 years ago, after benefiting from several mentors, he tried to find ways to help someone else. A University of Toronto study on mentorship found that mentors are best when the relationship develops
”…Accept the opportunity to speak into somebody else’s life.” 17
organically, Kitchener lawyer Bryce Kraeker noted. Many people will need up to three different purposes for having a mentor. These may be found in one person or up to three different people, Kraeker said. A technical mentor is someone training you and teaching you how to do your job. A champion is the person you go to who takes you under their wings and helps you navigate the political landscape of the business that you are in. Finally, everyone needs someone who is two or three years ahead of them, “who has been there, done that, you can go into their office and scream... and they say — calm down, it’s ok, this happened to me last week, you’ll get through it.” ◆ The Marketplace July August 2017
Widening philanthropy Owner involves employees in donating profits
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remember one company in which I consulted with the owner. I’ll call him Dave. One day, I was asking him what his long-term goals were for his company. He looked at me and said without hesitation, “My purpose in business isn’t to make a ton of money. I want to provide good jobs, and I want to be a good corporate citizen. I want to give back to the community.” “That’s great to hear,” I said. “I can help you write a good plan on how to do that.” I listened and took notes. Right from the beginning, Dave said he wanted his company to give 10 percent of their net income to charitable organizations. He said he was acting under the biblical mandate (in Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament) to give back to God 10 percent of what we make
through our “tithes and offerings.” He had a question for me. “Can I afford to give 10 percent of my profits and still be a good businessman?” he asked. I thought for a moment because I could see that this was a fork-inthe-road moment for Dave. “Yes, but you’re going to trade a bit of company growth for making that happen,” I said. “On the other hand, your employees will love what you’re doing and will be motivated that much more. I could see them helping you become 10 percent more profitable a year from now.” Dave clapped his hands. “That’s great,” he said. “Let’s do it.” The entrepreneur wasn’t done yet. His next move was brilliant: he sent out an email to all his employees and said that at the end of
This article is excerpted with permission from a new book by veteran businessman and educator Allon Lefever: The Entrepreneur Ship: Why Entrepreneurship Is Alive and Well and How You Can Launch Your Own Business Today. Lefever’s eclectic and highly successful career includes senior positions within the food processing, manufacturing and hospitality industries. An Internet service provider he established with his son, Rod, went public at the height of the dot-com boom. He later moved into education, leading the Goshen Fam- Author Allon Lefever with a client of ily Business Center at Goshen (Ind.) MEDA partner IMON in Tajikistan. College and subsequently directing the MBA program at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va. A former chair of the board of Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), Lefever is president of A Better Hospitality Company, which owns and operates hotels, and is president of Lefever Associates, a consulting firm. His executive and entrepreneurship coaching specializes in mergers and acquisition, strategic planning and board development work.
The Marketplace July August 2017
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the fiscal year, he wanted them to determine what worthy organizations would receive the money. Dave only had a handful of employees at the time, so it was easy to gather everyone together to talk things through after the first year of operation. His new company showed a handsome $100,000 profit. Dave looked around the conference room at his mostly male team. “Guys, we have $10,000 to contribute,” he said. “What are your ideas?” One of his employees raised his hand. “I’m involved with a bicycle repair shop for homeless men, and they could use new bike stands and tools,” he said. Bingo. “Let’s give them $2,500,” Dave said. Another raised his hand. “Our church is sending a dozen teens on a missions trip to Costa Rica this summer. They’re raising money through bake sales and car washes.” Bingo. “Let’s give them $1,500,” Dave said. And so it went. Many worthwhile ministries and non-profit organizations were helped. In coming years, as his company took off, Dave learned that you can’t outgive God — so he gave more. He was like a friend who told me that he and his wife started giving 10 percent of their income when they got married, but agreed that if things went well, then they would increase that percentage. Well, business was very good, so they upped their giving to 20 percent . . . to 30 percent . . . all the way to 90 percent of their income. This is known as a “reverse tithe” — meaning they were living off 10 percent of their income and giving away the rest. ◆
Review
“What I did today was good” Business as a Holy Calling? A Workbook for Christians in Business and Their Pastors. By Tim A Dearborn (Dynamis, 2015, 165 pp. $9.49 U.S.)
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wenty years ago Tim Dearborn interviewed 100 Christian business leaders and heard disturbing viewpoints. Very few: saw their work as ministry; had ever heard business affirmed as Christian service; had received church guidance for their work; or had a sense of how their business contributed to God’s kingdom. Meanwhile, polls show that 70 percent of employed Americans feel disengaged from their work or, worse, hate their jobs. “Surely that is not God’s will for humankind,” writes Dearborn. People should be able to end their working day saying, as God did on page one of the Bible, “What I did today was good.” Subtitled a workbook (and formatted accordingly), his book probes the notion that business, despite contrary images, can in fact be a holy calling. He casts a wide net to explore what the Bible says to businessfolk and other working Christians. By Dearborn’s tally, the working life is more present in Scripture than many realize. For example, 38 of 45 of Jesus’ parables occurred in and related to marketplace themes, and 112 out of his 122 public appearances were in the marketplace. Still, many spiritual implications of work go unnoticed. Churches, for example, “are called to equip and support members for their ministry in daily life, not primarily focus on recruiting and drawing members to come to and serve in church programs.” Thus, they miss vital connections
Business can contribute to God’s purposes to enable human flourishing and the thriving of creation with daily life. “We pray for those in our congregations who are unemployed to get work — but do we pray for our businesses and economy to flourish and generate meaningful jobs?” Dearborn, a former pastor who directs the Lloyd John Ogilvie Institute of Preaching at Fuller Theological Seminary, has produced a powerpacked manual for intensive study by businesspeople and pastors. It can be read alone, but it’s better to use it as a lever for theological exploration (if you are blessed enough to have a pastor so disposed). “What has to happen in order for 19
business to be a holy calling?” Dearborn asks. The short answer is that business “can contribute to God’s purposes to enable human flourishing and the thriving of creation.” He supports legitimate profit as one performance indicator, but sees beyond a narrow bottom line of earnings and shareholder value. “If working conditions and wages don’t contribute to people’s well being,” he asks, “then isn’t a business contrary to God’s purposes?” God’s economic system “affirms individual initiative and responsibility, and the freedom to acquire wealth,” he says. “Fruitful work is part of God’s good creation.” But there are caveats. The Bible cares for those at the bottom of the economy, and warns against piling up wealth without regard for the well-being of others. And in the biblical economy “the rights of foreign workers and immigrants are protected” (as in Deut 24:14-15, 17). For business to be a holy calling it must “ensure that the balances in the marketplace are fair, the wages and payments are just, and the integrity and honesty of the transactions are secure.” Dearborn sees huge spiritual potential for business. “Every business activity touches that which is sacred, regardless of the religious beliefs of the businessperson,” he says. One example is the spiritual impact of community. “With 100,000 lifetime hours spent there, the workplace is one of the most obvious venues for experiencing community,” he writes. “How might our interactions be impacted if we treated people knowing that those with whom we work, from whom we buy goods and services, to whom we market, and with whom we compete are sacred — creatures in the image of God?” — Wally Kroeker The Marketplace July August 2017
Letters
Magazine founder weighs in To editors Wally (past) and Mike (present):
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t the annual convention in Richmond, Va., in 2015, I was disturbed by a rumor that The Marketplace might be terminated or go only online. Several days ago I opened the May/June issue, which had just arrived, with some anxiety. But the good news soon overwhelmed me. It was not that the usual contents provoked the expected inspiration, but that my subconscious fears were instantly obliterated. The Marketplace will survive, along hopefully with the highcaliber new editor. Sanity has again prevailed! I hope some personal observations about the history and role of TM, all of which are probably biased, might still carry some insights: (1) In the late 1960s Goshen College generously gave me some teaching time credit for leading the nascent CIBA (Church, Industry and Business Association) and a printed newsletter which I felt was an important channel for communication (I thank Paul Mininger, John Lapp, Howard Kauffman, etc — institutions can be creative and helpful!); (2) In the courtship and marriage of Mennonite Industry and Business Associates (MIBA), itself a merger of CIBA and Mennonite Business Associates (MBA), and MEDA, Milo Shantz, who played a fine positive role in the merger, was consistently supportive of the importance of The Marketplace in the new MEDA; (3) From the beginning to the end of my editorship of The Marketplace (1970-1985) I knew the journal would survive only with someone
The Marketplace July August 2017
much more competent than I. Again it was Milo and other members of the new MEDA board who agreed that Wally (who I had learned to know in Hillsboro, Kan.) was the best and only choice (rarely have I been so right!). Wally has succeeded in making this journal a unique medium in Christianeconomics discussion and leadership. Further, I propose he (along with the fine design support of Ray Dirks) helped The Marketplace become a unique (and eminently readable) parachurch venture that fills a deep gap especially in Anabaptist separation of faith from practice, i.e. Jesus is spiritually adored but economically ignored; (4) Finally, with the appointment of Mike Strathdee it is clear that the board is committed to continue and increase the global impact The Marketplace gained under Wally’s leadership. 20
Founding editor Calvin Redekop, shown with early periodicals that grew into today’s magazine.
With much appreciation, and congratulations to two of the three editors and to MEDA for its global work and support of its flagship, The Marketplace. — Calvin Redekop, Harrisonburg, VA
Soundbites
Old-fashioned travel bargains Bargain on-line travel sites, also known as aggregators, are no longer always the best route to a cheaper hotel room or vacation flight, Doug Garr writes in Backchannel’s weekly e-newsletter. Relying on sites such as Expedia, Travelocity or Trip Advisor won’t necessarily offer you the best deal. In recent years, as mergers in the online sector have driven up prices, hotels have worked at finding new ways of selling rooms without paying fees to electronic middlemen. “The price control pendulum is swinging back toward the hoteliers,” he notes. When it comes to travel bookings these days, the old technology may serve you best, he concludes: “Just pick up the phone and call the front desk.” You can read the entire article at this address: https://backchannel. com/why-bargain-travel-sites-mayno-longer-be-bargains-979e8bbf47a8
this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something that I have traded for it. I want it to be gain and not loss; good and not evil; success and not failure, in order that I shall not regret the price I have paid for it. — William David Thompson
Sure, I’ll let you in Traffic was dense on my way to work. A construction blockage had created a bottleneck. I was in the lucky lane, next to the one with drivers anxious to zipper their way in. I always let one or two cars in. It makes drivers happy, maybe even
sets their day on a better course; and it delays me only 20 seconds or so. But more than that, it eases the entire traffic enterprise. After all, I am not just a sole driver in a thicket of vehicles; I am part of a vast creeping movement of people heading for work. My little concession, if writ large, would move all of us forward, together, for the good of all. Kind of like my company. I’m not there just to make a profit and earn a livelihood. I’m there to provide goods, services and jobs that make society work. I’m there for the common good. — John Canus in Going Public: Business for the People
Fail often, fail fast I believe in failure. Fail often, fail fast, fail cheap. I’ve probably had more failures than anyone else, but the key is to keep them small enough. I’d be doing four things at once, one of them would kick in and do well, and people would think, Jim’s a genius. What they forgot is three of them fell on the floor and didn’t work. — Jim Estill, owner of appliance company Danby, in The Globe and Mail
Give us this day This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good, but what I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, 21
The Marketplace July August 2017
News
Co-op links Amish produce with Washington restaurants A Pennsylvania co-op is connecting food produced by Amish farmers with fancy restaurants in Washington, D.C., The Washington Post reports. Path Valley Farms is supplying over 50 of D.C.’s top dining spots with food grown by 20 Amish farms in Franklin County, Pa., Scott Rodd writes. While the growers and the diners live polar opposite lifestyles, both share “a faith in the sacred produce of the earth.” Selling directly to restaurants has forced the Amish to compromise somewhat their belief in the importance of remaining separate from society. But the co-op’s growth has helped to ensure that Amish families can maintain their heritage by con-
tinuing to work the land. Path Valley’s communications manager, a Catholic, keeps in phone and e-mail communication with Washington chefs. The Post article describes her as “a kind of midwife between the soil in central Pennsylvania and the table in Washington.” Deliveries are made by a Mennonite driver. Many aspects of the operation are conducted in keeping with traditional Amish values. Co-op board meetings are led in Pennsylvania Dutch. Path Valley does no advertising, even on the delivery truck. Amish farmers built their own loading dock and storage facility. Ice is carved from a nearby pond each winter to keep an icehouse cool
throughout the year. Farmers commit to what they will produce each January. Weekly orders from chefs are often harvested and sent to the co-op the same day. Producers who deliver specific vegetables, herbs or fruit in a given year get first crack at providing the same the following year. Should they not wish to do so, that right can be given by them to their children or another family. Farmers receive 70 per cent of sale proceeds, with the remainder plowed back into the co-op for operating costs. Year-end profits are divided amongst farmers and the co-op. ◆
Everence reaches two new milestones Everence Financial hit two significant financial milestones this spring, in charitable giving and assets under management through the faith-based financial services organization. Everence, based in Goshen, Ind., recently celebrated $1.25 billion of charitable giving, mostly through its Everence Charitable Services arm. It also reported that assets under management had reached $3 billion at the end of March. “We are thrilled to celebrate this milestone, recognizing our partnership with so many people and groups that integrate faith values with their financial decisions,” said Ken Hochstetler, Everence’s president and CEO. Everence Charitable Services, which includes its Mennonite Foundation affiliate and the Everence Trust Company, saw over $67 million in new charitable gift plans funded in 2016, and $44.5 million in distributions to charities.
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“Our members are indeed generous people who work with us to give away more than they could possibly imagine,” Hochstetler said. Established in 1945, Everence offers banking, insurance and finan-
cial services with community benefits and stewardship education. It employs over 340 staff and advisors, and has over 1,200 volunteer advocates serving in congregations, with offices in eight U.S. states. ◆
Getting fired — the unkindest cut of all “It’s just not working out” is harder to take from a boss than a spouse, writes Chris Stokel-Walker in a Bloomberg report. Citing new British research, he says firing causes more and longerlasting pain than being widowed or
divorced. Employees (especially men) often take two years to bounce back from losing a partner, but more than twice as long to recover from being sacked. “Fired employees never quite recover to the same level of well-being, a measure that
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includes mental health, self-esteem and satisfaction with life.” The thrill of a new relationship can speed healing from bereavements and divorces, but terminated employees suffer for years, though a new job with more pay and prestige can help, according to Stokel-Walker. Part of the reason is the importance, especially among men, of a productive job with status. Even people who grumble about their jobs tend to value their work and the social support of co-workers. Not surprisingly, support from family and friends helps, he writes, adding that research showed regular church attendance helped buffer the ache of a lost job. ◆
The Marketplace July August 2017
The Marketplace July August 2017
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