The Marketplace Magazine September/October 2014

September October 2014

Where Christian faith gets down to business

Ukraine — looking back at how we did

Philly entrepreneurs:

Promoting renewal by slice and by cup

The undisputed King of plastic recycling Why not write your business memoirs?

The Marketplace September October 2014

Roadside stand

Discriminating workplace Do many employers discriminate against job applicants on the basis of religious faith? Yes, says Connecticut researcher Bradley Wright. He found that “not only is religious discrimination alive and well,” but simply adding one religious reference to a resume can reduce employer callbacks by nearly 40 percent. Wright and his colleague, Michael Wallace, set up a field study using four fictitious resumes for recent college graduates. Each one listed similar education and work experience. Each also listed extracurricular activities including involvement in a student religious group, such as former president of the University ___ Student Group or former treasurer of the University ___ Association. They randomly omitted or changed the name of the religious group (Catholic, Evangelical Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc.). Then they sent the 9,600 resumes to 2,400 job listings that seemed suitable for a recent college graduate. The researchers assumed that if no discrimination existed, employers would respond equally to all the religious groups identified. But that’s not what happened. Those resumes that bore no religious listing received 20 responses for every 100 resumes sent, about a fifth more than the average. Those that listed involvement in a Muslim group received only 12.6 responses for every 100 sent. The remaining religious groups fell somewhere in between. “Simply adding Muslim to a resume

Cover photo of Pizza Brain co-owner Michael Carter by Wally Kroeker

decreased employer interest substantially,” says Wright. Writing in Christianity Today, Wright says the study shows religious discrimination in hiring to be “very, very real,” and seems to confirm an unfortunate view that is already too prevalent — that religious expression is best kept under wraps, especially in the workplace. Mixing it up. Adding a woman to a male board of directors improves corporate governance, says Simon Fraser University business professor Judith Zaichkowsky. While some shareholder advocates call for a quota of women directors, her research found that even one woman can make a difference in encouraging more focus on board practices and behaviors related to good governance. Why? Because groups of males generally “behave better” when a female is present, she writes in the International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics. Her research found some of the strongest correlation in traditionally maledominated industries such as energy and mining. She based her 2004 to 2012 analysis on how leading companies dealt with governance issues such as board composition, share ownership, compensation, disclosure and shareholder rights. (Globe & Mail)

Who needs better financial literacy? Young people, right? Not necessarily, says Jane Rooney, Canada’s new government-appointed “financial literacy advocate.” Her first target will be seniors, who might seem to have the most experience with money but who, according to a recent

Don’t miss the center pages of this issue which document the impact of MEDA’s Ukraine Horticultural Development Project (UHDP). The insert is the work of Scott Ruddick, MEDA”s director of integrated support services, and Dalilah Jesus, MEDA’s graphic designer. — WK

Send us a memo -

Body art has been growing like crazy, and now one in five adults (two in five 30-somethings) sports tattoos that once were seen mostly on sailors, prisoners and circus performers. Tattoos apparently are still seen as signs of rebellion or social deviance by workplace gatekeepers. A Scottish study shows that, except for firms that cater to youth, jobseekers

The Marketplace September October 2014

Don Kroeker, former CEO of Kroeker Farms Ltd. and longtime MEDA member, was inducted this summer into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame for his lifetime of service to prairie agriculture. The induction speech paid tribute to MEDA for having stimulated the development of the business principles he employed in active leadership. Among those cited were his adoption of a substantial profit-sharing program and the company’s mission statement: “To meet people’s needs through innovative agriculture in a way that honours God.”

government survey, are having difficulty making financial decisions. Why is that? For one thing, Rooney says, the financial services marketplace in Canada has become much more complex, such as the need to move money from retirement savings instruments into registered funds (which Canadians have to do when they turn 71). Also, more people are entering their senior years with a lot of debt, making them the country’s fastest-growing population for bankruptcies. They are also vulnerable to scams. Many seniors are isolated and will more likely accept a phone call from a fraudulent telemarketer, says Rooney. Her job will be to help Canadians manage their debt levels, plan for their senior years, protect their money from abuse, and better understand government benefits. (Globe & Mail)

with tattoos consistently rank lower even if they are equally qualified. The more visible the tattoo, the more “unsavoury” a jobseeker seemed, the study found. Relatedly, the skill of tattoo-removal has surged 440 percent in the past decade. (The Economist)

ot a

“faith memo”

to share? We’re collecting nuggets of faith and business, and we’re inviting your help. We’re looking for short (100-200 words) bits of business/faith wisdom, something that helped or enlivened your daily work. Take a few minutes to jot it down, then send it to us. If we get enough, we’ll put them in a book. Maybe we’ll call it The Marketplace Book of Business Wisdom. Or something like that. Don’t be shy. Send to wkroeker@meda.org

In this issue

Helping MEDA’s president reach the top. Page 10

Departments 2 4 21 22

Editor: Wally Kroeker Design: Ray Dirks

Neighborly hangout

Beyond the hiss of latte there’s a bustling sense of purpose. They wanted to breathe new life into a neglected streetcorner. Now, five locations later, they are fully embedded in West Philly.

Ukraine six years later

In 2008 MEDA set out to help 7,000 farmers produce premium greenhouse crops and market them more profitably. Here’s an impact study showing how they did. By Scott Ruddick

The King of recycling

Roadside stand Soul enterprise Soundbites News

Back in the day, a lot of people like Jim King wanted to save the world through recycling. Along the way he learned a lot about sharing, entrepreneurship and mentoring. By Sue Conrad Howes

Write your business memoirs

Your business has a story. If you don’t tell it, who will? Here’s a compelling case for writing your company history, with step-by-step advice for how to get started. By Katie Funk Wiebe

Volume 44, Issue 5 September October 2014 The Marketplace (ISSN 0199-7130) 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 2014 by MEDA.

Everybody loves pizza

It’s not your everyday pizzeria. Besides serving great artisanal food, it houses the world’s largest Museum of Pizza Culture. It all started as an attempt to spark faith-based urban renewal.

Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201, Lancaster, PA 17601-4106. 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 wkroeker@meda.org or call (204) 956-6436 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

The Marketplace September October 2014

Albanian edu-preneur Can an educator be an entrepreneur? If an entrepreneur is someone who starts new things and/or shoulders the risk of an enterprise, then the answer is yes. Klementina Shahini surely qualifies. She launched an unusual school in Albania, a former Soviet satellite infamous for its isolation. As in a business, she faces Klementina Shahini daily issues of resources, staff and marketing. Klementina and her husband Dini, both former Muslims, became Christians through the influence of Virginia Mennonites who visited Albania following the break-up of the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s. They were baptized as the first Mennonites in Albania, and went on to form its first Mennonite congregation. During studies in Virginia, a mentor urged Klementina to start a Christian school in her country where classes are overcrowded and the quality of teaching is poor. With nothing but grit and a clear business model, the Shahinis moved back to Albania to launch the Lezha Academic Center. “I became principal of a school that was not yet established,” she says. “They were crazy days. We had nothing, just the vision and the people who supported us.” One day an e-mail arrived from a Christian school in Florida. “We have some books,” it said. Then a Mennonite school in Germany offered furniture. A supporter at Eastern Mennonite University said, “I think we have found some teachers, just graduated.” “The pieces fell together,” says Klementina. “By the end of June 2011 we had four teachers, books and furniture. But we had no licence to operate.” Two days before the inauguration government officials called to say the licence had been granted. “I screamed,” says Klementina. The school started in September 2011 with five students, soon growing to 31. Start-up leaders often awake in a cold sweat. Klementina was no exception. “The first year was stressful,” she recalls. “Every morning I had fear – what if a teacher gets sick?” Most students were Muslims who sought a better education, even if it included Bible classes. “We build relationships,” says Klementina. “We build trust. In Albania people don’t trust easily.” The school now has 85 students in grades 7 to 12. Maintaining faculty is a pressing issue. Last year 15 students were turned away because of a shortage of teachers. As in business, partnerships can be important. Winnipeg businessman Arthur DeFehr, who with his wife Leona founded Lithuania Christian College (now LCC International University) in the 1990s, heard about Lehza school and came to visit. As a result, five Lehza students went on to Lithuania last year, and LCC International University is sending people to offer programs at Lehza. Seven Lehza students have also been accepted at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) in Winnipeg for this fall. Klementina wants to change her country’s culture and change people’s lives. “We want the school to be a light to the city, and then to all of Albania,” she says. The Marketplace September October 2014

Creative rest It may sound old-fashioned, but one way to achieve spiritual balance in our work is to take a fresh look at Sabbath rest. That concept sometimes gets a bum rap because in the past it has often been rigidly defined by issues like Sunday shopping and whether Christians should refuse jobs that require them to work on Sunday. How did we get the Sabbath? It started with God, at the end of the first week of Creation. After six days of creating, God took a rest. Was this because God got tired after all that work, or was it to teach us that we too should rest because the world will keep turning even without our frantic activity 24/7? Taking a break from our work, whether it’s Sunday or another day, reminds us of our place in the order of things, and our place in relation to God. “A preoccupation with production and busyness overlooks the fact that we do not ultimately define the meaning of our life,” Dave Bergen once wrote in this magazine. “When we give up our need to control the world with our work, and instead demonstrate that we are in control of our work, we reflect God’s image in us.... When we stop our work, and lay our creative powers back at the feet of the one who gave them, we demonstrate our willingness to live as creatures in relationship with God, and not as creators in competition with God.” Excerpted from You’re Hired! Looking for work in all the right places, a career guide from MEDA. Available for free download at www. meda.org

Retire? No work stoppage here Ray Bystrom wasn’t excited to see himself listed as “retired” on the website of the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary where he taught for many years. “I’m retired,” he says. “But that doesn’t mean I’ve bought into our culture’s myth of retirement as ‘work stoppage’.” Even when teaching pastoral ministries, Bystrom’s view of work was wider than just having a job. Today that work can include extending hospitality to family, friends, neighbours and strangers, as well as volunteering for his faith community. “I still work!” he insists. Can an economic value be put on “non-paid” employment? How about “God’s price tag,” Bystrom suggests, since Scripture sees all our activities as valuable “if they foster a healthy and wholesome relationship with self, others, God and planet earth.” Could our unpaid work be even more important to God and society than our paid work? Bystrom is troubled by “the myth that our lives consist of a period of work, which if done reasonably well, then entitles us to retirement, which seems to imply no more work.” The notion of retirement as the end of work is not something we find in Scripture, he says. Work is not only part of the original creation design, it also appears to be the plan for the new creation. Humans are equipped and commanded to work, both now and in the future age. That future age does not mean a work stoppage, but rather a war stoppage as swords are beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. The biblical vision of shalom, says Bystrom, “is not a workless world, but a world at peace where people work together, rather than war against each other.” Bystrom says that if God plans to renovate and renew planet earth from top to bottom in the new creation, “I best do my part to treat it with dignity now; if God cares about all the nations, if all the nations are going to come marching into God’s good future kingdom, I best relate to my Burmese, Chinese, Indian and Caucasian neighbours with love and hospitality now.” That means more work, not less. “I want my unpaid work to foreshadow the kingdom of God and its ends, aims and character,” says Bystrom.

“I’m sorry, grandchildren” A reader submitted this letter, tucked away for when his grandchildren reach maturity. Dear Grandkids, Will you forgive my role in wrecking our planet? Climatologists say by 2050 you’ll feel the full impact of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. By then I’ll be long gone and you’ll be middle-aged. What kind of world have we given you? Well, a warmer one, at least. You may inherit a planet without ice. We’re told that the planet is “fighting a fever” because the carbon dioxide we’ve pumped into the sky has formed a shroud of insulation around us. The trapped warmth is melting polar ice, which makes water rise — not good news for the two-thirds of the world’s population who live near the coasts. Oceans are warming, and warmer water is reportedly like rocket fuel for typhoons and hurricanes. We’re already seeing some of that erratic weather. Experts blame the environmental promiscuity of Baby Boomers like me, and the businesses we’ve created. They say half the energy generated since the Industrial Revolution has been used up in the last two dozen years, mostly by North Americans, and that it took a hundred tons of ancient plant life to create one gallon of gas, which I can go through in half an hour on the freeway. Can the damage be reversed? We may have already tripped the switch that will create an ice-free Earth. It’s probably too late to avoid some lasting damage but maybe there’s still time to avoid complete disaster. When my Grandpa was your age he used one quarter of the energy we are using today. My generation needs to learn some serious lessons — fast. Otherwise, you may not get to be my age. I hope you’ll forgive us. Love, Grandpa

Overheard:

“The way people succeed is by adding a tremendous amount of value to the lives of others.” — Bob Lokken, co-founder of WhiteCloud Analytics The Marketplace September October 2014

Everybody loves pizza And that’s why this offbeat eatery is helping spur faith-based urban renewal Can a restaurant, like a pizzeria or café, help spark urban renewal? In this and the following article you’ll meet visionary businessmen who think so. They wanted to help their Philadelphia neighborhoods move ahead — by slice or by cup.

ure, go ahead and think the name is odd. Pizza Brain? Could they mean, “This is your brain on pizza”? Without a doubt, this place is Grand Central Pizza. You’re unlikely to find — anywhere — more thorough devotion to the art of applying sauce to flattened dough and mounding on some cheese. The walls are covered with pizza menus, record jackets (both 33 and 45 rpm), movie posters, comic book covers and photos of great pizza moments. Then there are pizza collectibles — toys, books, pizza cutters and cookie jars featuring pizza. Some are on shelves, others in glasscovered floor insets. Hence the sign on the front door announcing the Museum of Pizza Culture, certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest collection of pizza-related items in the world. Oh yes, and there are actual pizzas, the kind you eat: red pies (tomato-based), white pies (olive oil and white sauce) and more, all with personalized names. The Forbes Waggensense, whoever he was, comes bedecked with mozzarella, fontina, grana padano, fresh basil and smoked pepperoni. The Granny Divijack carries mozzarella, gorgonzola, almonds, granny smith apple and carmelized onion. Clearly, someone is having fun with this. Wacky or not, there’s a mission to this madness. “Everyone loves pizza,” says Michael Carter, one of the four, um, brains behind Pizza Brain. So why not use that universal fondness to help spur some faith-based urban renewal?

almost like a rebirth of the whole city. I felt God was leading me to participate in that, in a way that would be personally rooted in the community but also in a way that I could use my business knowledge and corporate skills in neighborhoods that are distressed.” The Kensington area, where Pizza Brain would be born, fit the bill. It was an unstable lower-income part of town with a history of poor race relations. Carter yearned to “bring the love of Jesus in a way that would pull all the pieces together.” His emerging vision coalesced with three fellow members of the Circle of Hope Community, a lively Brethren in Christ church down the street with 700 members in four congregations. Brian Dwyer, Joe Hunter and Ryan Anderson shared not only their Christian faith but also a vision for the community and, of course, a mutual fondness for pizza. “They were doing a lot of cool stuff in terms of getting people to stay in the community,” says Carter, who believes there was a sense of holy timing behind their collaboration. “God assembled this team,” he says. One, for example, was “an awesome pizza maker” and another was “a carpenter who could do wonders with space.”

Then there was pizza culture. Carter always knew he loved the food, but this was his first exposure to a wider pizza ethos. Brian Dwyer already had an extensive collection of books and music featuring pizza. The two started to collect memorabilia in earnest – posters, photographs, dish ware, toys and just about anything that showed or mentioned pizza. That, as it turned out, was more than Carter thought. “There seems to be a pizza connection to everything,” he says. In early 2011 the group started to organize the pizza collectibles and announced their plans on social media. “We started a Facebook page and said we wanted to build a pizza museum. We got a huge response.” By the

Carter came to the world of pizza from an un-

likely background — academic publishing. He worked for a large company providing research tools to universities and later branched into primary publishing of textbooks and academic journals. There was much travel. “I found there was a kind of emptiness to living life on the road,” he says. “At the same time I felt there was something really phenomenal happening in Philadelphia,

The Marketplace September October 2014

Certifiable: Michael Carter and the doorway to the world’s largest collection of pizza memorabilia.

On opening day,

time the doors opened in September 2012, 2,000 people were following them on Facebook. Not only following, but also getting personally involved. “People brought us stuff from Day One,” Carter says. “Even now, they bring us things all the time.” Client traffic, whether for food or for novelty, is just what Carter likes to see. “From the start the purpose was to bring people together and create community space.” Also from the start, there was plenty of media attention to the novel concept of a pizza museum. The Huffington Post took notice, as did National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” “We got lots of national recognition,” Carter says. “On opening day we kind of exploded out of the gate. We had a line of 1,500 people waiting. It took five hours to serve them. It was like a big street party.” It didn’t hurt that they received their share of culinary awards, such as being voted “Best of Philly” and were named among the most innovative pizzerias in the country.* “We got them with the concept, then we’ve also

thanks to social media, 1,500 people were waiting in line.

wowed them with the food,” he says of the wide array of artisanal pizza, which is as regionally sourced as possible.

The four co-founders own the company together. It’s Carter’s task to “keep the ship running,” including managing 16 employees, of

whom five are line chefs. The financial numbers, he reports, are on target. “We’re sustainable and cash-flow positive, working toward profitability,” Carter says. All this means their unusual eatery/museum is fulfilling its goal of creating jobs and revitalizing the neighborhood. Carter’s dream is to see this model replicated in other parts of Philadelphia. “There are lots of opportunities to create businesses that meet needs,” he says. “I’d like to see more pizzerias that are community hubs, places where people can come together from different races and backgrounds. “I’d love to see us be a beacon for developing the business mind of Christ. Business can provide a real powerful vehicle to show the love of Jesus.” ◆

* Pizza Brain has received six “Best of Philly” awards including three from Philadelphia magazine and one from City Paper, a local authority on “best of” lists. Eater, a prominent national food blog, and Business Insider placed them on national hot lists. Business Insider named Pizza Brain one of the “50 Coolest New Businesses in America.”

The Marketplace September October 2014

Neighborly hangout They wanted to breathe new life into a neglected corner. Now, five locations later, they are fully embedded in West Philly.

hen Dan Thut and Doug Witmer started Green Line Café they wanted more than somewhere to serve a cup of joe. They envisioned a place in West Philadelphia where people could enjoy “coffee, culture and conversation.” The neighborhood was changing, renewal was in the air, and the two fledgling baristas wanted to be part of it. “We wanted to help breathe new life into this corner and sort of make it into a living room for West Philly,” says Doug. “We wanted to establish a meeting place that the neighborhood could take ownership of,” adds Dan, Doug’s business partner and brother-inlaw. Neither one had a long Dan Thut (left) and Doug Witmer in front of their Baltimore Street shop, which served track record in business, but as the setting for the 2010 movie, Café. they saw a need and fused it with their personal interests. Now, 13 years later, they are proven social entrepreneurs didn’t want to go to campus for corporate coffee,” says with plenty of street cred for their ability to interact Doug. around coffee. Then in 2001 a piece of property came up for sale. It was a historic but neglected storefront building in a Doug Witmer moved to West Philadelphia in high-density neighborhood of row houses in West Philly’s 1995; Dan Thut came five years later. Doug is a visual University City neighborhood, where both men live. artist with a master’s degree in fine arts from the Pennsyl“The space was rundown,” says Dan. “There were vania Academy of the Fine Arts. His abstract paintings are apartments upstairs. We bought the building and spent a exhibited around the world. Dan has a history degree with year renovating. Doug had worked with a rental agency an emphasis in peace and conflict studies from Conrad and knew the business. We also spent a lot of time visitGrebel College in Ontario. Both attend Germantown ing cafes, learning and planning. Getting zoning and Mennonite Church. permits can take a long time.” “There was no coffee house in the area, and we They transformed it into a bustling community hub The Marketplace September October 2014

and opened for business in 2003. Now there was no stopown food except croissants and bagels. Fresh produce ping them. They converted two more West Philly storecomes from a small shop in the Lancaster area. “We work fronts into coffeehouses. In 2011 they opened a coffee with smaller operators when we can,” says Doug. kiosk inside the Ryan Veterinary Hospital at The University Both men have connections with Guatemala, which is of Pennsylvania, and in 2012 established a coffeehouse in famous for coffee. Dan spent six years there, got to know Center City. All five locations are within a one-mile radius. a lot of people in the coffee growing region, and became The Green Line name comes from the trolley system that sensitized to the plight of pickers who receive poverty fans out through the neighborwages. Doug’s exposure came through an aunt hood. who lived in Guatemala for 30 years. Behind the hiss Visit the original Baltimore “The connection with producers is very imStreet location (open from 6:30 portant to us,” says Dan (see sidebar). of steam — a a.m. to 10:30 p.m. seven days a Two-thirds of Green Line’s coffee, includweek) and you’ll be enfolded in ing their house blend, is Peruvian. One day they bustling sense of a charming sense of cheer and hosted a Peruvian grower. purpose. The sounds are conviv“It was unique to have customers drinking cheer and purpose coffee in the same room with the guy who grew ial — the hiss of steam infusing espresso macciato; the buzz of it,” says Dan. animated conversation; the appreciative munching of a Both owners live in the area, as do most of their staff. mozzarella caprese baguette (fresh basil, tomatoes and Dan likes being able to walk his kids to school on the way mozzarella) or a “Steve” (tangy marinated tofu with to work and somedays meet his brother-in-law on the tomato, lettuce, sliced red onion and vegan chipotle aioli way. “We’re embedded in the neighborhood,” says Doug. on ciabatta). The sense of community is palpable. Like any durable partnership the pair have “A lot of customers are here every single day,” says found ways to mesh their personal styles. Dan handles Dan. accounting, receivables and payables. The Green Line They mention that the Baltimore location was the website says his “entrepreneurial spirit, organizational setting for the 2010 movie Café, which stars Jennifer Love mindset, and all-around ‘handyman’ skills keep the Green Hewitt in a story about baristas and their intertwining Line moving forward without physically falling apart.” encounters with life and love. Doug looks after staff (including their five managers and chef) and aesthetics, which means keeping the cafés At first they outsourced food production but six “looking, sounding and tasting awesome.” years ago opened their own kitchen, making most of their Dan says he is the guy who is willing to say, “Let’s try this,” while Doug is “the voice of reason.” “When Doug wanted to spend more time on art we improved our management style,” says Dan. “We have a way of staying out of each other’s way,” says Doug, who notes that “the 1. To establish great places for the community to meet and idea of hierarchy doesn’t come easily to us.” hang out. To this end we serve excellent coffees, teas, and a From the start they wanted to remain free to variety of other quality foods, and emphasize friendly, welcompursue other interests alongside their business. ing service to all. Doug, for example, maintains an artistic 2. To be good neighbors. We hope our presence strengthschedule of painting (this spring he had shows ens the viability of our local neighborhood by providing jobs/ in Maine and New York) and curating art shows livelihoods in a healthy workplace, by maintaining the attractivein the area. Dan is active in community-based ness of our shops and surroundings, by attempting to locally development efforts in Philadelphia and Censource as much of our food products as possible, and by offertral America, and is an accomplished bluegrass ing our support to local community groups whenever we can. guitarist. 3. To think globally. We serve an international population. “I feel great that we’ve created something,” Our main product, our coffee, would not come to us without says Doug. the hard labor of people in far-away places. The Green Line is Adds Dan, “It makes us feel gratified that committed to serving fairly-traded, organic coffees, and to edupeople use the café in ways that we never envicate the public on fair-trade principles. We also aim to be gentle sioned.” on the environment. It may be early for succession planning, but 4. To promote creative expression and ideas by supportthe next generation has already expressed interest. ing local musicians, artists, activists and thinkers with in-house “My daughter says she’s going to take over events and by supporting other neighborhood cultural events. ◆ someday,” says Dan. “She’s six.” ◆

Green Line’s business goals:

The Marketplace September October 2014

Climbing for a cause

The The Marketplace Marketplace September September October October 2014 2014

ixteen energetic MEDA supporters ascended Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania this summer and raised $276,000 for MEDA. The 11 Canadians and five Americans, ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s, were guided by an expedition company along the Lemosho Route. Beginning July 7, the 10day trek traversed five eco-systems, including rainforest, alpine desert and glaciers. The climb was led by MEDA president Allan Sauder, who worked for MEDA in Tanzania 27 years ago and was eager to introduce fellow climbers to some of the latest projects. These included a multi-year effort to make insecticide-treated bed nets available through 7,000 retailers to protect pregnant women and children from mosquito-borne malaria. A second project helps farmers attain affordable disease-resistant cassava, a staple food crop. A third improves daily nutrition by fortifying sunflower cooking oil with vitamin A. “I had never put Kilimanjaro on a ‘bucket list,’ but when the fundraiser was announced I could not resist the combination of hiking on a mountain, supporting MEDA and returning to Tanzania for the event of a lifetime,” said Kevin Neufeldt of Coaldale, Alta. Added Duane Eby of Conestogo, Ont., “I was struck by the relationships and camaraderie of just having the common goal of climbing a mountain, as well as raising money for a cause that we all are in alignment with.” To learn more visit www.meda.org/climb.

The Marketplace September October 2014

Recycling King One day he realized consulting wasn’t enough. “I want to DO it,” he said. by Sue Conrad Howes

im King walks through the warehouse of Good Works Processing Center in Easton, Pa., and receives hugs, waves and smiles from every single employee as they zip by on forklifts or dump old roofing material into a grinder. King isn’t an employee at Good Works; he is a customer, actually a former customer since recently retiring from KJ Plastics in Lansdale, Pa. But to the employees of Good Works, the largest plastic recycling processor on the East Coast, he is family. “We don’t allow any of our other customers to walk around the plant floor,” says José Martinez, one of the owners of Good Works, “but with Jim, we’ve built a relationship of trust, so with him, it’s more like family.”

King — who embodies the term “people person” — got into

Enrique Blanco, one of the owners of Good Works Reprocessing, discusses PVC blister scrap with Jim King.

the “recycling family” through an unusual route. It started when he was, of all things, a nursery school director in New York City. As a Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS) worker in New York City from 1969-1971 he worked with afterschool programs and camps, later working in a nursery school while studying for a college degree. He loved working with the young children so much that he pursued his master’s degree in early childhood education and soon became a director of a local nursery school. During graduate school, King became fascinated with environmental education. He dreamed of creating a holistic curriculum just by walking in the woods with his students, perhaps drawing from his experience of growing up on a farm in eastern Pennsylvania. He decided he wanted to focus on environmental education full time, but in the early 1970s he couldn’t find such a job. He eventually worked for a consulting firm and created an environmentally-focused, holistic curriculum (math,

language arts, science, etc.) for 4th graders. When the curriculum project was completed, King switched from curriculum writing to consulting on paper recycling within the same firm. King learned a lot about glass and paper recycling and got to know many people in garbage collection, waste management and recycling. He wanted to get more involved. His social group at the time was young adults interested in recycling and conservation. “All of us were young kids trying to save the world through recycling,” he recalls. One day he realized consulting wasn’t enough. “I want to DO it,” he said. He got a job working with plastics in a recycling facility in Downingtown, Pa. By 1990 he was the general manager. During this time he met Jay Johnson and after a few years of working together they ventured out on their own, creating KJ Plastics, a broker of plastic recycling 15

The Marketplace September October 2014

products. The multi-million dollar firm, located in Lansdale, works with companies all across the United States, buying obsolete plastic and processing it into usable forms, such as regrind.

King values making connections beyond recycling and environmental concerns, as important as those are to his business. Conversations about plastics would be a starting point but could lead to other things held in common, such as farming. “Some of those conversations were around farming, since I grew up on a farm,” he says. Or sometimes King brings a jar of honey from his own bees which leads to conversations about health, ecosystems or food. And Mentor in training: a relationship deeper than plastics is forged. King has a reputa“I learned about tion for dealing squarein business. José plastics from older lyMartinez, one of the owners of Good Works entrepreneurs Plastics Processing, values his more than 20 who shared their years of working with him and KJ Plastics. knowledge When an issue arose, “Jim would come over in person,” with me.” says Martinez. While other customers might stall and end up costing income while their project took up warehouse space, “we’d always get an answer from Jim. When you have a customer like Jim, you just work better together.” If an error ever happened that would benefit KJ Plastics, King wouldn’t take advantage of it but made sure it got resolved so it was fair for everyone, says Martinez. “He once told me, ‘I like to sleep at night.’ I’ve never heard that from another customer of ours, but that is exactly how Jim does business.”

Jim King evaluates Styrene regrind that has been processed by Good Works Reprocessing.

brainstorming can work wonders. In 1998, brother Kevin, then working for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), wanted something sturdier than the cardboard boxes they used to ship relief supplies to other countries. Jim, coming from his world of plastics, suggested, “Why not a fivegallon plastic bucket?” Kevin was indeed interested. He needed 500 buckets to help with Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, but the cost would be much higher than cardboard. KJ Plastics was buying scrap plastic buckets from Plastican in Massachusetts at the time. Jim called his salesperson at Plastican. “Instead of me buying your scrap,” he offered, “would you donate 500 of your scrap buckets to MCC in return for a full donation receipt? I’ll pay the freight charges.” Jim further explained who MCC was and described the need in Honduras. He knew this proposal would mean lost income for KJ Plastics, but he was willing to do it for MCC. At first he heard no response. But a few days later he got a call from Franconia Mennonite Conference saying there was a truck of not 500, but 5,000 plastic buckets with his name on it. “Plastican just did it, without even telling me.” Jim called his sales representative at Plastican to thank them

King is the oldest of seven boys, including farmers, business owners, a doctor and a non-profit organization’s executive director. When they get together, brotherly The Marketplace September October 2014

and asked, “How did you make this happen so quickly?” She replied, “Our president is from Honduras and knew MCC. He was thrilled to have a tangible way to help out the victims in his homeland.” One day King’s retired mother, who volunteers at MCC’s Material Resource Center (MRC) in Ephrata, Pa., mentioned that the Amish men who accompanied their wives to volunteer didn’t always have enough to do while their wives quilted. King contacted the MRC and told them he could get “contaminated plastics” shipped to them and if they would sort the plastics (e.g., taking a CD out of its plastic cover so the cover could be recycled), King would pay MCC for the resulting “uncontaminated” plastics. It was a win-win-win solution: King’s mother was happy to see more volunteer opportunities at the MRC; MCC was delighted by the extra income; and King’s customers were pleased they could recycle the waste rather than pay to dispose of it in a landfill.

Rene Blanco (left), one of the owners of Good Works Reprocessing, with Jim King.

King retired from KJ Plastics in April, leaving an

“I think the concept of service and charity is really declining with younger generations,” he says. “My generation is not doing such a good job of teaching service and charity. Charitable giving is as necessary as exercise. It stretches you.” King has been moved by hearing MEDA interns report on their experiences overseas. “It is powerful to hear how their lives have been changed by the work they were able to do,” he says. As a result he and his wife Joan Nathan have generously supported expanded MEDA internships for young people. As a long-time Sunday school teacher, King sees his role as teaching children that they have a role to play. In church, at play, in the business world, or with his charitable giving, King is determined to “provide opportunities to get young people interested and to serve.” King says he has always been open to new ideas and new people, and has been enriched by being led down unexpected paths. Being retired won’t change that. “If you make your life available, opportunities come your way,” he says. Even in retirement, he’s saying, “I’m available.” ◆

$8 million-per-year business. “I don’t have a formal plan for retirement,” he says, “but I do want to be outside as much as possible and I want to do more church-related projects, like visiting the If an issue arose elderly.” He treasures the influence of role models who with a client, taught him lessons of business, faith and values. “I King wouldn’t learned about plastics from older people who were enstall, he’d come trepreneurs in their own way and took me on and shared over in person. their knowledge with me,” he says. King’s late father, David, was a significant mentor who freely shared his knowledge and gifts and taught his sons to do the same. “He was always willing to discuss how he made decisions on the farm,” says King. “We would be driving somewhere and he was always discussing, modeling faith and business.” The lessons were not lost on the younger King, who is passionate about mentoring the next generations.

Sue Conrad Howes is an ordained minister in Lancaster (Pa.) Mennonite Conference and Engagement Representative in MEDA’s Lancaster office.

The Marketplace September October 2014

Every business has a story If you don’t tell it, who will? by Katie Funk Wiebe

friend sent me a photo of the little corner store my father first managed, later owned, in Blaine Lake, Sask., from 1928 to 1966. Nearly forty years together. The original red brick has been painted a bright royal blue. A long ramp extends from one side of the steps leading into the front door. It is now someone else’s business. That little business dictated the welfare of our family for decades. When it did well, we did well. When it stumbled, we also stumbled. That little store has a story to tell because it had a beginning, grew, shrank, nearly died, revived, and took on new owners who each said, “I think I can make a go of it.” During its long history it gave great joy but also agony. It was our life. It had its own identity and culture even as it influenced the culture of our little village and was influenced by it. Similarly, your business, whatever form it takes, has a story to tell. But why tell it? The reasons are simple: Because the story of your business is unique. No other business is quite like it. BePhoto by Doug Heidebrecht

cause telling its story will encourage others. Because it will inform and educate. Because it will leave a lasting legacy measured not by the size of your bank account but by readers inspired. Maybe it will even entertain. But you’re not a Bill Gates or a Sam Walton, you say. You have no big story to tell like the DeFehrs of Winnipeg. And you don’t have thousands at your disposal to have someone ghost-write your story. There’s still a way. But reckon on this: it will cost time, effort, and money. And be prepared to wear your heart on the front door of your business while you tell it. A good story, and yours is a good story, is written with the heart, not just the mind.

I’ve been encouraging people to write their memoirs and family histories since the 1970s. Check out my book How to Write Your Personal or Family History (Good Books). I always suggest they start easy. You’ve got a long, rewarding journey ahead. Begin by collecting stories, and I mean real stories you’ve told and retold around the dinner or board room table, in the lunch room, and wherever you found an ear. File them according to subject matter or year of occurrence. Cling to each memory like a life jacket. Stories with

“It was our life,” says Katie Funk Wiebe of the little Saskatchewan store of her childhood. Like all businesses, it has a story to tell. The Marketplace September October 2014

real live people keep a piece of writing afloat. Be aware that when you collect stories you are actually collecting truths, feelings, and lessons learned. They keep the reader hanging in there with you. The essence of an emotion remains the same whether the event took place fifty or sixty years ago or last week. Courage is always courage, steadiness is always steadiness, and fear and despair are the same today as when you faced bankruptcy. So once you have lived your life, why hang onto it? When you give yourself away through words, you come alive. Read widely the memoirs of business leaders, both the rich and famous and the mom-and-pop owners of a local diner. Read the memoirs of businesses similar to yours or very different. Check out The New Pioneers: The Men and Women Who Are Transforming The Workplace and Marketplace by Thomas Petzinger, Jr. and Entrepreneurs in the Faith Community: Profiles of Mennonites in Business (Calvin W. Redekop and Benjamin W. Redekop, eds.). Note experiences similar to yours and those that introduce new thinking. You may believe that the internal workings of a business should always be secret. What surprised you in these memoirs that you would not have mentioned?

relive and record those dreams. My son James and his wife Kathy own and operate Belite Aircraft in Wichita, Kan. His dream of flying began at age 8 or 9. Maybe even before that. He and his friend Noel spent much time concocting new adventures. One Saturday they badgered me to drive them and their assortment of 10- to 12-foot bamboo poles to a high promontory near our town. They were convinced if they attached bed sheets to the poles, grabbed them, then ran off the cliff, they would fly. “But, Mom, we will fly, we will.” Now James designs and flies ultralight airplanes and is happiest when soaring over the Flint Hills of Kansas. Keep adding details to this timeline as you think of them. Early goals? Name changes? Changes in business plans? Changes in venue? Include achievements, major financial losses or gains, at the appropriate date. Also new acquisitions and innovations, personnel changes, even family crises. Few businesses operate outside the realm of family. What authorities in the business world stimulated your mind and imagination to persuade you to think you could do it? Who were the naysayers to your proposals? Add five or six defining moments: when the business teetered, when you thought you’d win an award and did (or didn’t), when you made critical ethical decisions. Any regrets now? How did you deal with employee raises, firings and promotions, even celebrations? How did you deal with just and unjust criticism, jealousy, mistrust by employees, partners, board members, family members? How did you work through these conflicts? What helped you see the bigger picture? Any particular people? Books? Mentors? When did you adopt newer technologies, new business theories and practices? How did they work out? Were there times you felt like a mother of triplets nursing, hovering, nurturing, protecting, walking the floor?

Make a timeline of your business enterprise. You’ve made timelines for business plans. This is

Begin by collecting the stories you’ve told and retold around the dinner or board room table. sort of the reverse — a timeline after the fact, not only of financial ups and downs but also of events that came before and after the ones that affected the bottom line. Here’s a brief way to do this: On a large sheet of paper draw a line down the middle. Then, depending on the age of your business, mark dates in one- or five-year increments from its beginning to the present. In the right-hand column, note at the appropriate year stages in the life of your business. You opened the doors in 1968, but when did the dream for your business first take shape? How often have you said, “Ever since I was a kid ….”? Now’s the time to

What major tensions between your Christian

beliefs and values and those in the business world did you face? How did you mesh these into a satisfying synthesis? Who were your models, chosen consciously or unconsciously, to bring faith and values into a unified whole? Think hard: when did you experience prejudice

The Marketplace September October 2014

because of gender, age, race or other factors? Can you share this openly now? Memoirs about businesses owned by women and minority people are particularly needed in this time of change. On the left-hand side of your chart, following your dateline, note what was happening in the broader world of your community or country. What wars, natural disasters, economic upturns or downturns, immigrations, and major local events were taking place as you were growing a business? How did they affect your enterprise? How did your business affect them? My father’s uncle, Abram D. Schellenberg, came to Canada from south Russia in 1912 and immediately started a business — first a grocery store and then a wholesale business. He saw the need for grocery stores in the rapidly developing western provinces. recognized in the What helped you He many immigrant families arriving in the 1920s a see the bigger strong desire to succeed, good work habits, picture? When did and deeply-entrenched values, so he hired men you adopt newer from this highly-motivated group to manage technologies, new the successful chain of OK Economy stores across the business theories reaching western provinces. My father was one of them. and practices? Work at this timeline over a period of months. Keep it handy, not filed under “T” in a backroom file. Your chart could get fairly messy as you keep adding in the proper time slot. Think of it as brainstorming your memory bank. Actual research and interviews to shore up details can come later. Now look at your chart. Is there a pattern emerging out of the jumble of details showing when your business, small or large, moved steadily forward, stalled, then lunged ahead again and again? That jumble is the story of your business. You don’t need to include everything you uncover. Some details are best left in the files. Avoid writing anything that might bring a lawyer to your door. Think through confidential or potentially libelous statements carefully. A memoir is not the place to get even with enemies The Marketplace September October 2014

or to name-drop the rich and famous to raise your prestige. That you once breathed the same air in a jetliner with the founder of Facebook won’t make readers rank your book with the current bestseller.

You’re not quite ready to

write yet. You need to choose an audience, probably the most important decision you will make, for that choice dictates what you include or omit, style of writing, even length of sentences and paragraphs, and font style and size. Are you writing for people who understand business jargon or for people not yet there, or who may never be initiated into the language of balance sheets and so forth but like reading a good story? Don’t overwhelm the person thinking of starting a business with lengthy meeting minutes and drafts of agreements. You don’t think you can write it successfully? A manuscript that sounds like a novice tour guide nattering about small stuff while omitting the overall importance of the site or art artifact will soon get dropped. Bring in a professional writer to organize your material and strengthen your themes. But now you can direct the focus of the story you want readers to know. One last thing: Businesspeople talk about net profit. Writers talk about the “takeaway factor.” What do you want readers to take away from your book? That you valued money above everything else? That you integrated faith and business? That your business never made millions but gave you and others great joy? That’s the real story you have to tell. If you don’t tell it, who will? ◆ Few writers are more qualified to write this article than Katie Funk Wiebe, longtime professor of English and journalism at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kan. Among the 20 books she has written and/or edited are Good Times with Old Times: How to Write Your Memoirs (Herald Press), The Storekeeper’s Daughter: A Memoir (Herald Press) and How to Write Your Personal or Family History (Good Books). She lives in Wichita.

Soundbites

Shut up and sell

A lot of people believe that selling requires being a fast talker, or knowing how to use charisma to succeed. Those things do require an extroverted way of communicating. But in sales there’s a truism that ‘we have two ears and one mouth and we should use them proportionately.’ I believe that’s what makes someone really good at selling or consulting — the number-one thing is they’ve got to really listen well. — Sales expert Jon Berghoff, quoted in Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Let me just add... The most fulfilled people I’ve encountered in the marketplace approach their work, in any context, with the question, “What can I add?” rather than “What can I get?” They choose worthy battles, then engage in them with everything they have. — Todd Henry in Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day

Coaxing beauty In one way or another, your job somehow involves the work of bringing beauty out of ugliness, order out of chaos. Perhaps unassembled pieces are pulled together to make a widget used to create a product that people use. Or natural products are identified, isolated, and harvested

parish are. — Franciscan priest David Couturier, leading a seminar on church management issues for priests-in-training

to create something new. Sickness is treated; injustice is rectified; broken windows are repaired; cracked sidewalks are fixed. Even if your job is operating a wrecking ball, you probably aren’t doing this just “to watch the world burn.” You knock down old buildings for a purpose — to eventually make room for new ones! — Sebastian Traeger and Greg Gilbert in The Gospel at Work: How Working for King Jesus Gives Purpose and Meaning to our Jobs

A date with the dollar Has the science of economics gone too far? Has it become the “prime mover” to gauge absolutely everything by financial value? In his new book, I Spend, Therefore I Am: How Economics Has Changed the Way We Think and Feel, Philip Roscoe points to online dating to show how economic reasoning has gone too far: “The machinery of online dating sites — questionnaires, descriptions and rankings — breaks us down into our fundamental attributes, which can then be sorted and ranked. Similarly, those who

Whose handcuffs? Over the years, I’ve learned that constantly rushing around in the car from place to place causes my level of patience to drop faster than the gas tank needle in my car.... When we feel imprisoned by our busyness, we should be asking who welded and locked the shackles around our wrists in the first place. Often, the signature on the metal will be all too familiar. If that’s the case, we can take hope in the fact that the one who created the handcuffs also has the key to unlock them. We don’t have to be bound to busyness. It’s okay to say no. — Kate Motaung, Reflection Therapy blog

use the sites lay themselves out for selection like goods on a market stall, labelling themselves with their vital statistics, qualities and preferences. It is unsurprising that those advertising themselves online are prone to the petty dishonesties of hustlers and salesmen: they grow taller, slimmer and smarter, and, judging by the briefest perusal of advertisements, display a universal enthusiasm for open fires and cosy evenings. Nor is it a oneway process. Through breaking oneself down into a list of attributes, and through the constant comparison of those attributes with others’, one becomes aware of one’s own value, and the value of others in comparison. Then, and only then, is it possible to make a rational choice as to the best of all possible partners.” ◆

Holy budget The budget is your best theological statement. It will tell you where the priorities of the

Comments? Would you like to comment on anything in this magazine, or on any other matters relating to business and faith? Send your thoughts to wkroeker@meda.org

The Marketplace September October 2014

News

MEDA convention to link human rights and business If you want to talk about human rights, where else do you go than to the site of a new stateof-the-art human rights museum? That museum, which opens this fall, happens to be located in Winnipeg, a MEDA heartland. MEDA’s annual convention — Nov. 6-9 — will take advantage of the proximity for a unique exploration of how human rights issues connect with business and economic development. The theme: Human Dignity Through Entrepreneurship. Veteran businessman and humanitarian leader Arthur DeFehr will open the convention Nov. 6 by making a “Business Case for Human Rights.” The new Canadian Museum for Human Rights, venue for one convention session. DeFehr is CEO of Palliser Furniture, which employs over Global Education and also the ganize the emergency “unofthe west, and remains active 2,000 people in Canada and educational attache of Pakistan in food security, development ficial” cross-border Landbridge Mexico, and a founder of variprogram to provide supplies and immigration issues. DeFehr in its consulate in Birmingous educational and humaniham, England.U.S. network to Cambodia at the end of was a member of the World tarian organizations. the Khmer Rouge period. He Economic Forum and is a direc- journalist Laura Ling will speak He served as United Nations spearheaded links between Saturday evening on her “Jourtor of the Pearson Peacekeephigh commissioner for refuney of Hope” as a captive in church-related entrepreneurs ing Center. gees in Somalia and helped orNorth Korea. In 2009, while in the former Soviet Union and Friday evening’s session will reporting on the trafficking of feature a prominent global promoter of human rights and North Korean women, Ling women’s education, an area of was arrested and held captive specialty for MEDA. The speak- for 140 days. Pastor/businessman Jim Miller will be Ziauddin Yousafzai, er will speak Sunday morning father of Malala Yousafzai, the ot a to share? on “Faith Without Veneers.” activist teenager who survived We’re collecting nuggets of faith and He is founder and CEO of JMX being shot in the face by business, and we’re inviting your help. Brands, parent company of extremists for protesting the We’re looking for short (100-200 words) DutchCrafters, the world’s largTaliban’s limitation of educabits of business/faith wisdom, something that helped est web-only retailer of Amish tion for Pakistani girls. Media or enlivened your daily work. reports have called Malala “the furniture and home goods. Take a few minutes to jot it down, then send it to Miller served as pastor at Covmost famous teenager in the us. If we get enough, we’ll put them in a book. Maybe world.” Time magazine named enant Mennonite Fellowship in we’ll call it The Marketplace Book of Business Wisdom. Sarasota from 2012-2014. her one of “The 100 Most InA pre-convention tour on fluential People in the World.” Or something like that. Ziauddin is currently the United Nov. 5 will take visitors to Don’t be shy. Send to wkroeker@meda.org Churchill, Man., to see polar Nations Special Advisor on

Send us a memo “faith memo”

The Marketplace September October 2014

bears in their native habitat. The excursion includes air travel from Winnipeg and an escorted day in a heated, washroom-equipped Tundra Buggy with a platform for optimal viewing and photography. Other convention tours include: • Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the country’s newest national museum, is located at The Forks, close to the convention hotel. The brainchild of Winnipeg businessman Israel Asper, the newly-opened museum aims to increase understanding and awareness of human rights and ignite an informed global conversation.

• Tall Grass Prairie, an iconic Mennonite-owned bakery, celebrates the craft of bread, milling its own whole-grain flour on the premises using stone mills. Tour the bakery and take part in making your own mini loaf of bread. • Winnipeg’s French Quarter in St. Boniface contains the largest French-speaking population west of Quebec. Visit the remains of St. Boniface Cathedral-Basilica, final resting place of Louis Riel, Métis leader and founder of the Province of Manitoba. • The town of Altona is home to two leading Mennonite-owned businesses —

Golden West Broadcasting (40 radio stations across Canada) and the employee-owned Friesens Corporation, North America’s premier book printer. You’ll also visit the Starlite Hutterite Colony and see how communal culture and values combine for a successful farm business model. • For more than a century Loewen Windows has been an industry-leading producer of windows and doors in Steinbach, Man. Tour the factory and then visit the Mennonite Heritage Village, which showcases pioneer life and features Canada’s only working windmill. More than 30 seminars on

business, faith and ethics will be presented on topics such as: • Human rights, peace and business • Your first job after college • First Nations people and mainstream businesses • Garment ethics: When cheap is costly • When to sell the family firm • Business as peace work • Stories from young entrepreneurs • Luke: Gospel of management • Work/family balance: Will your kids love your job? For more information go to www.medaconvention.org ◆

The Marketplace September October 2014

The Marketplace Magazine September/October 2014

Articles inside

News

Soundbites