January February 2020
Where Christian faith gets down to business
Snacks with purpose:
Angie’s pops its way to multinational success Emergency Response Africa wins MEDA pitch competition MEDA’s reach continues to expand Rejoining the family business Coffee shop supports Central American growers
1
The Marketplace January February 2020
Roadside stand
Random notes after a recent MEDA convention
M
any people start businesses to gain control over one or more aspects of their life
journey. But success can often require letting go and giving up control. In the case of our cover story about Angie and Dan Bastian (story pg. 12), getting the venture capital funding they needed to take their snack food company to the next level meant giving up a long-time career that provided a secure income. For the first 10 years of their company, Angie continued to work as a nurse practitioner. Going fulltime in the business meant “no safety net. It was scary,” she recalled in a plenary speech to MEDA’s annual convention in Tucson. Successive rounds of funding from venture capital firms helped them market their product across the US and export to Canada, Mexico, Peru, the Caribbean, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. It also required them to move to a minority position in the firm they had built. And their original goal of using the business to set up a college fund for their children? That fund got set up after 11 years in business, just as their daughter was ready for college.
Amazing pitches
The young entrepreneurs who presented business concepts at the MEDA pitch competition in November provided interesting viewing, as the pitches were uniformly well done. The founders of the winning firm, Emergency Response Africa, (story on pg. 7) will be in Lagos doing a trial of their ambulance service by the time you read this issue. Here’s hoping they find investors to scale their business and ensure Nigerians begin to get medical services that we take The Marketplace January February 2020
for granted in North America. The MEDA pitch competition runner-up, RollUP Solutions Inc., is a London, ON-based social enterprise. RollUp “upcycles” used wheelchairs, selling them at a 90 percent discount for people who couldn’t otherwise afford them. RollUP received $5,000.
Signs of hope in the battle against poverty
Considerable progress is being made in efforts to help people around the world achieve the basic necessities of life, author Tim Dearborn says. Only 10 percent of the world’s population lives in abject poverty today vs. 44 percent in the 1980s, Dearborn said in a speech to MEDA’s annual convention. In India, 271 million people have moved out of poverty since 2015, he noted. In 2018, 300,000 people gained access to clean water every day.
Warnings on artificial intelligence
Tech executive and MEDA board member Jeremy Showalter had some insightful comments about artificial intelligence in a seminar he gave at MEDA’s November convention (see story, pg. 14). AI is getting a lot of media attention these days. A recent article in
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 mstrathdee@meda.org
Fast Company magazine, “AI is moving too fast, and that’s a good thing” points out that two things are clear about this next-generation computing technology: First, its use is growing faster than most people expected, and second, “it’s got some serious screws loose.” Previous “world-eating technologies” took much longer to have a major impact, the article notes. The Web took 20 years to become a serious force. Smartphones did the same thing in a decade. AI, by comparison, went from being a “lab curiosity” to an economic driver within five years. Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that AI added $2 trillion to global gross domestic product in 2017 and 2018. There are steps underway to regulate the use of AI. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s guidelines to “aggressively uphold international standards and ensure AI systems are designed to be robust, safe, fair and trustworthy” have been adopted by 42 nations, including the US. Other recent reports suggest a lot of work is needed to get to the trustworthy stage.
Sieber headed hiring committee
A story in the November issue of the magazine incorrectly stated that outgoing board chair Tim Penner headed the committee that hired MEDA CEO Dr. Dorothy Nyambi. While Penner was a member of that committee, it was chaired by board member Yvonne Sieber. Follow The Marketplace on Twitter @MarketplaceMEDA
2
In this issue
Features
7
Better emergency care for Nigerians
Startup wins $10,000 MEDA competition with pitch to provide cheaper, reliable ambulance service
11
Another record year for MEDA
Convention hears of increased impact
16
Mary Fehr’s love for business brought her home to Uni-Fab
For the lover of family and business
Mary Fehr finds her way into management at her father’s company
Departments 22 Roadside stand 24 Soul enterprise 10 Soundbites 20 Review
18
An Electric Brew
Goshen firm supports women coffee growers
Volume 50, Issue 1 January February 2020 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 2018 by MEDA. Editor: Mike Strathdee Design: Ray Dirks
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 33 N Market St., Suite 400, Lancaster, PA 17603-3805
Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 33 N Market St, Suite 400, Lancaster, PA 17603-3805. 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, email mstrathdee@meda.org or call (800) 665-7026, ext. 705 Subscriptions: $30/year; $55/two years. Published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). MEDA’s economic development work in developing countries creates business solutions to poverty. MEDA also facilitates the connection of faith and work through discussions, publications and conventions for participants. For more information about MEDA call 1-800-665-7026. Web site www.meda.org
Myron Bontrager (l) and his son Jeremy are interested in more than a good cup of coffee. Coffee is the vehicle of change at The Electric Brew.
Want to see back issues or reread older articles? Visit https://issuu.com/medathemarketplacemagazine The Marketplace is printed on Endurance Recycled Velvet and is 10% recycled (post-consumer waste), FSC® Certified to help meet client sustainability requirements, Acid Free, Elemental Chlorine Free
Cover photo of Angie Bastian by Steve Sugrim
3
The Marketplace January February 2020
Soul Enterprise
Seven reasons why the marketplace is a great place for Christians By Darren Shearer
I
f God has called you into business, please don’t wish you were called somewhere else. The marketplace is a great place for Christians right now. Here’s why: Reason #1: Almost all nonChristians are in the marketplace. Today, less than 20% of Americans attend church regularly. In many European countries, the percentages are much lower. At the current rate, regular church attendance is projected to drop to 11.7% by 2050. The good news is that these people who aren’t attending church will still be waking up to go to work alongside their Christian co-workers in the marketplace each morning. Reason #2: Almost all Christians are in the marketplace. At least 85% of the Christian workforce spends 60-70% of their waking hours in the marketplace. In addition to serving our families and our local churches, the marketplace is the primary context in which our spiritual gifts should be used. The ministry potential for Christians using their spiritual gifts collaboratively in the marketplace is astounding! (In case you don’t know what your spiritual gifts are, my forthcoming book will include a spiritual gifts assessment as well as teaching on how you can use your unique gifts for ministry in the marketplace.) Reason #3: Discipleship actually can happen in the marketplace. Church leaders often are criticized for the lack of discipleship and spiritual growth among their congregations. Let’s give our pastors a break. How much discipleship actually can happen during a two-hour church service on Sunday? The Marketplace January February 2020
Discipleship—that is, becoming more like Jesus—happens in everyday life. Yes, discipleship can happen anywhere… even during a two-hour, lecture-style event on Sunday. However, the potential for discipleship and ministry investment in a weekly service is a fraction of what is possible during an entire workweek spent with our co-workers, clients, etc. Reason #4: The marketplace is a more authentic showroom of Christianity. If you were shopping for a car, you’d probably go to a showroom. Before you bought anything, you’d probably want to see if the car actually functions properly on the road. You might even ask the dealer to allow you to take the car home for a day or two to test it out. The local church is like the showroom for Christianity. The marketplace is the test drive. The marketplace is where our unbelieving coworkers get to see if they really want 4
what we have. Daily, they see how we react under pressure. They see how we treat people. They see how much God truly matters to us in our daily lives. As mentioned in “Reason #1,” most people aren’t even coming to the “showroom” anymore, so marketplace Christians are now serving as both the showroom and the test drive of Christianity. Reason #5: The marketplace forces the Church to use all of its capabilities. Personality-driven and superpastor Christianity doesn’t work in the marketplace. Having a bunch of Christians sitting on the sidelines of ministry may not prevent a local church from increasing numerically, but it won’t transform the marketplace for the glory of God. So far, most of the teaching about “marketplace ministry” has been defining marketplace ministry without regard for people’s unique spiritual gifts. For example, if I have an
apostolic gift, of course I’m going to view marketplace ministry as a mandate to “ascend and take the business mountain for God.” If I have a pastoral gift (i.e. marketplace chaplains), of course I’m going to view marketplace ministry as a calling to “care for the personal needs of my employees and/or co-workers.” We need to approach marketplace ministry in a way that leverages the spiritual gifts of all Christians in the marketplace. The “one-sizefits-all” approach only produces selfcondemnation and ineffectiveness for marketplace Christians attempting to operate outside of their Godgiven spiritual gifts. Reason #6: Denominational
divisions are less destructive in the marketplace. We can choose which church to attend, but most of us don’t have the luxury of working only with Christians with whom we agree theologically. The marketplace has a way of diluting some of these differences. This opens the door to collaborative ministry beyond the walls of our local churches and traditions. Reason #7: Everything gets funded from the marketplace. All money comes from value that has been created in the marketplace, and business professionals ultimately decide what (and who) gets funded. These business professionals need to know God and God’s plan for their
lives in order to make righteous decisions concerning money. Although business is often thought of only as the economic engine of the church, I hope that we will begin to see and realize its full potential for transforming society for the glory of God. ◆ This article was reprinted with written permission from the Theology of Business Institute. The original article is located at www.TheologyofBusiness.com. Darren Shearer is the founder and director of the Theology of Business Institute, creator of the Biblical Standards for Businesses Course, host of Theology of Business Podcast, and author of three books including, The Marketplace Christian: A Practical Guide to Using Your Spiritual Gifts in Business and Marketing Like Jesus: 25 Strategies to Change the World. www.TheologyofBusiness.com
Disciplines to celebrate and support
D
iscipline is a concept that many in our culture shy away from, viewing the rigor that it implies as a negative thing to be avoided. A study guide from the Denver Institute for Faith & Work explores the value of regular spiritual practice as a supporting framework for our lives, particularly in the workplace. Spiritual Disciplines For Your Work: A Reflection Guide, contains a set of 12 chapters with seasonally appropriate calls to contemplation, listening and responses. The January chapter focuses on brokenness and renewal. It challenges readers to enter a space of reflective awareness, lamenting, hoping, welcoming and acting. Becoming part of God’s call to participate in a ministry of reconciliation can only occur as we are aware of the brokenness within the world, the study suggests. It calls on readers to keep a running reflection on aspects of brokenness with their work, to respond in lament centred on how we feel rather than how we think, and to engage in hope as a practice of “active passivity.” “Prayerful hope is a posture of rebellion against the status quo, holding ourselves and situations be-
fore the possibility of God’s healing. It becomes an antidote to cynicism, jadedness, despondency, and other forms of withdrawal from our work.” Other chapters in the 67-page devotional guide explore the concepts of simplicity, silence and solitude, listening, fixed-hour prayer, sabbath, self examination and confession, liturgical prayer, and celebration and gratitude, among others. Each section 5
ends with suggestions for action. Seasoned with scripture passages and sayings from church leaders and authors, the booklet aims to promote “formative liturgies” in a culture that can too often promote workplace practices that are less helpful or “de-formative liturgies,” according to Brian Gray, the Denver Institute’s chief operating officer. Intended as a support tool for daily life at work, the guide can be started at any point of the year. “As you see yourself respond emotionally to a boss, or feel the pang of disappointment at a lost opportunity, or wonder about your future career path, use these to quiet your heart and turn your focus to Christ,” Denver Institute founder and CEO Jeff Haanen writes in the introduction to the guide. “He alone can provide what we’re looking for.” The epilogue, the Rule of Life, suggests daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual practices to help readers sustain practices of intentional spirituality. ◆ Spiritual Disciplines for Your Work: A Reflection Guide, is available for a $10 (USD) donation per book by scrolling to the bottom of the following webpage: https://denverinstitute. org/spiritual-disciplines-for-your-work/
The Marketplace January February 2020
Business to benefit all Commerce can build community, help the vulnerable, author says
D
Steve Sugrim photo
sion’s microfinance division, staff oing business in ways that studied the Bible and explored provide opportunities for whether God has something to the vulnerable and care say about economic systems. That for the planet honor God’s exercise led them to conclude that desire for the world, author Tim bottom lines were way too small a Dearborn says. vision for business. “MEDA’s twin filters of women and children, and their economic empowerment, and creation care and climate, resonate deeply with the mandates of this biblical economic system,” he said. Dearborn, a pastor, teacher and author who also held leadership roles at Fuller Theological Seminary and World Vision International, made the comments in a speech to MEDA’s 2019 Business as a Calling — Taking the Leap convention in Tucson, Arizona. He told the convention’s opening plenary that he is impressed by MEDA’s work. “I believe you are playing a vital role in the coming of God’s Tim Dearborn kingdom in this world.” That conclusion came from two Most people spend 90-100,000 convictions. First, an understanding hours of their life at work, he noted. that God owns all things, and we are That has a profound impact on our only stewards or managers. character and our soul. “It has a Second, in this economic system profound impact on the people with God has established a set of boundwhom we work.” aries and protections from idolatry. Work and business have the ca“If God doesn’t own our things, our pacity to touch the deepest wounds, things are likely to own us.” the strongest desires, the greatest Non-governmental organizavulnerabilities in human life, he tions and governments have helped suggested. “If we’re not serving God with major reductions in the level of full-time, then who are we serving extreme poverty around the world in with our time?” Failing to do business in ways that recent decades. But it is important to honor God can fuel materialism, envy, recognize the role played by businesses, “as businesses play a strategic fear, loneliness and distrust, he said. role in alleviating poverty,” he said. When Dearborn led World ViThe Marketplace January February 2020
6
MEDA’s work also builds connections so people don’t feel they have no worth because they lack financial resources, he said. Businesses must make a profit, but it is a means to something else, he warned. “Profit is a fantastic means, and a really pathetic end.” The 100,000 hours many people will spend at work during their life provide an incredible potential for community creation. That’s not an optional extra in business, it is one of God’s purposes.” Much of the biblical mandate around community relates to those who cannot compete, who are marginalized and do not have the capacity to enter into economic enterprise, he said. God calls people to build vision, community, dignity and hope, and businesses are at the heart of that, he said. “The more fully a business participates in the purposes of God, the more it can be done as a holy calling.” Dearborn’s most recent book — Business as a Holy Calling? A workbook for Christians in business and their pastors — outlines his views on business as ministry and a healing force. God is advising people to take a leap for justice, he said, defining justice as the biblical word for making things right. “As we take this leap for justice, we take a leap for hope and joy.” People of faith who work for justice are not working to prepare for heaven someday, he said. They are working on earth to prepare signs of heaven now. ◆
Ambulance alternatives Waterloo firm aims to deliver affordable emergency service to Nigerians
I
Steve Sugrim photo
up front, in installn many North ments, or by employAmerican comers/insurers. munities, people A subscription who have a medical emergency dial 911. model works in a “In my home councountry where 80 try of Nigeria, there is percent of health care no one to call,” Folake spending is out of Owodunni says. pocket, Owodunni In Ontario, there said. Most hospitals reis one ambulance for quire payment upfront every 11,000 people. prior to treatment. In Nigeria, there is one ERA has surveyed Folake Owodunni and Maame Poku won $10,000 at MEDA’s pitch ambulance for every potential clients to see competition. 191,00 people. The what they would pay for November. The MEDA pitch compeWorld Health Organization recomthe service and based pricing accordmends a minimum ratio of an ambu- tition saw five finalists from the US ingly. Lowest income earners would and Canada compete for the Allan lance per 80,000 people. pay a flat fee of one percent of salary. Sauder Social Innovators Award. Without ambulance access, Signing up 15,000 subscribers That award is sponsored by Ron people depend on bystanders to get would provide $40,000 in profit that and Barb Schlegel and family. It was them to the hospital and receive no they could re-invest in the company. named in honor of former MEDA care on the way. In Nigeria, “the The Lagos pilot, in partnership president Sauder. He worked for the ambulances that exist lack the staff with a non-governmental organization organization for 31 years, serving 16 and communication to be effective,” there, will involve training first reyears as president before retiring in she says. sponders on first aid, triage and basic late 2018. More than 200,000 people die care. ERA will provide internationally A few days after that win, ERA annually from road traffic accidents accepted training and liability insurwon $10,000 at the Evoke Tech For or complications from heart disease, ance coverage to protect responders. Good Competition in Toronto. “common addressable emergencies.” A dispatcher will input requests ERA combines training, technolOwodunni and Maame Poku for service, identify the closest ogy and transportation to deliver met while doing Master of Business, responder and contact them on a medical care to victims. Current Entrepreneurship and Technology mobile app. systems offer expensive care for the ERA has a Go Fund Me campaign studies at University of Waterloo. wealthy. That results in 95 percent of underway to raise additional funds They have formed a company to for the pilot. The firm will eventually address this problem. Emergency Re- Nigerians preferring to call a neighbe seeking investors. They hope their sponse Africa (ERA) is developing an bor instead of an ambulance. They hope to respond within system will launch by this fall. affordable, fast and safe ambulance three to 10 minutes, using lower-cost system in Nigeria. The project may eventually ambulance tricycles, at a fee 70 perThe firm has won three pitch expand to other countries which face cent less than a regular ambulance. competitions since July, cash prizes similar challenges, such as Ghana Their target market is 42 million they will use towards a pilot this and Uganda. In Ghana, ambulances Nigerians (of 203 million who live in winter in Lagos, the largest city. take up to three hours to arrive, the country) who are earning a living said Poku, a Ghanaian native whose After winning $5,000 at a UW wage. ERA will sell its service as an grandmother died when an ambucontest, they won $10,000 at the lance did not arrive promptly. ◆ MEDA pitch competition in Tucson in annual subscription that can be paid 7
The Marketplace January February 2020
Retaining staff by paying attention to details Home improvement manufacturer addresses staff concerns with innovative corporate care
R
photo by Michael Chansley
were leaving. apid growth Hearing the comcan take a toll plaints, the elder Mulon a compalet knew changes were ny’s staff. needed. Craig Mullet, vice“Our goal became, president of corporate we want to be the care at ProVia, knows employer of choice in that well. whatever area we are ProVia manuin,” Craig recalled. “We factures building want to be the place products, steel and that people want to fibreglass entry doors, come to work for.” aluminum storm doors They took a numand vinyl windows, viber of steps to make nyl siding and manuthat shift. factured stone. The first was learnBased in Sugaring from Character creek, a small village First. Character First in eastern Ohio, the delivers professional firm employs 980 at development and five plants in Ohio character education and Mississippi. programs that focus on ProVia acquired real-life issues, at work a number of compaand elsewhere. nies over the years. One early acquisition The program ProVia doubled their busiadopted required superness, but left the firm visors to recognize their understaffed and lackemployees publicly for ing adequate manageone good character trait ment depth. shown in the previous Craig Mullet oversees ProVia’s holistic employee care program. Company founder year. Then, they had to Bill Mullet and his wife were serving convention in Tucson, Arizona. tell the company how the employee as overseas missionaries in Romania. Employees were unhappy, with exhibited that trait. Their son Craig, only 22 at the turnover above 50 percent. One evePeople are often better at sintime, carried responsibilities beyond ning, after Bill Mullet had returned gling out errors than recognizing what his age and experience warhome to the firm, he gave a young people for what they do well, he ranted. “I was in way over my head, Amish employee a ride home late said. “It (Character First) became a didn’t know what I was doing,” he one evening. The worker unloaded very powerful tool.” said in a seminar at MEDA’s annual and told him why so many people The company also developed The Marketplace January February 2020
8
incentive pay practices. They allowed hourly paid employees to go home early once their work was done and still be paid the same as if they had stayed for the entire shift. “Because of the incentive program, employees are constantly looking at ways to build the product better, faster.” The change, a quasi-piece rate approach, took about two years to fine tune and get employee buyin. “It’s not perfect,” he admitted. Sometimes requests for employees to do training, maintenance and book study are met with resistance. After an accident crushed an older worker’s hip, the company invested heavily in safety measures. In 2013, ProVia developed a purpose, vision and mission and values statement. The firm wanted to ensure that the faith values of founder Bill Mullet, an ordained minister, were
reflected. They adopted Jesus’ words: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt 5:16) “Whatever we do, we want to make sure we’re not taking the glory for ourselves,” Craig said. Craig Mullet and his siblings were raised in the Beachy (Amish) Mennonite tradition. They had a conservative upbringing “very strong in the values of faith and hard work.” ProVia’s pricing niche is at the higher end of the market. They decline offers to supply big box retailers. The company wants to avoid “the race to the bottom,” and focus on making a good quality product at a fair price, he said. Growing up, Craig repeatedly heard his father remind staff to: “Build this door, build this window like it is going on Jesus’ house.”
Ohio firm grew through series of acquisitions
I
n 1977, Bill Mullet and his brother Andrew bought Hochstetler Door & Window of Walnut Creek, Ohio, which produced and sold aluminum storm doors and windows. They moved the business a few miles away to a rented city garage in Sugarcreek, Ohio. The next year, they brought in a line of steel entry doors to increase business. In 1980, Andrew Mullet moved to Texas and sold his share of the business. In 1982, Bill Mullet became sole owner of the firm and changed its name to Precision Door & Glass, Inc. Two years later, he moved the business to its current location. In 1995, the Mullets purchased the assets of Sugarcreek Window and Door, a firm that had gone into bankruptcy. In 2002, they had become weary
of regularly receiving substandard product from a supplier, so they bought an automated glass insulating line and formed Monarch IG in Cambridge, Ohio. Five years later, they merged the three firms under a new corporate name, ProVia Door. In 2009, they purchased Heartland Building Products, a Booneville, Mississippi firm that had gone bankrupt. In 2011, they bought Heritage Stone in Zanesville, Ohio to add manufactured stone to their product portfolio. Two years later, they merged their companies into one corporate entity under the ProVia name. ProVia sells to most US states except for the Pacific Northwest. The firm’s core is business to business, selling its products to remodelling firms instead of through retail channels. ◆ 9
All companies should have purpose, vision, mission and values statements, he said. In 2014, ProVia started a corporate care team. Two years later, the firm started the Inspire program. Inspire aims to create and enhance employee well-being in six areas: emotional, social, financial, physical, spiritual and professional. They hired a former pastor and a woman with a counseling background to deliver the Inspire program. ProVia also developed a relationship with three faith-based counseling programs. The company pays for a large part of the first six to eight sessions when an employee needs counseling. Mullet has five staff on the Inspire team, two of whom are dedicated to holistic discussions of wellness. Once a month, ProVia shuts down the plant for 30 minutes to discuss values and updates. Investing in future leadership development is also a key objective. “We’re really trying to invest in future leaders of the company.” Each year they accept 10-12 staff who apply to be part of ProVia Leads, an intensive leadership training program, three hours a day, three weeks a month. At the end of the year, the team who completes the training is given $30,000 to do a community project of their choosing. Mullet often challenges his colleagues: “What are we doing everyday in business that we do differently because we are Christians?” ProVia is successful because it has built its business on a foundation of scriptural principles, and because his father, now retired from the firm, had the foresight to hire people smarter than himself, Craig said. “You can’t do it on your own. You hire people smarter than yourself and get out of the way.” Staff turnover at ProVia is now down into almost the single digits. The company now has a long waiting list of people who want to work with them. ◆ The Marketplace January February 2020
Soundbites
Reformation radicals owe much to female French printer
H
istories of religious and societal upheaval that occurred in Europe during the Reformation generally talk about men. Lesser known, and worthy of more attention, is the role played by Margarethe Prüss, a French printer who played a major role in spreading new ideas, at a time when women were not allowed to own printing businesses. Prüss helped to advance the Reformation through her publishing, an article in Christian History magazine argues in an issue devoted to lesser-known stories of women of the Reformation. Daughter of a Strasbourg printer,
The Marketplace January February 2020
she inherited her father’s business when he died in 1510. Strasbourg was a free imperial city that had relative autonomy. As such, it attracted radical religious reformers who became known as Anabaptists (rebaptizers), prosecuted elsewhere by Catholics and other reformers. The 1520s were years of “vigorous unauthorized pamphlet writing,” and Prüss provided a platform to radical, persecuted voices, including Anabaptists. Guild regulations excluded women from apprenticeships and ownership of trades. To own the shop, she needed to marry a man trained in the same craft. Prüss managed to find a printer husband, not once, but three times. The first two died two years after their respective marriages. Her third husband, Balthasar Back, is believed to have been an Anabaptist. The couple’s publication of forbidden works cost them much money, and in Back’s case, the threat of arrest. Ordered to destroy their inventory, they must have ignored threats. Many of the Anabaptist works that they printed survived. During her 10
career, Prüss played “an instrumental role in spreading the seeds of reform,” the article says. “She exercised her calling, risking her life more than once as the ink smell filled the room and the press clacked on.” You can read Prüss’ story, in an article called Dangerous pamphlets, at this link: https://bit.ly/2loZ3pH ◆
Circling around for the planet’s sake Circularity is the new movement in corporate sustainability, Entrepreneur magazine reports in a story on trends for 2020. Circularity is the practice of using quality materials made from fewer resources, with their overall lifecycle in mind. Sportswear maker Nike says it is “highly focused on designing waste out of our manufacturing processes, which is a trend that is grow across sectors.” A Nike internal challenge asks employees to submit ideas on reducing the firm’s carbon footprint. ◆
Rethinking laziness People who cite the Bible’s warnings against sloth overlook challenges faced by many people around the world, Christine Jeske says in Christianity Today magazine. Those passages should not be used to explain away oppression, she says. Most people in the world work for less than the US minimum wage. “People who survive in those conditions are anything but lazy.” Viewing poverty as a problem of laziness has often been a strategy for preserving broken systems. God breaks through those excuses with a call for justice, she says. ◆
MEDA growth supported by record gifts for third straight year
M
EDA continues to proach during a trip to Tanzania. He expand its reach in praised MEDA’s focus on working creating business soluwith lead firms — the most influentions to poverty, growth tial firms in a sector — to maximize made possible by record gifts from impact. Those firms can reach far supporters, the organization’s annual more farmers and small entrepreconvention in Tucson was told. neurs than MEDA could, he said. During the fiscal year ended “This (lead firm) model leverJune 30, MEDA impacted the lives aged MEDA’s investment and helped of almost 843,000 clients, working many more families than if we inin 76 countries with 26 active projvested at the small, individual level.” ects, along with 543 investment and Schlegel dreams of seeing MEDA investment partners. help more entrepreneurs and give Project spending, which supports more families a sustainable future. program activity, Michael Chansley photo was up 16 percent over 2018. Donations totalled $10.8 million, an increase of 32 percent. Treasurer Zach Bishop noted a “very positive financial outcome in the past year.” Year-end results showed total revenue of $39.9 million and an operating surplus of over $3.7 million. MEDA will add $3.3 million MEDA president and CEO Dr. Dorothy Nyambi addresses into its risk capithe annual convention tal fund for future investments to complement program MEDA president and CEO Dr. spending and bolster its operating Dorothy Nyambi noted several highreserves. lights of the past year. The organization has reached its Among these were the move of $50 million Building Enduring Liveli- MEDA’s headquarters to new office hoods fundraising campaign goal. space, and work on Vision 2030, a That money, combined with $300 new strategic plan. A draft strategic million in institutional funding, will framework, which will initially look allow MEDA to have a positive imat a five-year planning horizon, has pact on the lives of 10 million clients, been presented to the board. related businesses and their families. As part of the new strategy, MECampaign chair Rob Schlegel DA’s efforts will be more geographisaw the effectiveness of MEDA’s apcally and sectorally focused, with an 11
emphasis on impact measurement. Eighty percent of what MEDA does is in the agriculture and agribusiness area. As the organization moves forward, it will explore how to be more strategic in its focus, she said. ◆
Lessons learned from failed investment MEDA’s risk capital fund suffered the total write-down of its investment in Treetops Capital Management. Seven or eight years ago, MEDA invested in Treetops, a Romanian mushroom composting business. Compost used for mushroom production was being brought into Romania from Hungary at a price that was cost prohibitive for smallscale farmers. MEDA’s investment helped the firm build a local compost plant in Romania and do outreach to small scale farmers. Treetops was “conceptually a great project relative to the types of things MEDA was looking for,” Gerald Morrison, MEDA’s chief financial officer, said in response to an audience question. The project ran for about four years before running out of money and becoming insolvent. Lessons learned from this failure include the need for MEDA to target its investments to areas where it has program activity, which was not the case in Romania. Monitoring a geographically stranded investment was expensive and difficult, Morrison said. “I think if we had to do it all over again, we might still think it was a good investment, but we probably didn’t need to invest as much money as we did.” ◆ The Marketplace January February 2020
Business with a BOOMCHICKAPOP Minnesota couple builds kettle corn firm into an internationally known brand
W
hen Angie and Dan Bastian started a business in 2001 to build a college fund for their children, they had neither money nor experience. They didn’t understand sales, marketing, retailing or branding. Sixteen years later, their popcorn company, Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP, was acquired for $250 million. Asked how they met the expectations of retail giants such as Trader Joe’s, Costco and Target, Angie says: “You gotta put your hustle on.” Bastian (née Miller), who was raised on a small farm, studied nursing at Goshen College. She told the story of building a business from nothing to an international retail sensation at MEDA’s annual convention in Tucson, Arizona. Angie was working as a nurse practitioner at a state hospital when Dan, a history teacher and baseball coach, suggested they start a kettle corn business in their Minnesota garage. Their children were aged three and five. They had no money to invest. Using a zero percent interest credit card, they spent $10,000 to buy a kettle. They popped kettle corn near a grocery store, sporting events, big box outlets and high schools, “anywhere that anyone would let us pop.” They brought their young children along, which didn’t always work out well. “I really don’t know what we were thinking.” The Marketplace January February 2020
“That’s a hallmark of entrepreneurs. You don’t really think about things when you do them sometimes.” A turning point came when they popped corn outside the Minnesota Vikings’ training camp and offered to give the players free popcorn. They didn’t realize they were marketing to influencers. The following day, they were asked to become a sponsor of the Vikings, at a cost of $8,000. In return, they would be allowed to sell outside the Metro Dome at Vikings home games.
“Entrepreneurship is lonely. You don’t know if you are right, you don’t know if you are even on the right track. In the early days, it’s hard.” The Bastians popped kettle corn at games every Sunday September through December, even in blizzards. “Because we did that, it opened up a broader market for us, and it opened up a place for us to get noticed.” One of their purchasers was a person from a local grocery chain. He agreed to start carrying their product but told them they needed to meet quality standards and couldn’t work out of their garage. 12
In 2002, they bought an indoor kettle, rented 150 square feet in the back of a grocery store, started a production line and worked on packaging. Two years later, they began selling to three area grocery stores and a co-op. They did demos in stores every weekend, as that was the only marketing they could afford. By 2005, they had needed more space and purchased a 2,200-squarefoot building. After outgrowing that building in a year, they found a 20,000-square-foot warehouse. As their business grew, they realized they needed a lot of things. Eight to 10 banks said no to expansion proposals. At one point, they had a $350,000 piece of equipment coming and no way to pay for it. In desperation, they called their babysitter’s father, a local community banker, and found a supportive lender. Angie was doing the company books in the evening after working all day as a nurse. Dan had gone full-time with the business but didn’t get his first paycheque — for $500 — until 2008. “There was a place in our lives during that time, where we didn’t sleep too much, she said “We weren’t businesspeople. All we had was ambition, and a successful product that was selling.” “Entrepreneurship is lonely. You don’t know if you are right, you don’t know if you are even on the right track. In the early days, it’s hard.”
When their banker gave them a “character” loan, “it was a relief to have someone believe in us.’’ They took out a $1.5 million loan with a $350,000 line of credit. Ironically, they got the loan just before the credit market dried up at the onset of the Great Recession. Had they waited, “it just wouldn’t have happened.” The company won an account to supply private label popcorn to the Trader Joe’s chain. The initial order was 25 truckloads of product. Their firm had only ever shipped a single truckload ever day or two. Beginning in August of 2008,
they hired 101 people in 60 days, almost quadrupling their previous staff of 40. Learning of Sudanese and Somali refugees who had difficulty getting jobs, they created a safe place for these people to work. Popping corn in a kettle heated to 500 degrees is not glamorous work. The Bastians tried to build community and a supportive environment, where workers “knew that they were valued, where they knew that they were important to us.” Part of that philosophy was paying employees to volunteer. People who made between $15 and $20 an hour, with five to six children to support, wouldn’t photo by Steve Sugrim otherwise have time to volunteer, she said. As the business grew, it attracted interest from bankers and private equity firms. Angie wasn’t that interested. Her brother-inlaw, the firm’s chief financial officer, suggested capital would eventually be needed for future expansion. Those encounters helped them see the need to develop a professional sales and marketing team, build out distribution and develop an employee equity program. Along the way, the company celebrated every media Angie Bastian 13
mention it received, every success and even every failure. “Failure was the fertilizer that grows something.” Growth also required change. In 2011, Angie was down to nursing two days a week. When a private equity firm invested, they told her that she should be at the company every day. That request ended her 28-year career in nursing. Between 2011 and 2014, the firm grew from $8 million to $80 million in sales. Success allowed the Bastians time for introspection, to consider what they wanted their product to stand for, “what really matters to us?” Early on, they visited snack shelves in stores to understand other popcorn offerings. They found a range of male-named products: Orville Redenbacher, Cracker Jack, Harry & David and others. “I just said — where are the popcorn women? That’s how we got to be Angie’s.” Her perception of the salty snack aisle was that it was focused on men. “The snacks aimed at women; I think they thought we were all on a diet.” Angie wanted to change the language of selling and respect female consumers. She aimed to provide a voice of empowerment for women, “loud and proud … and experience ourselves for who we are.” Once they could afford national advertising, they created a campaign called “crush it” that featured stories from ordinary women. “What our interest was was to make women visible, on the shelves, in life, to celebrate who they are.” Male grocery store and drug store buyers resisted the concept, but their support staff liked it. In 2017, Conagra Brands purchased the firm for $250 million. Angie was hired on a retainer to represent the brand. Angie Bastian now volunteers with C200, which connects women business leaders around the world. The organization funds women’s MBA education and start-ups. ◆ The Marketplace January February 2020
Understanding the costs of “free” Internet services Tech veteran discusses the ways mega-companies change things for better and worse
T
echnology companies wield incredible power to shape the world, and people need to understand the positives and negatives associated with that, a tech industry veteran says. For decades, technology firms were largely seen by society as a saviour of everything. But people now realize that “big tech is not always positive,” Jeremy Showalter said in a seminar at MEDA’s annual convention in Tucson, Arizona. Showalter worked with Microsoft for more than 13 years in a variety of roles in several countries. Until the end of November, he was responsible for global non-profit engagement in Microsoft PhilanthroJeremy Showalter pies’ Tech for Social personal privacy are front and center. Impact group. “If you are not paying for a prodTechlash, a term coined by The uct, you are the product,” Showalter Economist magazine, was the word of the year in 2018, he said. Techlash said. “Your data is the price.” “People were so willing to take is a growing revolt against the power something for free, not understanding of technology giants by governments the long-term implications of that.” and individuals. The European Union’s General The business models used by Facebook, Google and others are now Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the strictest privacy protection law being questioned. Questions around The Marketplace January February 2020
14
in the world. It requires firms who operate in the EU to honor people’s request to be forgotten. Microsoft took the principled stance of applying that regulation to all of its customers worldwide, he said. “You own your data, full stop. Microsoft has been very clear on that.” Microsoft supports regulation related to privacy rights. But Showalter predicts challenges to people’s privacy from other players is “going to get worse before it gets better.’’ “Until they (big tech firms) see that it’s existential to their business that they need to do that, they won’t do it (protect your data).” Tech firms have a responsibility to tell the truth, he said when asked about Facebook founder Marc Zuckerburg’s testimony to the US Congress. Facebook, the social network created by Zuckerburg, has refused to ensure that ads posted by politicians and others are truthful. “Ethically, yes, there is a responsibility (to tell the truth),” Showalter said. “If they don’t take that path, I think (the future of) their business is
at stake. The path they are on right now is the path of being broken up by the government.” “I’m surprised they took that approach. If anything, they could learn from Microsoft’s experience in the 90s or early 2000s. It took an anti-trust order to change behaviors at Microsoft.” Artificial intelligence (AI) is another area that people need to pay attention to. AI can be dangerous if teams creating the new technologies are not sufficiently diverse, he said. An individual programmer’s bias can get “baked into” the system. One noteworthy artificial intelligence application is using technology to help doctors repair cleft palates and cleft lips, he said. They do this
“If you’re not paying for a product, you are the product.” by using a facial modelling algorithm and peer reviews to improve how operations are done. Microsoft Philanthropies programs include a focus on retaining and reskilling people to find new careers as artificial intelligence displaces work for millions of people. “There will be an incredible dislocation of labor over the next 20 years due to AI.” Microsoft thinks AI should be augmenting and helping humans, by automating things humans do not want to do, he said. “There will be
many jobs though that will simply disappear because of this.” “There are many things that AI will do better than humans, because humans are incredibly biased.” Automation can remove human corruption, for instance. “Any type of role where you are helping humans, or being with humans, (will remain). My Mom is a social worker, her job is not going to go away.” Microsoft has a small team focused on artificial intelligence for humanitarian action, he said. The division also focuses on disaster response, refugees and displaced peoples, human rights and the needs of children. ◆
Integration of faith and career is an ongoing quest for Seattle executive
I
n Jeremy Showalter’s family, the concepts of career and Christian calling have always been closely aligned. A tech industry veteran, Showalter grew up in Goshen Indiana, son of a Mennonite minister, and a social worker. His extended family includes ministers, missionaries, as well as people who led missions groups and Bible colleges. Early trips to India and Taiwan with his parents were formative experiences. That background gave him a strong sense that success is not just about money, that it is important to be part of the global community. Those convictions have led him to live and work internationally. “If (success) looks exactly like the (definition used by the) person next to me in the world, then how am I any different?” He met his Cambodian-born wife, Pa’lee, in Washington, DC after college. They have three children. Making important decisions together as a couple has been an important part of his journey. They
work to find a local church community before moving, so they can ensure they will develop roots where they settle. Jeremy spent over 13 years at Microsoft, in a variety of roles that included sales, marketing, product management and corporate finance. He wanted to work in different functions and geographies with Microsoft. They moved to Ireland after four years in Seattle, then spent five years in Vietnam before returning to the US in 2017. His most recent role as part of Microsoft’s Tech for Social Impact team included designing donations of Microsoft cloud services for non-profits around the world. (Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services — including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence — over the Internet to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.) The division also sells products to non-profit organizations. Sales proceeds from that work go back into Microsoft Philanthropies to help other non-profits. 15
He left Microsoft late last fall to lead a technology start up in Vietnam. He had been serving as an advisor to Hanoi-based Pique since early 2019, and the family is planning to move to Vietnam in the summer. Pique is working to solve a specific e-commerce challenge. When a person anonymously visits an e-commerce site or a mobile app, it is difficult to provide a personalized customer service. “That’s what the team has been building over the past two years.” Showalter, a member of MEDA’s board of directors, first discovered MEDA when he was in college. Assuming the responsibility for stewarding well the gifts God has given us, finding ways to serve and remaining faithful are principles Showalter said drive him. He quoted scriptures from the books of Exodus, Luke, Mark and James in the Bible that he finds helpful in remaining committed to service. “Everyone has been gifted in different ways,” he said. “Put that in context of the Kingdom. Where is that fit?” ◆ The Marketplace January February 2020
Like father, like daughter Leamington woman returns home to take a leadership role in family business
M
employees in a 130,000 square foot plant in Leamington, Ontario. Uni-Fab is looking at twinning its existing building and possibly building another facility. “We’re constantly being asked to take on more work, and that’s why I’m looking at expansion,” Abe said. The company has done work for Airbus, Boeing and machine tool firms that supply the industrial giants. It built 265 stainless steel hydraulic tanks used in the second channel of the Panama Canal, and several tanks used for the space shuttle program of Blue Origin (owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos). Mary Fehr worked in the shop at Uni-Fab beginning at age 12. She left the small southern Ontario community after high school to attend college in Boston, Massachusetts. She played hockey for the Boston Shamrocks while doing an undergraduate marketing degree. She did an internship with MEDA in Tanzania. After meeting Sarah French, also a MEDA intern at the time, the two of them did a bike trip across Canada in 2015 to raise money for MEDA’s Ghana project. That effort raised over $321,000 to Uni-Fab president Abe Fehr is pleased to see his daughter support women bring new skillsets to the company. ary Fehr’s decisionmaking on a career path took her thousands of miles away from home, to multiple places before returning to the family business a decade later. Fehr, daughter of Uni-Fab president Abe Fehr, told the story of her journey along with her father in a seminar at MEDA’s annual convention in Tucson in early November. Uni-Fab is one of Ontario’s largest custom metal fabricators. It works in the aerospace, machine and tool and oil and gas sectors, primarily in North America, with some of its products shipped worldwide. Abe, his brother and two other co-workers founded Uni-Fab in the fall of 1991, when Mary was one year old. The firm has grown to 160
The Marketplace January February 2020
16
soybean farmers and she was named one of MEDA’s 10 Young Women Changing the World at the 2016 MEDA convention. Offered a job by MEDA board member Jim Miller, she moved to Sarasota, Florida for several years and did marketing for his JMX Brands, an internet retailer of Amish furniture. Missing changing seasons and hockey, she moved to Waterloo, Ontario in 2018 and entered a Master of Business Administration program at Wilfrid Laurier University. By that point, she knew she wanted to return home and work at Uni-Fab. After Abe bought out his brother in 2016 to become Uni-Fab’s sole owner, Mary began to think about what would happen to the firm when he retired. “The more I thought about it, the more I hated to see that vision leave the family after just one generation.” “I realized how much I love business, and how much I love seeing businesses grow.” That realization led her to sit down and begin conversations about her future with her father. While Abe had always left the door open to family members joining the company, there was never any pressure to do so, she said. “I think a lot of people might have known I was probably going to come back before I did.” Conversations led to dreams about what could be. Mary worked on her business degree to bring new skills to the table. They hired family business consultant John Fast as an advisor, and continually discussed each others’ dreams and ambitions. For Abe, ensuring that long-term
staff, some with 23- or 24-years experience, would be comfortable with Mary’s move into company management, was a key issue to address. “How are they going to feel, when Mary comes on board at age 29,” he recalled asking himself. “How are things going to change in the company?” “We’ve always had such open communication about what was best for both,” Mary said. “What was best for him, what was best for the business and what was best for me.” For Mary, being close to family and making a difference in whatever she does were factors that drew her into the business. Abe, who is 56, thinks they can have a long transition over the next eight or 10 years, but hope to develop a formal plan over the next two years. Abe hopes that as succession planning develops, “the day will come” where Mary will take over the firm. There is one other Fehr family member involved in the business now. Abe’s son David, who worked in Western Canada for a number of years, returned to Leamington last year to join Uni-Fab in the sales department. The transition period will likely stretch both Abe and Mary, who currently works as Uni-Fab’s director of strategic development. “I don’t doubt that there’s going to be some headbutting at some point,” Abe said. At the same time, he recognizes that the business will go further if it
photos by Michael Chansley
incorporates new skills and perspectives. His own formal education ended after Grade 8, when his family moved to Paraguay. He was pleased to see all three of his children get postsecondary education. Mary admits to Mary Fehr wants to see the business her father built stay in having a large the family. learning curve and we like growth.” ahead and will have work to do to That similarity in outlook means develop her own voice in the compathey may need a third person with ny. Feeling comfortable in the areas a different perspective, she said. of marketing and human resources, “Somebody to bring us back down she wants to better understand fionce in awhile.” nance and accounting. The entire Fehr family, includWhen she asked her father where ing a sister who is not part of the she can see the firm’s strategic plan, business, is involved in discussions he has pointed at his head and said: about the future, Mary said. “We’re “right here.” Over the years, he has all trying to figure out exactly where often held “board meetings” and developed business plans in his mind we want to be, and where our dreams are leading us.” while driving down the highway. For Abe, wearing his father hat Mary would prefer to have things and his employer hats at the same written down. time while continuing to treat his Asked about their relative risk existing staff well and integrating tolerance, Mary replied that like her his children into the business in father, she is comfortable with takmeaningful roles are important coning risks. “We both have that entresiderations. ◆ preneurial bent. We like adventures,
17
The Marketplace January February 2020
Coffee with a side order of changed lives Electric Brew owner buys beans directly from Central American growers By Marshall V. King GOSHEN, Indiana — Myron Bontrager doesn’t tell his customers that the coffee he sells them will change their life. But if they ask, or if he has a chance, he’ll tell them about how it changes the lives of the people who grew, picked and processed it. He’ll tell a customer in Goshen or Elkhart, Indiana, where locations of The Electric Brew hum with business, that it cost him 1.25 cents from that $2 cup of coffee to buy fair trade coffee directly from a cooperative of producers in a coffee-growing region far closer to the equator than northern Indiana. He’ll tell them about buying green coffee beans from Café Justo. (See sidebar, next page.) He may tell you that the Bald Brothers blend is actually coffee produced by all-women’s cooperatives in Sumatra and Guatemala. Bontrager wants quality beans at a price that works for his business. But he also wants one more thing. “My goal has been to find more and more coffees with a story that comes from a reputable source,” he said. The Electric Brew brought coffee shop culture to Goshen when Brenda and Tony Hostetler Kauffman opened it in 1996. From the early days, brewed coffee and espresso drinks were served with from-scratch baked goods, simple breakfasts and lunches. Bontrager and his family returned from Ecuador in 1998 after The Marketplace January February 2020
From left: Dana, Myron and Jeremy Bontrager operate The Electric Brew shops in Goshen and Elkhart, Indiana with principles that help all those who touch the coffee, from growing it to selling it.
serving there and in Costa Rica with Rosedale Mennonite Missions. In 1999, he became founder and pastor of 808, a young-adult ministry that sprang into a church that met at the Goshen Theater. 18
Over time, he became frustrated with book theology and the isolation from the rest of the world that enveloped him as a pastor. He became more involved in the city and was on a committee with Brenda Hostetler Kauffman.
She was ready to sell the coffee shop and by 2007 Bontrager was ready to buy the shop at the corner of Main and Washington Streets. He liked the way the Brew meshed with and reflected the community and didn’t want to change much. He started roasting beans himself rather than paying a company for finished coffee and started buying fair trade as he could to pay international producers more fairly. He brewed the coffee stronger. When a local priest complained, Bontrager added some water to the cup. That was easy. Bontrager had learned long before not everything in the coffee business is easy. In Costa Rica, he encountered fresh-roasted coffee for the first time and spent a day picking coffee on a pastor’s small farm. “I thought this is hard, hard work. Brutal work.” Bontrager wanted to help produc-
ers from the time he bought the Brew. Owning a shop wasn’t just about customer service and caring for employees. It was being mindful of the people who helped provide the coffee. He and his family persevered through a recession soon after they purchased the shop and the business continued to grow, allowing them to help more farmers via fair trade or
Building relationships with Mexican farmers
A
fter several customers urged Myron Bontrager to serve coffee from Café Justo, he reached out to the Mexican coffee cooperative to buy unroasted, green beans. The business had never shipped a pallet of green coffee beans to the United States. Together they figured how to do it. That was 2014. Ever since, The Electric Brew has been a Café Justo customer. “Myron and The Electric Brew is one of the biggest customers we have now,” said Adrian Gonzalez, director of customer service. From every annual crop, Myron buys 1,400 to 1,700 pounds of coffee — the total production of two of the 113 families who grow for Café Justo. “This is their main income. There is no middleman. Farmers are doing business with churches, organizations and conscious businesses like Myron’s,” said Gonzalez. “That pays for the whole year.
He’s paying for their whole production, so they’re set for a year.” That purchase not only provides the entire year’s income for the farm families, but also health care, Social Security and a retirement plan. Like Bontrager, Gonzalez emphasizes the power of a relationship around coffee, the U.S.-Mexico border, and immigration. Café Justo shipped its first pound of coffee in 2002 from Agua Prieta, Mexico, across the border from Douglas, Arizona, as a way to improve the lives of coffee growers. Bontrager visited Chiapas where Café Justo farmers are able to live and work. He has a relationship with an organization and the people throughout the process. “We are really happy to have this relationship with Myron. It is really improving the lives of the people producing the coffee,” said Gonzalez. ◆ 19
direct trade. “If I care about the customer coming in here, then I should also care about the person who picks that coffee,” he said. Values inform how one does business — whether the values are good or bad, he said. Relationships are at the foundation of how Myron, his wife Dana and son Jeremy operate their business. “For me, quality control starts with relationships,” said Myron. “To me, if I don’t care about brewing the coffee well, then I dishonor the woman sorting the coffee. I should care about this woman sitting wherever she’s sitting sorting coffee for us. I should care about roasting it well, brewing it well, and serving it well to people we care about.” Over the years, relationships have deepened, and new ones have formed with growers and customers. After buying Nicaraguan coffee for a number of years, a Massachusetts distributor asked Bontrager in 2018 if he would take 3,000 pounds of green (unroasted) beans. If they could get the coffee out of a country whose crisis was deepening, it would give workers income for another year. Bontrager quickly said yes and the coffee sold quickly once customers learned the situation. In 2013, the shop moved across the street to a larger location and in 2015 was named Indiana’s Main Street Business of the Year. The 81 seats downstairs and 18 in a small conference room upstairs are often full. The customers range from homeless folks to the city’s mayor. The family purchased the Elkhart location in 2015. Together, the two shops sell a lot of coffee. The Brew roasted nearly 20,000 pounds last year. In a business with tight margins, he pays his 36 employees $15 to $20 an hour with some benefits. He takes a salary that is never more than 2.5 times what an employee makes. “Our goal is not wealth. It’s relationships.” ◆ Marshall V. King, a food writer since 2000, is a freelance writer and photographer in Goshen, Indiana.
The Marketplace January February 2020
Reviews
Come Alive Through Your Work By April Yamasaki Discover Joy in Work: Transforming Your Occupation into Your Vocation by Shundrawn A. Thomas (InterVarsity Press, 2019 224pp, $22.00 US)
A
small group of corporate executives, leaders of nonprofits, and other professionals gathered together to encourage one another in their personal and professional lives. They began by introducing themselves, sharing about their families, their work, and what they hoped for the future. But the last one to share asked a question that changed the direction of the group’s conversation: “Are you happy?” They were all well accomplished in their respective fields, but did they also find joy in their work? That question and that meeting led Shundrawn Thomas to a key work-changing and lifechanging decision: to transform his occupation into his vocation. As he sought to put this into practice, he found joy in his work in the world of finance. In his new book, Thomas unpacks how anyone can transform their occupation into their vocation, and how that leads to joy in work. The path he outlines applies not only to professional employment, but to all kinds of work: paid and unpaid, on the job and at home, for business people, social workers, hair stylists, and everyone, whether you’re cleaning out the garage or whatever you do. Discover Joy in Work is clearly laid out in three sections: (1) Your Workplace; (2) Your Work Ethic; (3) Your Work Life. In each section the author explains key vocational principles in a calm, sure, voice: The Marketplace January February 2020
“It is essential to view the time we commit to our work as an investment rather than an exchange.”
“Work is not a burden but a blessing. It builds strength of character and gives you pleasure that cannot be found in leisure activity.” “I must serve the mission and not the money.” “Creating value through your work is one of the greatest joys in life.” Throughout the book, the author offers examples from his own work life, from family members, mentors, and co-workers, with references to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., industrialist Henry Kaiser, Mother Teresa, and other notable figures. At the end of each 20
chapter, he summarizes his key points. Along the way there are a few surprises. For example, in the author’s discussion of “your workplace,” I expected a thoughtful consideration of job descriptions, working conditions, management structures, and other characteristics of the physical work environment. Instead Thomas explores the workplace from a different angle, focusing less on the physical organization and structure of work and more on what it means to manage ourselves within our work environment. That includes having realistic expectations, a constructive attitude, developing the ability to prioritize tasks, partner with others, and much more. I’ve often seen the quip that showing up is the first secret of success, but Thomas goes deeper and rightly observes, “Work, it turns out, is more than just showing up.” While some understand employment as an exchange of time and skills for a paycheck, Thomas insists, “It is essential to view the time we commit to our work as an investment rather than an exchange.” While having a good “work ethic” has often been explained to me as working hard and being punctual, Thomas expands it to include building character, practicing generosity, and empowering others. These and many other insights make Discover Joy in Work a joy to read and a powerful aid in turning your current occupation into your vocation. ◆ April Yamasaki is resident author with Valley CrossWay Church in Abbotsford, B.C.; editor of Purpose, a monthly magazine of everyday inspiration; and author of Four Gifts, Sacred Pauses, and other books on Christian living.
A passion for data Denver firm helps nonprofits measure and track their progress By Carla Foote
C
indy Eby is enthusiastic about using data as a tool to achieve greater impact. Eby and the team at her Denver-based ResultsLab firm help nonprofits use data effectively. Traditionally, data collection for nonprofit work has focused on compliance and accountability. Funders ask for data, so nonprofit staff collect data. But organizational leaders and program managers haven’t always seen the value in data and applied research. “We are upside down in the social sector around data use,” Eby says. “Most data collection in the social sector is completed for compliance purposes and is seen as punitive or a box to check to receive dollars. Many organizations haven’t collected data that is useful to them or that helps them make decisions. We aim to promote the use of meaningful data.” A Colorado native with extensive experience in evaluation and research methods, Eby is a global thinker. She and her husband spent several years in Kenya working with a Mennonite Central Committee project. They helped woodcarvers develop more sustainable wood sources for their cooperatives. Their eldest son, now almost 18 years old, was born in Kenya. Throughout Eby’s career, she has seen how data use can support strong services to help people and communities. In a previous leadership role at a national nonprofit, her team helped that organization expand their services to reach more communities with quality programs. Solid data analysis allowed them to support colleagues across the coun-
Cindy Eby helps nonprofits become data literate and use information they collect to make better decisions. 21
The Marketplace January February 2020
try in carrying out high-quality programs. That experience underlined her commitment to data-informed leadership. She observed a lack of standard practices around data use when she directed evaluation and learning for an organization supporting more than 100 Colorado nonprofits. “Evaluation of services is often done as an outside activity, rather than built into the core of managing and understanding program delivery,” she said. “With this outsider mindset, data does not become a useful tool in achieving quality programs and community impact.” In that role, Eby could only address a fraction of the need for data literacy that she saw in communitybased service providers. She decided to launch ResultsLab in 2016 to address this gap. Eby’s Mennonite upbringing taught her about social justice, that each person has a responsibility to make the world a better place. “My skills are not in providing direct services to people in need, but I can use my understanding of evaluation processes to make a difference for many organizations,” she says. “That’s my piece of making the world a better place, so those who do provide direct services to people in need can have deeper impact and higher-quality outcomes.” Eby sees the role of ResultsLab as promoting equity by facilitating learning through the tools of data use. “We work with organizations to learn how to ask the right question, capture data to answer that question, and then understand how to make meaning of that data,” she said. “This helps firms increase their data literacy. They can harness the power of data for the work they do and the communities they serve, rather than evaluation being done to them.” While most of ResultsLab’s current clients are Coloradobased, everyone on her team has international experience. The tools and resources they The Marketplace January February 2020
Results Labs helps firms ask the right question, “capture data to answer that question, and then understand how to make meaning of that data.” use with nonprofits can be applied in diverse settings, both around the country and the globe. Many organizations value the benefits of being more informed about the impact of their services. But sometimes the analysis of processes can lead to difficult conversations. Helping clients work through challenges by asking good questions and shining a light on practices and processes can result in improvements within an organization. The hands-on facilitation and training that the ResultsLab team offers creates healthy dialogue. “Clients hire ResultsLab because they care about achieving their mission and serving their constituents,” Eby said. Helping clients work through difficulties on the way to a positive outcome is rewarding. The ResultsLab team continues to grow. Recently they added a sixth person to help with the expanding demand for services. Their growth means they can help more organiza-
tions be effective. Eby has seen how learning about data has made a difference in the quality of services that impact local communities. “We find satisfaction and joy every day in our work. We work with great organizations that are doing amazing things in our community,” she said, reflecting on the fruit of ResultsLab’s work. “We get to see how effective organizations benefit people and communities, as a force for good in our city, state, and country. That’s the great part of our work — to support our clients and help them have ‘aha’ moments as they become more impactful in their services and mission.” As she looks ahead to the future, Eby envisions ways to help more organizations build a data mindset, skill set, and tool set. The process of equipping organizations has been staff-intensive, as they take time for an in-depth assessment and training process. Her team is considering ways to simplify the process. They want to provide more technology-enabled tools to help nonprofits learn how to collect and use meaningful data. Building a growing company requires energy and focus. Eby tries to find refreshment through bike rides or hikes throughout the week, enjoying time with her husband and two teenage sons, and cooking to share with family and friends. She also encourages her staff to be refreshed. Each person can take an annual “out living it” day with intentional focus on rejuvenation. The day out can focus on outdoor activity, volunteering at a school, or even visiting with a friend. The only requirement is that the person taking the day off needs to share with the whole team how the activity renewed their perspective. Making ResultsLab a positive workplace is consistent with Eby’s mission: to empower nonprofits to do high-quality work, which leads to a flourishing community. ◆ Carla Foote is a Denver-based freelance writer.
22
News
Women lead the way in US new business creation
W
omen start businesses in the US at over double the rate of overall business creation. That trend has accelerated over the past five years, American Express’s 2019 State of Women-owned businesses report suggests. Since 2014, the number of women-owned firms has grown by 21 per cent to just under 13 million, 42 percent of all US businesses. Those firms employ 9.4 million people, with revenues of $1.9 trillion. Once women-owned firms and companies equally owned by men and women are considered together, they represent 49 per cent of all businesses, 14 per cent of the US workforce and annual revenue of $3.2 trillion. Companies started by African
American/Black women were the fastest growing. They now account for half of women-owned firms. The increase in companies started by women happens for several reasons. Necessity entrepreneurs are unemployed or cannot find decent employment. Flexibility entrepreneurs want more control over when and where they work. Opportunity entrepreneurs, who are most likely to enter the market during good economic times, see business possibilities that they want to exploit. The report also discussed “sidepreneurs,” part-time entrepreneurs. Sidepreneurs “may be testing a business idea while holding down a job or supplementing income or seek-
23
ing a creative outlet or additional challenge. They may also want flexibility because they have caregiving responsibilities or want a certain lifestyle.” ◆
Women to the rescue
Women are more likely than men to be called in to fix difficult situations with a poor financial outlook, the head of the European Central Bank says. That challenge creates opportunities for women, Christine Lagarde said in a video interview with digital news organization Quartz. “If you’ve hit rock bottom, you can only go up,” she said. “And few men will take those jobs because they think they won’t be associated with success, but I think that’s the wrong approach.” ◆
The Marketplace January February 2020
The Marketplace January February 2020
24
