March April 2012

Where Christian faith gets down to business

Canadas booming church-by-franchise In Costa Rica, cheese with a Quaker flavor Inside this issue: MEDA ENGAGE!

Entrepreneurs:

Unleashing a force to shrink poverty

1 The Marketplace March April 2012

Roadside stand

Enough ministry during the week

An audible sigh rose from the pew when the church requested volunteers for a new ministry project. Later: I already see my daily job as a ministry. Its where I show the world who I am as a follower of Jesus. Its where I try to contend Christianly with the forces of competition, selfishness and hostility. Its where I try to be salt and light. Instead of dreaming up new missional tasks for us to do after hours, why cant my church affirm members in the ministry they are already doing? Good question. Goodness guide. Want to know if a product is virtuous? GoodGuide.com and its mobile app enables shoppers to check 140,000 consumer products and get an instant read on whether they are healthy, safe, green and produced ethically. Shoppers can create their own filter of preferences, such as whether a product is organic or its manufacturer has a good human-rights record. They then scan the items bar code with the camera in their smartphone. The app identifies the product from its database and scores how it shapes up. If it rates poorly, the app will recommend a higher-rated alternative. The apps creators hope such background checks will become mainstream and encourage manufacturers to produce better products. (The Economist) Ethical stress. More U.S. workers feel pressure to violate company policy, according to a new survey by the Ethics Cover photo of Tajikistan entrepreneur by Carl Hiebert Resource Center in Virginia. In 2011 13 percent of employees sensed pressure from management to break rules, up from eight percent in 2009. (Globe & Mail) room, particularly the soul of non-profit organizations. The book includes some 90 meditations by writers who address different moods or challenges that boards face in their daily work. An excerpt by former MEDA president R. Lee Delp appears on page 18 of this issue. Tsunami of loss. Michael Wilson knows a few things about economics; hes a former Canadian finance minister and a prominent corporate executive. He also knows something about mental illness, having lost his severely-depressed son to suicide. Now, he is concluding a term with the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, which has released a report calling on business to help find cures for depression and improve workplace mental health. Calling mental health issues a tsunami of economic loss, the report claims that 18-25 percent of Canadian workers suffer from mental health issues in chronically stressful workplaces. It pegs the annual economic toll in Canada alone at $51 billion, or four percent of gross domestic product, and $1.1 trillion across North America and Europe. That includes lost workdays, missed wages, lower output plus the added financial burden of healthcare and insurance. Beyond obvious compassionate considerations, says one of the reports authors, employers need to also combat mental illness because of its impact on the bottom line. The senior people, senior executive team have got to recognize that this is an illness, says Wilson. Its an illness that affects a significant percentage of their employees. And I think people have to realize and accept that it is an illness, its a disease. Its not a weakness. (Globe & Mail) Go figure. Nigeria, despite having a climate that is ideal for growing rice, is the worlds largest rice importer, at a cost of more than $6 million a day. (Guardian Weekly) WK

Pet peeves. What habits bug co-workers? Not taking ownership of their actions, said 78 percent of 17,000 global workers surveyed by LinkedIn. Other high-ranking peeves were: constant complainers, dirty common areas; starting meetings late or going long; people who dont respond to e-mails. (CLAC Guide) If youre a Mennonite in business, chances are good you have served on the board of a non-profit agency. A new Herald Press book may help trim your spiritual sails before that next board meeting. Its called Setting the Agenda: Meditations for the Organizations Soul, compiled by board experts Edgar Stoesz and Rick M. Stiffney. We prepared it for board members looking for new sources of wisdom and power, both in their private and public service lives, the authors say. Although spirituality in the workplace has received considerable interest, little attention has been given to spirituality in the board2

The Marketplace March April 2012

In this issue

Small-business transformers

Whats the best way to raise millions out of poverty? Empower local entrepreneurs. Given a chance to compete, they can transform even the poorest country. By Scott Gilmore

Mission on the move

How do you say cheese in Costa Rica? Page 16

A techno-style, offbeat pastor and robust business franchise model have grown The Meeting House into Canadas largest and fastest-growing Anabaptist church. By Mike Strathdee

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Departments 2 4 19 20 22 Roadside stand Soul enterprise Reviews Soundbites News

MEDA ENGAGE!

Here it is MEDAs annual newsletter of engagement. See how people are connecting with the mission and programs of MEDA, around the world and in their own communities.

16

Cheese Quaker-style

On a mountaintop in Costa Rica, a band of American Quakers built a dairy plant that now leads the countrys cheese market, creating jobs and development along the way. By Thom Dixon

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Volume 42, Issue 2 March April 2012
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 2012 by MEDA. Editor: Wally Kroeker Design: Ray Dirks Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 32C E Roseville Road, Lancaster, PA 17601-3681. 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. 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

Failure need not be fatal

Who could have predicted things would become so bad? Despite hard work, well-laid plans and clever strategy, they had failed. But, as with the apostle Peter, it wasnt fatal. By R. Lee Delp

Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 32C E Roseville Road Lancaster, PA 17601-3681

The Marketplace March April 2012

Blessing the jobless

With millions of discouraged workers out there, can the church be a special source of comfort and counsel? The church has a unique and wonderful role to play, says Steve Murata, who leads a Career Actions Ministry for Californias Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. The church provides spirituality and emotional support that can cut through the depression and give people hope. His comments are part of a larger Christianity Today article [Blessed are the Jobless by Elissa Cooper, January, 2012] that says churches have an edge over secular agencies because they can help people see their true worth in Christ, give them a new sense of purpose for their work lives, and re-energize them for the job search process. By unpacking the spiritual dimension of work, jobless people are equipped to expand their notion of the perfect job and refine their job search accordingly. Ministries such as Menlo Parks also offer practical events where people can network and improve their resum writing skills. Getting people out from their isolation, they have an opportunity to express their frustrations and concerns and depression, says Murata. They find sympathy and support from the other folks in the group.

A match made at church

Matchmaking isnt usually part of an executives job description, but then, you never know. Roger [names have been changed], who runs a construction firm in the midwest, hired Jack, a burly guy with a checkered past that included some jail time. Jack was a solid worker who was making strides toward fashioning a new life. One day Jack complained that he was looking for a good woman but was coming up empty. Where are you looking? Roger asked. Well, I go to bars, Jack said. Youre looking in the wrong place, Roger blurted out. You should come to church. That night Roger regretted his outburst. It was such a simplistic thing to say, he thought as he beat himself up for having spoken unwisely. But next Sunday, Jack showed up at church. And guess what a woman he met there struck his fancy. That night Jack called his boss. Do you think I could ask her out for coffee? he asked. Roger swallowed his earlier embarrassment and said, Well, why not. Youre both grownups. Jack is now married to the woman and has adopted her two children. How can companies go the extra mile to bring good to others? Two exThey couldnt be happier, says amples come from the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. Roger. A contractor decided to implement special procurement policies to pro-

An extra corporate mile

mote racial harmony. In each contract he undertook he hired ethnic minority subcontractors proportional to those ethnic groups in the area. So if the citys population was 18 percent African American, he ensured that 18 percent of his subcontracts went to black-owned businesses. A former CEO of a leading greeting card company created special cards for people whose loved ones were dying, even though he knew the line would not carry itself. We couldnt sell enough of these cards to make a profit, he says. But we felt like it was the right thing to do to help people be able to care for their loved ones during times like this. (Cited in Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good by Amy L. Sherman)
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But are they competent?

Recently I learned that a friend has a malignant brain tumor. Right now, more than anything else, I want her doctor to be really good at brain surgery. Right now, I care more about that than I do about whether he offers his services pro bono at the free clinic or if his management style is hierarchical. Similarly, when Im driving over a long bridge, I trust that the bridge inspector is someone who takes her job very seriously, who is highly competent and vigilant. I want the chemists and engineers at our regions nuclear power plant to be diligent, careful experts in the safe operation of the facility....The quiet, faithful, diligent pursuit of excellence in a vocation can be absolutely vital. Amy L. Sherman in Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good

Proud to be a waitress
Dont be embarrassed to list menial jobs on a resum they might say something about your work ethic, according to Amy Astley, editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue magazine. In a Corner Office interview in The New York Times, she was asked about what she looks for in hiring staff. I like to get a sense of their work ethic, she said. I really like hard workers. And Im looking for entrepreneurial people. I have certain positions that are very entrepreneurial, but I like everyone here to think in an entrepreneurial way. I like someone whos not afraid of the idea of new businesses. And how does she discern an applicants work ethic? Ill see someone who was a waitress for many summers and Ill say, Well, tell me about that. In todays upwardly mobile resum, you dont always see that. You often see kids whove never had a job. But I love seeing someone who scooped ice cream or was a waitress. To me, it means they had to make some money and they had a job dealing with the public.... I respect all forms of work, and I dont see it on a lot of resums anymore.

Like chocolate?
Maybe youve enjoyed Ferrero Rocher, those delectable hazelnut balls that come wrapped in gold foil. You wouldnt be alone they are the worlds best-selling boxed chocolate. They come from an Italian family business with deep religious roots and a longstanding reputation for social and environmental responsibility, says the Guardian Weekly. By directly sourcing its raw materials it can control quality and keep tabs on working conditions in the supply chain. Labor relations at its factory in Alba, Italy are so solid that the company has never had a strike. Two years ago Ferrero was selected as the worlds most reputable corporation by the U.S.-based Reputation Institute. That reputation, says the newspaper, is bound up with the fervent Catholicism of its owner, Michele Ferrero. The company the worlds fourthlargest confectionery producer is said to utilize 15 of every 100 hazelnuts grown on earth.

Overheard:

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. Management guru Peter Drucker
The Marketplace March April 2012

The Marketplace March April 2012

Transformers:
Small-scale entrepreneurs, not massive aid projects, are the best force to shrink poverty
by Scott Gilmore id is ineffective. By some estimates, more than $2 trillion has been spent fighting poverty since the 1950s, with little direct impact. The stories of failure are illustrated with hydro dams that never worked, crops that never grew and roads that went nowhere. Entrepreneurs, however, are changing the world. Since 2005, an estimated half-billion people or more have been raised out of poverty, mainly by small business, trade liberalization and gains in productivity. In China, Pakistan, Indonesia and Nigeria, booming local economies, oblivious to the latest schemes of aid programs, are creating millions of jobs. The Brookings Institution recently predicted even more dramatic gains ahead: Between 2005 and 2015, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Ethiopia are each expected to grow by at least 6.3 percent per year, and in the process, each is likely to see a quarter of its population lifted out of poverty. Entrepreneurs, not aid spending, are driving this growth. in the fight against global poverty was the grudging realization by donors that aid planners do not create jobs small business does. I personally saw this when I worked for the United Nations in East Timor. I was charged with creating an economic security policy and I failed, spectacularly. Although our aid budget was larger than the entire Timorese economy, unemployment was over 50 percent and poverty levels were the worst in Asia. But I found hope in the front yard of my rented house. There, day by day, my Timorese landlord, Senhor Antoni, patiently rebuilt a burned-out bus. He used my rent cheques to buy parts and hire local boys as mechanics and drivers. Senhor Antoni soon became the biggest employer in the neighbourhood, and had a small fleet providing transport services across the entire country. Meanwhile, our massive aid program continued to wallow ineffectively. That experience taught me that the most powerful force for poverty reduction is not development assistance
Nicaraguan taxi mogul Ramon Espinoza (left) started small one taxi purchased with the help of a MEDA loan. Today he has a fleet of 21 cabs, and plans to build an auto parts store.
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its local entrepreneurs. When they are given an opportunity to compete, they can transform even the poorest country.

Donors have slowly arrived at a similar conclusion.

The innovation that led to this dramatic advance

While once the private sector was seen as a necessary evil, now it is recognized as the main means of sustainable economic growth. Increasingly, aid agencies are funding mechanisms to make markets more efficient, to connect local exporters to global buyers, and to provide finance to small and medium-sized businesses. An important factor that supported this innovation was the rejection of tied aid. Traditionally, government donors required that money for overseas Given a chance, assistance had to be spent on domestic firms. For exlocal businesses ample, when Canada gave Ethiopia, can revolutionize food toCanadian it bought it from farmers. It was an ineffective even the poorest means of subsidizing domestic farmers, it flooded country. Africa with underpriced grain and it inhibited the development of an African agricultural market. Canada has led international donors on changing this, for which CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) and the Conservative government rarely get credit. Canada announced that it would untie food aid in 2008 and is set to untie all aid by 2013. This allows Canada to procure its development assistance from local entrepreneurs and to spend its development dollar twice. For example, if CIDA spends $1 million building a school in Afghanistan by using a local construction firm instead of one from Montreal, it leaves behind not only a school, but also $1 million in wages and taxes. Sooner than we realize, the future of aid will be no aid. Other than urgent humanitarian assistance, donors will no longer be needed or wanted, as entrepreneurs in such countries as Liberia and Haiti create what donors cannot: prosperity.
Scott Gilmore is founder and CEO of Peace Dividend Trust. His article appeared first in the Globe & Mail.
The Marketplace March April 2012

Mission on the move

The franchise model is alive and well at Canadas fastest-growing Anabaptist church
by Mike Strathdee hen you are one of Canadas most innovative congregations, you have to think big and small at the same time, both embracing and being skeptical of the latest technology. Nowhere is this more true, perhaps, than with the Oakville, Ontario-based The Meeting House (TMH), which is a Brethren in Christ congregation meeting in a dozen different locations, mostly rented movie theatres, scattered over hundreds of miles. Each congregation has at least one on-site pastor, but the morning message comes from the Oakville site, which is the largest gathering and the only facility owned by TMH. Some 5,000 people attend most Sundays, across all sites, and TMH has about 13,000 on its contact list. That makes it probably Canadas largest Anabaptist-related church (though a Mennonite Brethren church in B.C. has a similar attendance). Nobody actually likes large churches, Paul Morris, site leadership pastor for TMH, told MEDA members at a seminar organized by the Waterloo, Ont., MEDA chapter last spring. Its fun for a bit, then (people) miss the small church feeling. For us as an organization, we have to work very hard at being a small church.

develop disciples, not just having tire-kickers filling their seats. People who start attending TMH are asked both to join a home church and plug in, or find another church to attend where they will want to be involved. The anonymity of a large church has some benefits for those asking spiritual questions but its not enough over the long-term, said Morris. If someone comes to the Meeting House and we dont help them find meaningful relationships, then the clock is ticking on their experience. Home churches take material from the Sunday morning sermon to discuss, but TMH also wants those groups to be the primary place where people experience community. Dedications, weddings, communion, outreach and service to the marginalized through volunteer work at community organizations and agencies all take place in the home church setting. One of our challenges is the larger we get, the smaller we have to become, Morris said. We have hung our hat on what we call the home church experience, which is small groups, [but] we want our home churches to be more than just study groups.

A small church perhaps, but also a ministry that resembles a large business in many respects, with 52 full-time and 25 part-time staff. Ensuring consistent programming across all its sites is not unlike a company with dispersed franchises. To maintain community, TMH encourages people to join weekly small groups, which they call home churches. There are currently 150 such groups, ranging from 11 to 20 people in each, meeting across the province. Commitment is modeled and expected. The goal is to
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A lot of what is studied is based on the preaching of teaching pastor Bruxy Cavey, a talented speaker and best-selling author of The End of Religion. Caveys sermons can be listened to online at the church web site, themeetinghouse.ca , or downloaded as MP3 files. Those sermons have attracted a wide following across North America and around the world. A Meeting House Facebook group has a link to a Network Groups Directory, a list of scores of contacts for unaffiliated groups of people who either meet regularly with others to discuss TMH sermons or are looking to do so. Recently the list included contacts on three continents.

TMHs multi-site model, with sermons being forwarded from a central site to numerous distant locations, wouldnt have been possible 15 years ago. As the church grows, TMH staff are still grappling with what works and what doesnt. Technology is a horrible thing and a wonderful thing all at the same time, said Morris, who works with leadership teams from all TMH sites. It has a dark side to it if it isnt a strong solution, it will be a perpetual source of frustration. When the church launched its first regional site in Hamilton in 2002, the second service would start later, and a volunteer would drive with a tape of the mornings sermon to the other church half an hour away, a less than ideal practice in difficult weather or traffic conditions. A few heart attacks later, just as we were dealing with all the pressure of avoiding speeding tickets we said thats crazy, we cant do that. So we went to a week delay, so whatever was happening in a regional site was a week behind Oakville.

take another look at the live satellite model. Technology has also provided imperfect solutions for the large team meetings held every two weeks. Ottawa and Parry Sound staff, who are too far away to drive in for an afternoon, connect via phone or Skype video-conferencing. But being unable to see body language or hear every comment meant that dial-in pastors felt disconnected.

Working with distant teams has taught Morris

The churchs multi-site vision developed early

on, when they were still meeting in an Oakville school. When they outgrew their initial space, tech staff ran a cable to an adjacent cafeteria to deal with overflow. Pretty soon we had more people sitting in the cafeteria than we did in the main room where the live teaching was happening. TMH leaders expected that technology would eventually allow sites to hear the same sermon on the same day. A one-week delay didnt allow regional worshipers to participate like those in Oakville, who could text questions to the speaker on stage. In 2007, TMH went to live satellite-cast of the sermons from Oakville. That generally went well, said Maintaining Morris, but site pastors consistency across didnt feel as good about live satellite as the people in the seats did. Every multiple sites week you were holding your breath is this requires a sturdy solution going to work? TMH developed business plan and backup systems, had DVDs ready to go, and other pastors ready to lots of feedback. teach if the satellite feed wouldnt co-operate. It felt like 50% of the time, you had the tech guy coming up to you and saying we dont have the signal, but we are working on it. Eventually both volunteers and staff dreaded Sundays, and their prayer time became very focused, Morris recalled. Oh Lord, I hope the satellite is working. In 2010 TMH reverted back to the week delay. When technology improves and the cost comes down theyll
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that TMH needs to devote tremendous effort to maintain consistency across sites. We have to have an environment that is what I call hyper-360 in communication. That requires lots of feedback, even over-communication, with staff and volunteers so everyone feels ownership of decisions. If a new initiative is proposed, it will have to be replicated across 150 home churches. I cant just work in a siloI need to constantly think who needs to know this? said Morris, adding that an in-house joke is that Meeting House comes by its name honestly. We have meetings a lot. Morris, 39, came to TMH in 1999 as a volunteer and small group leader. Like many who attend TMH, he had little previous experience in the Mennonite/Anabaptist stream. An exciting part of the TMH journey Paul Morris has been learning about the Mennonite roots I never had. Although Morris, Cavey and a number of other TMH leaders do not have Brethren in Christ (BIC) or Anabaptist backgrounds, the church is strongly committed to Anabaptist distinctives and institutions. Cavey has done a series on non-resistance and the peace position, and in 2008, TMH made a $2.5 million commitment over five years to support and enhance Mennonite Central Committee HIV and AIDS work in southern Africa. The peace position, Morris said, is very much at the core of how we interpret Scripture, so when were hiring, we put a lot of weight and value on that particular issue.

TMH has 1,300 volunteers across its sites, which

requires a different management approach than dealing with salaried staff. At the end of the day with staff, you can still say I just need you to do it Volunteers, you cant say just do it. Youve got to take a lot more time in communication, a lot more time in terms of motivation, helping them connect with what they are doing. Distance requires getting the most distant sites, in Ottawa and Parry Sound, to be more independent from head office in Oakville. The challenge there is retaining the DNA ethos that makes the Meeting House, Morris said. In future, TMH will seek to hire staff with entrepreneurial leanings to achieve that balance between, they
The Marketplace March April 2012

can run with something without having to do a lot of check-ins, but not run so far that it becomes totally different. It has to be somebody that has a very strong sense of what we are trying to accomplish, and is not afraid to use business terms. The franchise model captures some of what we do. TMH practically dwarfs its parent de-

For those not into church

hile The Meeting House is part of the Brethren In Christ (BIC) denomination, its location, approach and development are all rather untypical of the parent bodys historical approach. BIC binational head office is in Lancaster, Penn. Most traditional BIC churches are in smaller, rural Ontario communities, plus a couple in Saskatchewan. By contrast, The Meeting House is based in suburbia, the Greater Toronto area and southern Ontario. The Meeting House started in 1986 as Upper Oaks Community in Oakville, planted by Craig and Laura Sider. They Laid back Bruxy Cavey: Freeing people up to wanted to create a church that would focus on strengths resonate with people who werent into church, or had grown up in church but felt marginalized. The Siders went door to door in Oakville to ask what the community needed. More beer stores, said the first person they met. From that unlikely encounter, the man became the first person to connect with the fledgling church, was baptized, and is now on staff. When Craig Sider moved on a decade later to work with the BIC denomination, the pastoral search team hired Bruxy Cavey. With long hippy-like hair, t-shirts, jeans and sandals, Cavey was the opposite of the sharp-dressed Sider. (A self-deprecating, plus-size Cavey likes to tell audiences that he personifies inter-faith dialogue, as he has the face of Jesus and the body of Buddha.) Now in high demand as a speaker across North America, Caveys early days at TMH werent easy, and the church shrank during his first year. Fortunately, Cavey had a strong sense of what he is good at and not good at. Among the latter: administration and managing the team. He wanted to focus on strengths. He is a sharp teacher and good at vision, but we do not allow him to touch anything else, says site leadership pastor Paul Morris. Caveys first executive decision was to insist on a team approach to leadership at The Meeting House. Many pastors have to perform multiple roles, regardless of their gifts. Not so at TMH. Weve tried to free people up in order to work according to their gifting, says Morris. Whether it be structures or communications systems, what we do has to drive down to the relational level. Otherwise people get lost in the crowd, can slip in and slip out, be anonymous. As TMH outgrew the school it was worshipping in, it leased theatre space, then purchased and renovated a former auto parts manufacturing plant and warehouse in Oakville. The Oakville TMH site uses 100,000 square feet of that facility and rents out 30,000 square feet until it needs more space. Oakville, the largest meeting site, also houses head office, central production and meeting space for resourcing. Other sites are located in: West Hamilton, East Hamilton, Burlington, Kitchener, Waterloo, uptown Toronto at Yorkdale Mall, downtown Toronto Brampton, Ottawa, Parry Sound and London. Except for the main Oakville site and rural Parry Sound, which meets in a school gym, all rent space in movie theatres. The production facility, designed not to look churchy, is also rented out for events like school graduations and concerts. It is the largest seated theatre in the city of Oakville and also houses the BIC Canadian denominational offices. Mike Strathdee

They look for entrepreneurial types to hire, people not afraid to use business terms.
nomination by making up half of BIC church attendance in Canada. We feel that there is something very important for us, as a large church, to have a posture of submission towards the denomination, Morris said. It keeps us grounded. The churchs $8.4 million operating budget is centrally administered, so regional sites have no idea how much money they take in. That unusual stance was taken because TMH didnt want to create a sense of haves and havenots amongst its regional sites, given that Oakville is one of the wealthiest communities in Ontario.
Mike Strathdee occasionally does financial literacy seminars at Meeting House sites across Ontario as part of his work with Mennonite Foundation of Canada.
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ENGAGE! ENGAGE!
Welcome to ENGAGE!, a periodic report of how supporters can tie into MEDAs mission and program. We hope you enjoy this glimpse of people getting directly involved with our message and incorporating it into their own lives. Please feel welcome to send us your own reports and sugges tions. Howard Good, vice-president of Association Engagement

Greenhouse farmers embrace visitors

t was MEDA Engagement at its best. Last sum mer members of the MEDA chapter in Leamington, Ontario, opened their arms to fellow greenhouse farmers in Ukraine to help them modern ize their production and gain insights into how to improve their marketing. Ukraine visitors, Leamington hosts and MEDA staff relax after the rigors of greenhouse tours. The 16 visitors were from MEDAs Ukraine Horticultural Development Program (UHDP), which is helping 5,000 farmers leapfrog to new prosperity. Leamington was the ideal spot for the farmers to visit. The region has more acres dedicated to green houses than the rest of the North American green very fall the Waterloo, Ontario MEDA chapter house industry combined. Ontarios producers also tries to organize an annual fall tour to learn have the distinction of being the first to regulate food more about a particular industry/business. This safety in their industry. year it chose to visit Leamington and build connec Even before the visit, Leamington chapter mem tions with this emerging MEDA chapter, some of whose bers had shown a keen interest in the project, raising members have also attended Waterloo chapter events. $20,000 to help farmers across the sea increase yields They also had two unique businesses that we and incomes. They jumped at the chance to personal thought would interest our members, says John ize their engagement. Neufeld, a member of the Waterloo chapters executive. The itinerary was organized by the chapter execu After lunch at a church with the Leamington tive: Roger and Laura (chair) Tiessen, Abe and Lisa chapter (5060 in total), the group toured Highline Fehr, David and Charlene Mushrooms, Canadas largest mushroom producer Epp, Harry and Joan (white button, brown button, portabella, king oyster, Chapter members Enns, Rob and Lois Kon shiitake and enoki). The next visit was to Seacliff En rad, Neil and Tina Quir ergy, an environmental company that creates biogas jumped at the ing, and Jonathan and for heating from greenhouse byproducts. chance to show Sandra Dick. When they In both tours we were able to see very progres began asking around for sive businesses and the challenges involved, says their farms and people to participate as Neufeld. It was a great day of learning and getting to know each other. The Marketplace March April 2012 talk about farming. hosts, no one turned 11

Waterloo chapter visits Leamington

ENGAGE!
Exotic Morocco fulfills long-time dream
rank and Agnes DeFehr of Winnipeg are seasoned world travelers, having vis ited more than 90 countries. One might wonder what more is there still to see? That didnt stop them from join ing a tour to Morocco last year led by MEDA staff member Bob Kroeker and Audrey Voth Petkau of TourMa gination. An important feature was Agnes and Frank DeFehr at an ancient fort near Marrakech, Morocco. to experience MEDAs YouthInvest project, which teaches financial literacy and job preparation to young people. men, most of them in their early 20s. Their topic for The DeFehrs were part of a group of 15 who the day was the different types of loans available and explored the fabled ancient city of Casablanca before how to get them. Students eagerly took a break from heading inland to the small city of Khenifra in the their 100HoursToSuccess curriculum to meet the Atlas Mountains, where they dropped in on a MEDA visitors and engage in a lively questionandanswer partner organization that provides financial services period. to women clients and has developed a loan product For me personally this was the most interesting for youth in partnership with MEDA. day of the trip, says Frank, whose business interests The tour traveled to the desert city of Ouarzazate include furniture manufacture and agribusiness. A in Moroccos Atlas Mountains highlight was to cross the Atlas range, a longtime At deserts where another MEDA part dream of mine. ner works in the community They also enjoyed the exotic city of Marrakech, a edge, animated of Agdz on the edge of the place of snake charmers, spice markets and legendary students happily Sahara Desert, providing edu Moroccan cuisine. cation for outofschool youth After a stop at a small shop selling goodquality shared what and supporting agricultural Europeanoriented housewares, Frank observed: I work in nearby villages. One find it interesting that in the hinterland of Morocco, theyd learned stop included a YouthInvest you are able to purchase any product that is made in about loans. class of 26 women and six the world.

Embracing visitors from page one

them down. Everyone was eager to show their farms, talk about farming and share experiences. The help and friendship they offered was greatly appreciated by the visitors, who come from an area that is 20 to 30 years behind Leamington in green house technology and operating models. The sites visited included enterprises connected with the chapter as well as organizations in which chapter members participate. These included: Seacliff Energy Ltd. (owned by Roger Tiessen and Dennis Dick), biogas producer for greenhouse heating. Nature Fresh Farms (Peter Quiring), the largest bell pepper greenhouse in North America and an in novator in food traceability. Highline Mushrooms (Harry Enns), the largest The Marketplace March April 2012 Canada and the third largest12 grower of mushrooms in

in North America. Erieview Organic Farm (Rob Hansen), a leading grower of tomatoes, bell peppers and mini and long cucumbers. Enns Plant Farm (Ken and Steve Enns), a third generation operation producing six million pounds of tomatoes and three million cucumbers annually. A&N Farms (Henry and Nancy Froese), which grows 13 acres of English cucumbers and an acre of eggplants. Two producer groups, Ontario Greenhouse Veg etable Growers and SunParlour Greenhouse Growers Cooperative. The chapter also hosted a benefit dinner which drew 150 people, the majority of whom had family roots in Ukraine. The visitors said they were deeply touched by the outpouring of support from the local community.

From Oprah to MiCredito

ive years ago Kristin Moy er was watching Oprah when she first heard about microfinance. The legendary television host was talking about Kiva. org, a website that enabled viewers to make small loans to entrepreneurs around the world who were too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. I have always had a heart Power of microfinance: the thriving shop of client Maria (inset) for people living in poverty, ing business and to learn how the loans have helped recalls Moyer, of Harleysville, Pa., and this idea of along the way was a fullcircle moment for me. microfinance instantly clicked with me. She prompt Moyer feels there is a great opportunity for MEDA ly went to the Kiva website and began making small to engage students to learn about microfinance and loans to people who needed to buy items like cows, help others while simultaneously learning about sewing machines, housing material, food to resell, etc. geography, other cultures and how business is done Bryce Bergey, a MEDA board member and long around the world. She would love to see a cross time friend, learned about Moyers passion for mi cultural program created to have students fundraise, crofinance and encouraged her to consider MEDA. make loans, and travel abroad to meet the borrowers MEDA does audit trips and they take volunteers, to whom they loaned. he told her. You should go and see firsthand what Moyer finds powerful biblical encouragement to MEDA is doing and see microfinance in action. reach out to the poor, such as the great command Bergey put her in contact with MEDA staffer ment to love God and to love your neighbor as Glenda Meade, who works with audits. After several yourself (Mark 12:31). Through MEDA, says Moy backandforth emails and some prayer, Moyer ar er, we are given the opportunity to put this in action ranged to use some vacation time from her job with by providing opportunities for those less fortunate to Sanford Alderfer Companies, where she is Opera improve their lives and to ultimately empower them tions Coordinator for the real estate auction team. to succeed. Together we can make change happen. In December, she headed to Managua, Nicaragua, to volunteer for a week at MiCredito, MEDAs microfi nance institution. Her task was to assist a staff member on surprise visits to clients to verify their loans and get an idea of how the loans had helped them. She had a list of ques tions to ask, including: How much was your loan? What was the purpose of your loan? What was your ight students from Ambrose University Col collateral? Were you provided receipts for your repay lege in Calgary got an enriched exposure to ments? Are you happy with MiCreditos services? microfinance through a collaboration with One client was Maria who runs a clothing produc MEDA and its MiCredito program in Nicara tion business in a back room of her house. gua. Maria told me how her loans over the years have Their visit was a followup to a course in Interna helped her grow her business tional Microfinance taught by professor Jeff Huebner, Consider from a sole proprietorship to who attended MEDAs 2010 convention in Calgary. a business with eight employ While there, Julie Redfern, MEDAs vicepresident an audit with ees, who at the moment were of financial services, introduced him to MiCredito working on a bulk order of MEDA, she CEO Veronica Herrera. They arranged for students to 1,000 womens shirts. She told conduct research and develop consulting reports for was told. See me how she took out loans to MiCredito on a number of topics and operational is expand the production space, sues. (A similar deal was struck with an organization microfinance in to buy sewing machines, to buy in Dominican Republic.) The Marketplace with April 2012 inventory, etc. To see a thriv 13 action. Students traveled to Latin America MarchHueb

Calgary students connect with microfinance

ENGAGE!

ner and another professor to deliver their research findings and visit some of the programs they had worked on. They had a chance to interact with MiCredito staff, learn about field operations, visit loan recipients and their businesses to see how their lives were being improved, conduct interview surveys with clients for an accounting audit, and meet with local church and development leaders to understand the economic, political and spiritual context. Business student T.J. Smith called the trip a great learning experience for me, both educational and spiritual. I hope to never forget the lessons I have learned from the trip and apply them to my daily life. I do not want to live just an ordinary life, but instead make an impact in the world. Herrera says the visit was helpful to staff, who appreciated fresh ideas I was happy they on delinquency manage ment, client retention, came. We plan to microinsurance services implement some of and cellphone banking. I was happy the their ideas. students came, she says.
Research, learning, cultural exposure: Some of the Ambrose team at MiCreditos ofce in Managua.

We plan to implement some of their ideas. In September Huebner and Redfern made a joint presentation at the Toronto International Microfi nance Summit, discussing the collaboration between a university and a microfinance institution to enhance microfinance education and research. and public redevelopment funds. Hartzlers volunteer time complemented key paid staff on the project. The impact thus far: a 70% reduction in crime, $30 million in created neighborhood value, more than 60 highpaying construction jobs and 35 new permanent jobs in formerly vacant buildings, more than 200 new residents to the area and increased local tax revenues of $1.3 million. On the global scene, convention keynote speaker Kim Tan described a social enterprise in South Africa that resulted from the social vision of the Britishbased biotech fund management company he founded. Ku zuko Lodge is a game park that focuses on conserva tion, job creation and social transformation in an area of endemic poverty and 70 percent unemployment. Be sides creating 80 jobs, Kuzuko has modeled new local standards in staff housing, wages, working conditions, insurance and employee ownership options. Closer to home, and rooted in MEDAs historic social enterprise vision, was the latest venture of ASSETS Lancaster, which was founded by MEDA in 1993 to provide microenterprise training and support to aspiring entrepreneurs. The agency has received a grant from the Lancaster County Community Founda tion to study best practices for innovative, higherrisk local microlending (including peer circles) to under served entrepreneurs and social enterprises. ASSETS is also conducting research into expanding its long history of business planning and training to support local social enterprise efforts. It has already engaged the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board as a client in a business plan to create transitional jobs for the longterm unemployed.

Social enterprises alive and thriving

isitors to last falls Business as a Calling convention in Lancaster, Pa., had several chances to experience social enterprises that blend business with social mission. Social enterprises range from private businesses that operate with a social impact goal to nonprofit or ganizations that generate revenue to support their char itable purpose, notes Jessica King, president of ASSETS Lancaster. All hold the common purpose of advancing social change through businessoriented solutions. One regional tour option was a visit to Alex Hartz ler and WCI Partners, Inc., in Harrisburg, the state capital. Hartzler, a MEDA board member, secured $5 million in private capital to leverage more than $13 million to transform an urban neighborhood. A decade ago, Olde Uptowns streets and Victor ian rowhouses were blighted with gang activity, drug dealing, gun violence and poverty. In 2005, Hartzler grasped an opportunity to acquire, restore and resell historic homes in the area. The ripple effect touched off a wave of investment in renovation and new con struction covering four square blocks. The success of this private venture depended on patient capital, the leveraging of additional equity
Want to get engaged? To get more directly involved with MEDAs mission and programs contact Howard Good, vicepresident of Association Engagement at (717) 5606546 or hgood@meda.org The Marketplace March April 2012

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The Marketplace March April 2012

Rooted in peace, committed to business

Quaker-inspired firm faces globalization in Costa Rica
by Thom Dixon ore than 60 years ago, in April 1951, a small group of Quakers from Alabama, Iowa and Ohio identified a remote mountaintop in Costa Rica as the location for their future community. They had left the U.S. seeking a new home in a peace-loving nation that had disbanded its military forces. They sought to live out their principles in this community, which they called Monteverde. Quaker meeting for worship occurred twice weekly just as it does to this day on the meetinghouse wall, a handwritten statement encouraged members to live simply, that others may simply live. But a retreat from society was not their aim. Instead, they learned Spanish, graciousMonteverde products lead the Costa Rican market in the semi-aged and ly received visitors, and built a community hard cheese sectors enterprise that produced Costa Ricas first company. In 1977 all milk producers and employees were pasteurized cheese. Rapid growth in cheese sales created invited to buy equity. Today, many of the companys 450 more demand for milk than the Quaker settlers could proowners choose to capitalize their dividends in order to envide, so local Costa Rican neighbors were invited to send joy capital appreciation over time and an assured market milk. And in a farsighted step, the original Quaker families for milk and labor. agreed to set aside a significant acreage on the mountainThe Monteverde name top to protect the watershed that sustained their homes Besides a robust in Costa Rica has become and farms. The original 1,000 acres reserved became the synonymous with fine keystone for todays Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, market for cheeses such as Gouda, which now protects several thousand hectares of flora Swiss, provolone and and fauna on both sides of the continental divide, where it joins with the Childrens Eternal Rainforest and creates local milk, spin- Parmesan, and today it leads the market in the the largest private reserve in Central America. semi-aged and hard cheese offs include sectors. It serves the needs Since 1953, the dairy plant has been a moof restaurants, hotels, food tor of local social and economic development, not only road work, service companies, retailers by buying the farmers milk, but also by contributing to and consumers throughout local road work and bridge building, scholarships for area bridge building the country. In the 1990s it youths, improvement of local health care, and limited began to diversify into ice farm extension services. The businesss growth required and youth cream and yogurt, followed more capital, and in 1970 the founding Quakers began to by cured meat products. sell shares to other neighbors conditional on ownership scholarships. Through the recent purremaining local and no one owning more than 5% of the
The Marketplace March April 2012 16

chase of its distributor, Monteverde now markets and delivers a growing range of refrigerated and frozen food products to 3,000 clients in Costa Rica. It exports 5% of its products to neighboring nations and aims to develop additional export markets for specialty cheeses. In addition to the Monteverde cheese line, it produces the premium LekkerLand brand cheeses; other businesses include retail ice cream shops and a restaurant popular among weekend vacationers.

Monteverde ensured secure supplies for

its principal raw materials by integrating the dairy farmers who now own 47% of the company into its ownership structure. It has been a strong force in creating jobs, and today has 390 employees who own 6% of the company. In addition to dividends, they receive fair wages and benefits like off-site training, a solidarity association, health insurance and pension, and an internal savings and credit scheme. The third leg of Monteverdes ownership structure is private investors who support the company emphasis on social and environmental benefits, as well as profit. Monteverde has won environmental prizes for effective management of plant effluent and waste, including efforts to reduce energy input. It took risks by signing on as a launch customer for an innovative line of biodegradable packaging materials.

New challenges are ahead as the Monteverde

cheese plant nears its sixtieth birthday in 2013. Costa Ricas recent ratification of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and the Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union (AACAEU) obliges the cheese plant and its dairy farmers

to upgrade equipment and methods. To prepare for the impact of globalization, Corporacin Monteverde, S.A. entered an important phase of new investment, new business activities, and sales growth in anticipation of increasingly competitive markets. Among other moves, it acquired the company that distributed its products for 390 employees over 35 years. These steps enjoy fair wages, increased its influence in the marketplace despite transnational health insurance the arrival ofin Costa Rica competitors and the growing presence and an internal of global retailers like Wal-Mart. savings and Monteverdes innovations require money, just at a time when its credit scheme. traditional source of capital the local farmers also faces higher on-farm capital needs to comply with CAFTA and AACAEU while remaining competitive. The company hopes this can come from outside investors both individual and institutional who seek an economic return while creating healthy products in a socially and environmentally sustainable manner. It seeks up to $5 million in fresh equity for working capital; new processing technology; a new distribution center that will lead to increased efficiency and reduced carbon footprint; and to invest in market research for new specialty product options. The company has also considered the possibility of a strategic alliance with an overseas company that shares its vision and philosophy in developing new markets and activities.

One of the reasons that Monteverdes Quakers chose to make their lives in Costa Rica was the countrys choice, made in 1949, to budget for education rather than a military. Today, this has paid off: literacy levels are high (97%) and Costa Ricas life expectancy exceeds that of the U.S. And on a remote mountaintop, a bold experiment in social entrepreneurship keeps paying off as well. Even as Monteverde is increasingly linked to the worlds challenges, its residents continue to value a peaceful life, living simply in a good climate with good neighbors.
Thom Dixon, MEDAs Director, Business of Health, was the Monteverde Cheese Factorys bookkeeper in the mid-1970s, then plant manager and finally general manager until 1986. For more information visit www.monteverde.net/en or write to investor.relations@ monteverde.net
The Marketplace March April 2012

Cheese-in-process, serving restaurants, hotels, retailers and consumers throughout the country.
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Failure need not be fatal

When everything looks bleak, remember the apostle Peter
by R. Lee Delp But Peter said, Man, I do not know what you are talking about! At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly. (Luke 22:60-62) e laid out a plan to return to profitability. The plan had nine straightforward steps, each assigned to a management person for action. Our hope was to save the company from closing down. The CEO set the plan into action: overtime and salaries were cut, some employees were laid off, inventories were reduced, product pricing was refined, supplier relationships were renegotiated, and these actions were all communicated to everyone involved. After a number of sleepless nights, our plan was implemented and the future looked more hopeful. What appears A review of our results presented to the next to be failure can board meeting looked promising; the numbers actually be seen were moving in the right direction, and employees as paying tuition were adjusting to a new reality. The crisis appeared to be over. Management for a learning was spending its time on positive activities instead of experience. fighting fires and fending off a nervous bank. Yet within just two months the market for building supplies began to shrink even further. Housing starts were down to pre-1950 levels, and foreclosures were on the rise. Our market was collapsing around us. There was no way out: we had to sell or close. We had failed. My first reaction was to look for something or someone to blame. After all, who could have predicted that things would become so bad? We had thought that our
The Marketplace March April 2012 18

plan was the ticket to continued solvency. Even the bank agreed that our strategy was on target. Yet I had to admit, the rest of the board had to admit, and our CEO had to admit we had failed. This experience taught me that what appears to be failure can actually be seen as paying tuition for a learning experience. What we were so sure was right turned out to be wrong, and the result was failure. The apostle Peter failed. His spirit must have been in the dregs when, after denying Jesus for the third time, his eyes met Jesus eyes, and Scripture tells us that he wept bitterly. He had failed miserably. But then Peter regained his footing. He was forgiven for his failure and rose to play a critical role in building the church. I have a hunch that Peters bitter failure matured him in ways that nothing else could have done. Failure may actually have been a necessary part of Peters later success as a leader. When your organization, whether for profit or nonprofit, is on the edge income is down, needs and costs are increasing, leadership is discouraged, and directors question the future then remember Peter. Be reminded that failure need not be fatal. Gods light shines brightest in the darkness of our deepest despair. As the evening twilight fades away, The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in Morituri Salutamus)
R. Lee Delp of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, a former president of MEDA, is a boardroom veteran of both for-profit and non-profit organizations. From Setting the Agenda: Meditations for the Organizations Soul by Edgar Stoesz and Rick M. Stiffney. Copyright 2011 by Herald Press, Harrisonburg, VA 22802. Used by permission.

Reviews

Business and the NFL

Fixing the Game: Bubbles, Crashes, and What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL. By Roger L. Martin (Harvard, 2011 251 pp. $24.95) societal good, Martin says, while an expectations orientation creates a downward spiral that threatens both individual well-being and the health of our economy. Too many executives, their lenses distorted by short-term gain, focus more on pleasing investors and garnering incentive compensation than on building sustainable enterprises, says Martin. As a result, they end up leading inauthentic business lives, pandering to a stock market that they know they cannot please for long, even as they cut jobs and expenses to make this quarters consensus earning numbers. Some then disregard their moral compass entirely and engage in scandalous, illegal behavior. Martin proposes steps to heal American capitalism. First: We must shift the focus of companies back to the customer and away from As enticing as maximizing shareholder value might be for some, Martin finds no clear evidence that it actually succeeds over the long term. Nonetheless, it has become the prevailing theory that governs our capital markets and business community. To some, the notion that a business exists to serve customers and the larger community may seem quaint. Not so to those who see values-based business as having multiple bottom lines (like those, we expect, who read this magazine). The makers of Tylenol, for example, who for a generation have been lauded as a textbook case of exemplary ethics, are a case in point. Their pecking order, says Martin, is clear and unambiguous: customers come first, employees are second, communities third, and shareholders absolutely last. And theyve done quite well for all concerned, thank-you very much. And they are not alone, Martin goes on to say. Many companies that have consciously put customers first have in fact outperformed, for example, General Electric during the tenure of Jack Welch, the legendary apostle of share value maximization. Apple, for one, has managed quite nicely on the premise that shareholders will do well if the company serves its customers well. As these companies and the NFL have shown, says Martin, if you take care of customers, shareholders will be drawn along for a very nice ride. Wally Kroeker
The Marketplace March April 2012

ootball season may be over, but its lessons endure especially for business. For Roger Martin, one of the western worlds leading management experts, the National Football League provides a metaphor for whats wrong with business today. Martin, who grew up in a Mennonite family in Ontario, is dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Many readers will remember him as a keynote speaker at MEDAs 2007 convention. He believes business has gone corrosively awry by focusing inward on maximizing share value and profit-at-anycost instead of concentrating on delighting the customer. The NFL, meanwhile, has constantly sought to make the game a dazzling customer experience, and along the way it has enriched everyone. His basic point echoes the late Peter Drucker, perhaps the top management brain of the past century. Martin holds particular disdain for the expectations market which in recent years has supplanted the real market in the corporate consciousness. The real market, which most of us grew up with, concerned itself with producing goods and services. The expectations market, however, is more about trading stocks, options and complex derivatives, thus slavishly speculating on volatility and toxifying business as a result. In short, a real-market orientation creates individual and

Business has gone astray by fixating on share value. It should take a page from footballs playbook delight fans and the profits will follow.
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shareholder value. In other words, we must turn our attention back to the real market and away from the expectations market. Instead of shareholder value maximization, companies should place customers at the center of the firm and focus on delighting them, while earning an acceptable return for shareholders. He suggests taking a page from the playbook of the NFL, which by his reckoning has consistently put its focus on the fans, rather than the owners, and especially rather than the people who bet on the games (footballs version of the expectations market). Job number one has been to put a product on the field that is maximally enjoyable and stimulating for its customers, he says. Do the owners do poorly? Not by a long shot, Martin contends. Business would do well to likewise focus on the real game, the one played on the field, rather than the unhelpful entanglements of betting on that game the expectations market.

Soundbites

Tips for buying smart

Consumer Reports magazine recently compiled a list of The best consumer advice I ever got. Among the tips: If you dont need it, dont buy it. When shopping for anything over $100, wait 24 hours before you buy it. Chances are the next day youll decide you dont really need or want it. Dont buy the extended warranty. Never go grocery shopping when youre hungry. An infomercial is an oxymoron. If you are negotiating to buy a car, you are not getting the best deal unless you feel so stressed you want to vomit. Be friendly. Nobodys who derive pleasure from the company, love, and recognition of others. Mother Teresa once said that one of humanitys greatest diseases was to be nobody to anybody. We strive to make our mark on the world and to feel that our lives are worthwhile. The work we do is a critical component of our legacy. If we believe that our work has meaning and that we are valued by others for what we do, we are encouraged and motivated. We persevere. Roger L. Martin in Fixing the Game: Bubbles, Crashes, and What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL nite Brethren church planting director Gord Fleming, formerly a restaurant executive, in the Mennonite Brethren Herald

Left behind
A question that all directors should ask themselves at least annually is this: What do we want to see outlive our involvement with this organization? What legacy will we leave behind? Are we making progress toward that goal? Beryl Jantzi in Setting the Agenda: Meditations for the Organizations Soul, edited by Edgar Stoesz and Rick M. Stiffney

going to do you any favors if youre firing off insults. The potato is a perfect vegetable. Its easy to grow, nutritious, and can be cooked and prepared in an infinite variety of ways.

Being somebody
Community is incredibly important in our lives. At our core, we are all social creatures

Want to be happy?
I know a lot of people who started out to make themselves happy, and they almost all failed. If they start out to make themselves happy, they become self-centered and that leads to failure. But people who start out to make somebody else happy, they become happy. If you want success in money or success in anything, the way to do it is to try to give rather than try to get. Mutual fund legend Sir John Marks Templeton

Biblical retirement?
God spoke to Moses: These are your instructions regarding the Levites: At the age of 25 they will join the work force in the Tent of Meeting; at the age of 50 they must retire from the work. They can assist their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, but they are not permitted to do the actual work themselves. These are the ground rules for the work of the Levites. Numbers 8:23-26 from The Message, quoted by Freeman Miller in The Mennonite

Marketplace gift
Speaking truth to people honestly, sensitively and frankly is a marketplace gift that I think is lacking in the church. The desire to be nice creates distrust. Well say something to somebodys face because we want to feel nice, but its actually not what we really think. We owe it to a person to say, Youre falling short in this area. I need you to pick up your socks here. Im not pleased with this. MennoThe Marketplace March April 2012 20

Letters

Dont blame Daisy

Have just read in the Nov/Dec issue of The Marketplace the article Maybe it can grow on trees. Im impressed! Very impressed! When I saw the 14 words under the picture of the tree, Guess what. You can save the planet and make money at the same time I knew I needed to pay attention to this article. Quite frankly, Im tired and fed up by these environmentalists who blame the problem of greenhouse gases on Daisy (the cow) who, while having a feed of green grass, passes some gases and thereby upsets the carbon footprints safety formula. I, personally, dont hold Daisy responsible! I would so much appreciate some common sense to enter into the hot air, verbal diarrhea conversation about climate change. Your assessment of the book Climate Capitalism by Lovins and Cohen has enabled me to regain hope and anticipation that one day, hopefully soon, common sense rather than political sabre rattling will prevail and rule the day. I do need to find the book and read same for my affirmation and encouragement. Peter Peters, Winnipeg a cover-to-cover read as soon as it arrives, and I felt a need today to drop you a note and let you know that Marketplace is so helpful in my pastoral ministry. I lead a congregation of folks, who with the exception of Debbie and I, all came to Anabaptism as adults. They have little if any frame of reference with Mennonite or Brethren-in-Christ denominational systems and ethos. A post-denominational group, they are all over the map philosophically and theologically: Business Owners, Local Politicians, and Climate Change Skeptics worship side by side with Occupiers, Anarchists, and Urban Farmers. Reading Marketplace gives me stories, resources, and ideas as I pastor this eclectic bunch. I dont preach too many sermons in a year that dont include something I gleaned from Marketplace. Thanks for an accessible, and usable resource for helping Christians live their faith on Monday morning. Jeff Wright, pastor, Madison Street Church, Riverside, Calif.

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

A pastor speaks
I just put down the latest issue of Marketplace. As always, it is

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News

MEDA alum uses silk to create jobs in Ethiopia

Kathy Marshall dips into a box of leaves, lifts out a little green caterpillar and lays it on her shoulder. To a visitor it may be just a creep-crawly thing, but to Marshall it is a source of life-giving work for a growing number of rural Ethiopian households. Marshall, of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, runs Sabahar, a silk production and weaving business that trains and employs women and men who spin, weave, sew and dye fine fabrics. She has a long history in development. In the late 1980s she and her husband, Sam Vander Ende, were part of MEDAs Mbeya Oxenization Project in Tanzania. She later worked for Oxfam, and Vander Ende has spent many years representing Canadian Foodgrains Bank in Ethiopia. Among the things she learned was that the key to lasting change is to create jobs through business. Marshall started her company in 2004, sitting around a kitchen table with friends. Why not, they reasoned, create a new means of employment for Ethiopians by capitalizing on their countrys rich history of weaving? And why not use local eri silk along with traditional cotton yarn to fashion beautiful woven goods? Thus was born Sabahar. Weaving is an ancient craft in Ethiopia but silk is new introduced into the country in about 2000 through the Ministry of Agriculture. Marshall blends old technologies with new fibers and products, honoring tradition while adjusting to contemporary global tastes. Silk is typically produced by silk worms feeding on mulberry leaves. Sabahar is promoting the production of the eri silk
The Marketplace March April 2012

worm that feeds on castor leaves, which grow abundantly in Ethiopia. Sabahar obtains raw material from rural farmers and marginalized groups who grow the castor leaves, hatch the eggs and raise the worms. These worms, on their way to becoming butterflies, spin cocoons which are collected and brought to Sabahar. It can take 300 worms to produce enough silk for one small scarf, Marshall says. Women are trained to spin the cocoons into fine thread which is then colored with natural dyes from substances such as coffee, flowers and insects. It is woven on traditional looms by weavers working on-site or in their homes or co-operatives. They produce unique scarves, shawls and decorative household furnishings such as throws, table linens and wall hangings. Sabahar produces more than 15,000 items a year,

A woman, one of more than 120 employed by Sabahar, spins fine thread which will be dyed and woven into fabric. which are sold to shoppers in its Addis Ababa store as well as to international buyers in more than 10 countries. Some of the designs are the weavers own, while others come from fashion industry designers who help Sabahar with new product lines. Marshalls purpose in starting the company was to create sustainable and fair employment and revenue for marginalized households. On that score she has achieved considerable success, with about 120 people currently employed. Introducing a new local industry has not been easy. Promoting this kind of silk has been an uphill battle, says Marshall. People arent used to it. She hopes to eventually source all eri silk from within Ethiopia, but for now she supplements supplies with
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Kathy Marshall displays caterpillars in a nest of castor leaves to visitors in her Addis Ababa shop.

Indian imports. Silk production is new in Ethiopia, only about 10 years old, says Marshall. However, it is already clear that there is huge potential to have an impact on poor households by diversifying the crops they depend on for survival. Silk production often becomes part of a diverse household economy as income that women earn and control. As such, it is more likely than not to be allocated to the health and education of the children. We believe that by promoting silk, we can have a positive impact on people and by creating beauty with the silk, we can help preserve a rich tradition. Sabahar is a member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) and is getting more involved in increasing awareness of fair employment and trade practices.

New food project to help 20,000 households in Ghana

Women in northern Ghana will soon get help to bolster family food security, nutrition and incomes by growing soybeans and other crops under a major new MEDA initiative. The $20 million project, of which $18 million will come from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and $2 million from MEDA sources, is projected to begin in April. It aims to assist 20,000 women and their families over the next 6 years. Using a value chain approach, MEDA will help women in the countrys upper west and northern regions to grow soybeans, link them with markets, and provide training on farm management at the micro level as well as household nutrition and managing family finances. Ghana is politically stable and is experiencing positive economic growth, but the gains are not evenly distributed, says Helen Loftin, MEDAs director of womens economic development in market linkages. There are still pockets of food-insecure populations due to poor crops, lack of nutritional awareness and scant alternative livelihood opportunities to purchase food. Soybeans are an ideal crop for a number of reasons, she says. For one, they are highly nutritious. For another, they are a restorative crop that will improve the soil. This is important because under local cultural practices women are often allotted only marginal land. With the soil-nutrient qualities of soybeans, plus the womens additional training, the project will ensure that this land becomes more arable. Moreover, soybeans arent subject to local cultural prohibitions. There are taboos around certain foods, says Loftin. Women are not allowed to have anything to do with main family grain, for example, and women and children in some communities are forbidden to eat eggs. These are the kinds of things we have to work around. But soybeans are relatively new to Ghana and they dont have these taboos attached to them, so its feasible for the women to grow them. Women will also be given access to small kitchen gardens to diversify their newfound expertise and grow other foods to supplement family dietary needs. The project design includes an array of coordinated initiatives to alleviate the pain of food insecurity, says Loftin. A big part of food security is coping with the ebb and flow of cash, in and out of the household, and how best to manage those finances. Also important is understanding how best to store and process grain stock and inventory. And the skills we teach with soybeans can transfer over to other crops. Loftin is excited about tackling the learning curve of nutrition in a region where women are the lynchpin for family dietary intake but have little to work with. One beauty of the project is its length, she says. Many MEDA projects are five years or less, and having a longer period of time will enable us to teach skills and good habits and ingrain them in the community. As in other projects, MEDA will work with local partners to leverage community links and trust, as well as to strengthen these partners capacity and orientation towards sustainable market-driven approaches that can be deployed in future work they undertake. The North America-based manager for the project will be Rachel Hess, who works out of MEDAs office in Lancaster, Pa., and just recently returned from a trip to Ghana to further build MEDAs links and understanding of the country.

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We dont accomplish anything in the world alone, and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of ones life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something. Sandra Day OConnor

An Ethiopian weaver, part of a new MEDA project to help 2,000 textile workers and 8,000 rice farmers increase their income by 50 percent through value chain improvements and financial literacy. (Fiona MacKenzie photo)

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