The Marketplace Magazine November/December 2015

November December 2015

Where Christian faith gets down to business

Disaster training:

How MEDA staff keep safe & healthy

Yarn shop thrives with well-knit owners Waging war on climate change “Undercover boss” takes to the road 1

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Roadside stand

Transformed by the stock market Behind the walls of California’s San Quentin State Prison, Curtis Carroll discovered the stock market and it gave him a new lease on life.

Homeless for much of his youth, Carroll fell into a gang and began committing crimes. Now 37, he’s been in prison for 20 years for a robbery attempt that ended in a murder.

One day he stumbled on the financial section of the newspaper. He asked a fellow inmate about the stock market and was told “that’s where white people keep their money.”

Intrigued, Carroll learned to invest in penny stocks and did well enough to keep going.

Today he pores over Forbes and the Wall Street Journal and through friends and family on the outside invests in the stock market. Even in prison he feels like he’s on the same playing field as high-profile investors. “I can pick the exact same companies,” he says. “I can’t buy as many shares, but technically we’re just the same.”

Carroll also advises fellow inmates and correctional officers. Every Thursday night, he and a group of outside volunteers teach a class on personal finance, investments and money management.

Prisoners typically are released with $200 and little to no financial knowledge or resources.

Carroll tells them he isn’t giving them any kind of surefire formula but rather “I’m

just teaching you to plan.” He wants them to know that life after prison doesn’t have to lead back into whatever they were doing before.

One of his goals is to make money to give back to the community. “When I look at how Bill Gates and Warren Buffett give 90 percent of their wealth away, I think, what better way than to go back and help the things I’ve destroyed?” — National Public Radio Epitaph. He didn’t plan for a career in business, but that’s what happened when Alex Tilley designed a high-quality hat (shown) to wear on his sailboat. When it became the rage of outdoor folk everywhere he built it into the Tilley Endurables line of travel garments and accessories. This year, at 77, he sold the company and let slip how he wants to be remembered. “On my tombstone, I’d like to have: ‘A good

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Digital fat. Fast food is a favorite villain in the obesity epidemic, but now it seems you can get fatter even faster by ordering your burger fix from a screen. McDonald’s of Canada plans to introduce digital kiosks so customers can easily order from 30 hamburger options with five choices of cheese. Such convenience comes at a price to both wallet and waistline. Not only will a premium Angus True Blue & Guac set you back more than a regular Big Mac, but you may also eat more. North American outlets are hoping to duplicate the experience of France, where digital customers spend (and eat) 30 percent more than if they bellied up to the counter. Why? Digital patrons apparently feel less rushed and end up ordering more food. And they can also pay instantly with plastic, which is also a known spending booster.

Worst for the girth, though, is that ordering by kiosk can reduce inhibitions. Avi Goldfarb, a marketing professor at University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, says people order higher-calorie items, such as more pizza toppings, when ordering digitally.

“They’re essentially not embarrassed,” he says. (Globe & Mail Report on Business) Sigh. It has been reported that Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, starts his day by reading six periodicals: The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The New York Times, USA Today, Omaha World-Herald and American Banker. We can only assume The Marketplace is number seven.

— WK

Cover photo of MEDA staff engaged in first aid and security training

by Steve Sugrim

The Marketplace November December 2015

man who built a better hat’.”

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In this issue

Tackling climate change, here and abroad. Page 16

Departments 22 24 21 22

Roadside stand Soul enterprise Letters News

Volume 45, Issue 6 November December 2015 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 2015 by MEDA. Editor: Wally Kroeker Design: Ray Dirks

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Keeping safe

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Medics-in-training

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A well-knit group

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Here comes the sun

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View from the loading dock

The “new normal” in global humanitarian work has changed dramatically. New threats like kidnapping and terrorist acts call for heightened vigilance and lowering one’s “risk profile.”

MEDA’s overseas staff never know when they’ll encounter injury or illness while working in out-of-the-way places. That’s why they all take a course in remote medical response and first aid.

Eight women, brought together by creativity and a love of knitting and crocheting, are modeling a thriving ownership format at the Reverie Yarn Shop in Goshen, Ind. By Kirsten L. Klassen

Entrepreneur Doug Wagner had long been enamoured of wind and solar power, though the market seemed dominated by heavy-hitters. Then he got his chance to stick a toe in the water.

Ed Nofziger enjoyed making doors, but he also loves driving a big truck. So when he stepped down from corporate leadership he stepped up — to the cab of a Volvo rig with a 53-foot trailer.

Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201, Lancaster, PA 17601-4106.

To e-mail an address change, subscription request or anything else relating to delivery of the magazine, please contact subscription@meda.org For editorial matters contact the editor at wkroeker@meda.org or call (204) 956-6436 Subscriptions: $25/year; $45/two years.

Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201 Lancaster, PA 17601-4106

Published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), whose dual thrust is to encourage a Christian witness in business and to operate business-oriented programs of assistance to the poor. For more information about MEDA call 1-800-665-7026.

Web site www.meda.org

Visit our new online home at www.marketplacemagazine.org, where you can download past issues, read articles and discuss topics with others, all from your desktop or mobile device.

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iStockphoto © jeffmilner

Restoring dignity with social enterprise

In tough times, faith helps Not that our faith depends on it, but new research suggests that religion can help people cope with economic adversity.

It can lower depression, help maintain optimism and provide social support to people left swirling by the shifting economic sands.

A German study of 5,500 newly unemployed workers found that people who frequently went to church reported being more satisfied with their lives than non-attenders. They also managed to bounce back faster.

“This study asked whether religious attendance buffers the psychological impact of unemployment. The answer is yes,” said researchers in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

A Polish study also found that frequent church attendance and strong religious beliefs were linked with less depression and greater life satisfaction, leading researchers to declare that “religiousness acted as a protective factor.”

Similar findings were reported by American researchers who found that people who went to church regularly and believed in an afterlife had less psychological distress when they encountered financial hardship.

None of this should be surprising. Researchers are quick to note that religious communities can provide the buffer of friendship and support systems that soften harsh financial blows such as joblessness.

Another factor is the sense of being part of a community that affirms one’s self-worth beyond job status or affluence.

Now here’s a church with a wide-ranging mission.

Metro Community in Kelowna, B.C., describes itself as “committed to caring for the most vulnerable.” The Mennonite-related ministry operates social enterprises that “help to restore the lives of those who have lost their dignity or the opportunity to work. Through a professional but forgiving work environment, we aim to instill confidence and skill.”

Among its services: • Metro Moving Crew, which prides itself in offering affordable, reliable and uncomplicated moving services, especially for low-income people and those on the brink of homelessness. “While skilled in residential and corporate office moves, what distinguishes this hardworking team is their willingness to take on the work that many other companies won’t,” says its website. “Packing, moving and in some cases storing someone’s belongings is often all that is required to keep a person off the streets.”

• Metro Laundry wants to offer people a second chance to rebuild their life while developing a professional skill and trade. It provides a full range of cleaning services, with pickup and delivery, using eco-friendly processes.

“The days of charitable organizations seeking to survive on hand-outs, grants and donations alone are coming to an end,” Metro Community says. It believes “social enterprise can help restore dignity to the lives of those who have been marginalized and no longer believe they can be a viable part of the workforce, and to develop a sustainable and competitive market-operating business that is professional in operation.”

• Metro UP Financial Asset & Literacy Foundation helps low-income people control their finances so they can move forward in life. Its Matched Savings Program helps participants learn how to manage personal finances while providing an opportunity to save money toward continuing education or starting a small business. Dollars & Sense provides financial literacy education on topics such as budgeting, credit, spending, assets and debt management.

The church also operates the Wild Goose Coffee Bar, where low-cost specialty coffees help the congregation develop strong community relationships. Culinary Ink promotes mobile food cart entrepreneurship to help develop sustainable revenue models.

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Still brewing peace Remember this cover story from 2013? It featured Coffee for Peace, a company formed in the Philippines by Mennonite missionaries Joji Pantola and her husband, Dann. They wanted to “brew peace” by providing meaningful work for coffee-growing families in a high-conflict zone of their country. They found that business can be a helpful partner in achieving social goals.

As the Pantolas recruited local producers, many of whom were former guerrillas, the concept flourished; families earned more income, built homes, developed their communities and managed to establish claims to tribal lands.

Their efforts did not go unnoticed. The company has been selected for a peace award by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

“They liked our program of integrating peace and reconciliation in our business approach,” says Joji, who is CEO. Coffee for Peace now works with more than 800 families, providing a good price for their coffee and empowering them with sustainable livelihoods, while also promoting a green footprint. It also “acts as an avenue for dialogue for at-risk individuals to avoid conflict by building awareness on peace and reconciliation through targeted training and community building programs.”

Smile when you answer Can people hear you smile over the telephone?

Ann Kroeker’s first job out of college was administrative coordinator for a start-up church. One of her tasks was to keep the supply cabinet stocked.

This meant trips to the office superstore to buy pens, file folders, printer cartridges and staples.

Then she’d sit by the phone and take calls, she writes in The High Calling, where she now is content editor.

She made sure to smile when answering, following the urging of a church leader who ran a successful business. “I tell all my secretaries to smile when they answer the phone. Callers can hear it through the phone,” he insisted. “They can hear your smile.

Try it.”

Kroeker may have been dubious at first, but she became a believer. “People loved it,” she writes.

“I realized I conveyed the first impression of the church, and I wanted our church to genuinely beam with delight at each precious person who called. So I kept smiling.”

Business nobility “Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world. It can be a fruitful source of prosperity for the area in which it operates, especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of its service to the common good.” — Pope Francis

Overheard:

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“Hope is a verb with its shirtsleeves rolled up.” — Environmentalist David Orr

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Keeping safe Robust protocols and training help MEDA staff respond to a rising global risk profile

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cott Ruddick doesn’t like phone calls in the middle of the night. They can only mean trouble. So when he awoke with a start and heard the voice of a MEDA staffer in a middleeastern country he was on full alert in a hurry.

The staffer had noticed a pickup on the street near MEDA’s office.

Inside were two men with a video

camera, taping people as they walked into the building. As she approached, they sped off.

Ruddick was immediately alarmed. He knew that videotaping of potential targets is a tactic employed by criminal gangs planning robberies and kidnaps. The men’s target may not have been MEDA; it might have been a bank in the same building. Either way, trouble has a

Worse than Highway 401

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EDA president Allan Sauder quips that the most hazardous part of remote travel used to be getting to the Toronto airport along hectic Highway 401.

“Today, the world has changed and development workers face multiple real risks,” he wrote recently to supporters. “Our work means truly sharing risk with the poor both through financial investment and working alongside them.”

He cited ways by which MEDA seeks to reduce danger.

1. Low profile. MEDA avoids unwanted attention by its choice of vehicles, clothing and communication style.

2. Local partners. Entrée into communities is through solid partnerships with local organizations and private sector players. These partners are already established locally, have a good track record, speak the language, and understand local concerns and ambitions.

3. MEDA staff. We hire predominantly local staff who share our values and understand the motivation and culture of our local partners and clients.

4. Security teams. MEDA deploys a full security team in the riskiest countries. This unarmed team of professionals assesses security risks on an ongoing basis, ensures that staff and partners comply with our security policies and procedures, communicates constantly with staff in the field, and briefs travellers on risks, protocols, emergency numbers, instructions regarding airport pick-up, and how to access emergency health and evacuation services.

5. Headquarters security staff. MEDA’s director of security services oversees security and safety for MEDA’s work around the world, supported by a global security advisor who visits MEDA projects regularly to review protocols.

6. Training, training, training. All staff are trained and retrained on security issues and protocols, general safety precautions, and first aid. ◆

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way of spreading.

“We responded immediately,” says Ruddick. “We notified staff, and went into heightened security protocols, locking down and having staff work away from the office.”

Who knows what might have happened. In any case, being “situationally aware” prevented a potentially hostile incident.

Ruddick is MEDA’s director

of security services, charged with keeping staff safe. He’s well-suited to the task. He knows the world of development, having spent a number of years as both a development consultant and as MEDA’s director of internal support services. His background includes an MBA, certifications in security management and advanced remote medical aid and 10 years in law enforcement.

One of his key tasks is to embed a security mindset among MEDA staff. That includes getting staff to understand dramatic new shifts in the risk landscape.

“I’ve been an aid professional for 15 years, and in that time I have seen the risk profile shift upwards significantly,” he says. “The stats show a global increase in security incidents involving aid and humanitarian workers, year over year, for the past 10 years. Risks from criminal action, terror attack, kidnapping, sexual violence, road traffic accidents and epidemic illness all continue to rise.”

He’s not just talking in the abstract. “MEDA staff have been involved in enough serious incidents that we are seeing that risk first hand.” Each month he’ll handle a variety of security incidents: residential break-ins, stolen laptops, threats,

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hostile checkpoints, even being robbed at gunpoint.

Being well-prepared means having robust protocols.

For much of its 62 years, MEDA has had little need for security policies. When it began working in areas of higher tension (Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan), it formulated security procedures and guidelines, which have been in place since 2010.

Ruddick oversees numerous procedures to protect staff as they travel.

He takes his work very seriously and can become stern when staff do not follow the security systems in place.

“Our system and protocols provide the framework to allow our staff to work safely,” he says. “SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) as they are called, cover a wide range of tasks, including safe road transport, cash handling, hotel safety, and communications.”

A key component of his job is providing security oversight for staff travelling internationally. MEDA staff log a lot of miles, travelling to project sites and to work on short-term consultancies. Last year, staff took 377 trips, totalling 3,248 days working in overseas locations.

Each staff member logs their upcoming trips in a system called TravelTracker. “TravelTracker is much more than just an administrative tool,” Ruddick asserts. “Once you enter your travel, it triggers us to review the locale(s) you are going to, to assess any recent risks and put measures in place as warranted.”

Each locale MEDA works in is assigned a risk ranking. This ranking determines the level of security oversight that is provided. Staff travelling to higher-risk locales attend a mandatory security briefing with Ruddick prior to travel. Their daily schedule is tracked closely, through detailed itineraries and check-ins. Security bulletins regarding developments in the travel locale are distributed.

Each new project undergoes a security assessment and contextualized systems are developed, specific to that locale. “A different locale re-

“Situational awareness” is vital, like noticing a busy street is suddenly quiet. quires a different approach,” Ruddick says. “For programming in Ghana, for example, the dangers are not so much crime-related but more likely risks from environmental factors or road traffic accidents.”

He routinely reminds staff

to minimize time spent near potential targets linked to nations at the forefront of counter-terrorism efforts. The anniversary of September 11 called for a special warning to be vigilant around U.S. and other western-linked facilities as there had been terrorist threats.

He regularly reports incidents in countries where MEDA works or has worked recently, such as the following from the last few months: • In Kabul, Afghanistan, gunmen attacked a party of expatriates and killed several forEmbedding a security mindset: MEDA’s director of security services Scott Ruddick eign guests. Elsewhere 7

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in Kabul, a German aid worker was kidnapped as her vehicle approached the gate of her compound.

Armed men smashed a window and removed her to a waiting vehicle.

MEDA currently has no staff in Afghanistan but the proximity to a longtime location was sobering.

• In Kenya, where MEDA has a new project underway, security forces thwarted a terror attack on a city mall when they captured two suspects with explosives. MEDA staff were warned of the heightened risk environment and urged to avoid venues associated with western interests.

• In Morocco security forces apprehended five terror suspects in three regions and seized weapons and explosives.

• In Bangladesh an Italian aid worker was killed by a gunman on motorcycle while jogging in Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter. He ran a food security project for a Dutch development group, and had been tracked for some time to determine his routine and routes.

“The risk profile (for development professionals) has increased,” says Ruddick. “There are greater risks, of greater complexity.” (See “Kidnapping” sidebar) Ruddick is big on encouraging “situational awareness” — being alert to subtle changes in the surroundings that could portend danger, such as a usually busy street sud-

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denly becoming quiet. Staff are urged to watch for signs of surveillance: seeing the same stranger in several places; being followed, either on foot or by vehicles; office inquiries by strangers; and suspicious “wrong number” phone calls.

He says he gets most nervous during the first few weeks and last few weeks of someone’s assignment.

New assignees, like interns, may have little experience, while people ready to leave often lose their situational awareness.

Everybody in MEDA who

If gunfire erupts, taking refuge behind metal car doors won’t be enough to protect against an AK-47, Mike Simpson tells his class.

Simpson, far right, takes the group outside to explore the potential ballistic protection offered by natural and architectural features.

Kidnapping: “The new normal”

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he threat of abduction looms high for anyone doing international aid work.

Kidnap attempts among aid organizations are stunningly more frequent than you’d think.

“It’s the new normal,” says MEDA security director Scott Ruddick.

Globally an aid worker is abducted every nine days.

It can be lucrative. The United Nations estimates that Islamic State (IS) took in $35 to $45 million from ransoms last year.

Some groups kidnap to make money; others for political reasons or sexual gratification.

An estimated 90 percent of kidnappings are planned, experts say.

Typically a kidnap group will scope out three to five possible subjects.

Most aid organizations (including MEDA) have no-ransom policies. ◆

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travels internationally is required to take security and first-aid training (see following article). Security topics range from basic procedures to pyrotechnics, handling crowds, dealing with stress, and understanding the physical effects of being in an insecure environment.

Thirteen staff attended a recent course in Waterloo, Ont., led by Mike Simpson who works with an organization called Risk Visibility. A former soldier in Canada’s armed forces, he has worked in numerous hostile environments and specializes in assisting aid organizations.

During the one-day security section he spends considerable time laying a groundwork for risk assessment. Specific strategies of dealing with road transport, hotel safety, firearm attacks and collateral gunfire will come later. For now, he says, “we want to convey a prevention mode.”

A good part of that is contextual analysis, which means examining religious aspects, economics, geo-politics and various external issues, such as the presence of other NGOs in the area who can provide refuge if needed, as well as “actor mapping,” which means knowing who is out there.

Being an aid worker does not exempt anyone from danger, Simpson warns.

Yet, he is no fan of barbed wire and armed guards. Agencies need to strike a balance between “deterrence” and “acceptance,” he says. Creating protective barriers (like stern guards

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at the door) reduces local acceptance. Acceptance, meanwhile, provides its own safety factor, of sorts, and thus increases deterrence.

Simpson takes the group outside to a park-like setting to demonstrate how natural and architectural features (brick walls, wooden barriers) can offer the best ballistic protection from gunfire. He shows how thin car doors offer inadequate protection. “An AK-47 can penetrate all this metal,” he says. He wants to convey

“Being an aid worker does not exempt anyone from danger.” a realistic sense of what protects and what doesn’t.

The vehicle demonstration leads naturally to a discussion of roadblocks.

“If you see a blockade ahead, try to find an alternative route,” he says. “Do not try to charge a roadblock.”

The best advice is to let the driver do the talking, even if an argument develops. “Do not step in. Do not play the brave westerner. This is not the time to channel your inner Jason Bourne. If your possessions are demanded, give them up.”

Kidnapping of aid workers

has quadrupled in the last decade, the class is told.

“The vast majority of kidnaps are planned, involving substantial preparation and surveillance of potential targets,” says Simpson. “Risk can be lowered with simple tactics that make one a harder target.” He offers several tips to staff attending the course to mitigate their risk.

Varying one’s work schedule and the routes taken to the office or lodging can help lower the risk profile and frustrate attempts, he says.

“Be discreet in sharing information about work, residence and personal matters. Keep a low profile, and avoid overt displays of your nationality or that you work as a development professional. Don’t post

stories or photos on social media while in country, wait until you get back home.”

MEDA security at a glance Security management 1. A head office based director of security is responsible for all security and safety programming; reports to the chief operating officer.

2. A security management committee meets monthly to review security issues and protocols and provide guidance for security systems development.

3. A crisis management team meets quarterly; manages all crisis incidents in MEDA’s operations.

Risk assessments and security strategies 1. Each program undergoes a risk assessment that provides a foundation for contextualized security protocols and contingency plans.

Staff training 1. Staff capacity is built through training in security skills and first aid/CPR in a development context.

Security bulletins and warnings 1. MEDA subscribes to security warning services that provide alerts of immediate and emerging risks in locations where we work.

2. A 24-hour staffed hotline is available in case of emergency. ◆

Medics-to-be?

At MEDA, Job One is to alleviate poverty, but sometimes injury can get in the way

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woman in southern Ontario lived to see another day because of MEDA’s first-aid training.

When Helen Loftin, vice president of economic opportunities, took the training upon joining MEDA she had no idea how useful it would be.

Returning from Pakistan with a stopover in the Abu Dhabi airport, she was heading for her gate when a man called frantically for help. His mother had collapsed and was lying on the tile floor, bloody froth seeping from her mouth. She was not breathing and had no pulse.

“No one was jumping in to help,” says Loftin. “So I did.”

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One of the best precautions against danger, Simpson says, is to “take yourself off the radar.” ◆

Her mind raced as she summoned her first-aid lessons to mind.

“Can I do this? Where are the medical practitioners?”

She locked her hands and began performing chest compressions on the woman, who soon revived and began to breathe.

Paramedics finally showed up after 20 minutes and transported the woman to hospital. Loftin spoke with the man and his wife and offered to contact family members when she reached Toronto.

Much later, the woman’s evergrateful son contacted Loftin and reported they were back in Ontario and the woman was receiving conThe Marketplace November December 2015

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tinued medical care.

Photo by Steve Sugrim

MEDA staff don’t often face such dramatic episodes while going about their work, but in remote areas you never know what you might encounter.

Generally, traffic accidents are a main cause of injury and fatality among people who work for nongovernment organizations (NGOs).

In developing countries, roads are often in poor shape. Traffic laws can be nonexistent or unenforced. Police are limited in rural areas.

Whatever the reason for injury, whether a road mishap, collapsing bridge or other disaster, staff need to be prepared. For that reason MEDA requires staff to take basic first-aid and security training in case something happens while working off the

Ethan Eshbach of MEDA’s office in Lancaster, Pa., practices the right form of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). resuscitation.

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beaten path or while accompanying a tour. Staff are also issued a 170page Safety & Security Field Book to provide ready reference to medical and security issues.

The most recent training session was held in Waterloo, Ont., in late September. It consisted of one day of first-aid training and one day of security training (see previous article).

Thirteen MEDA staff participated, plus one from another international aid agency.

The first-aid section was titled Remote Medical Response and First Aid in A Development Context. It was taught by Scott Waters, a certified emergency medical technician with specialized experience and training in remote medical aid. The course included first-aid strategies for providing initial response medical care in locales where immediate medical care may be difficult to access, as well as possible treatment, stabilization and extended care for up to 24 hours.

Waters, who is also certified to teach Red Cross first aid courses, tells his class that the all-important first step upon encountering a casualty scene is primary assessment and basic life support. “You have to size up the scene — what happened?

Always focus on you and your safety as you try to help others.”

Staff are taught as much rudimentary first aid as can be crammed into a single day of training. They learn various types of “rescue carries” — how to drag people out of an injury scene without worsening a spinal injury.

They learn how to check vital signs, how to clean a wound and help the victim avoid shock.

Using mock dummies they practice cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

They are shown how to stop bleeding from impalement, laceration, punctures and scrapes, plus the use of medications such as QuickClot.

“Put firm direct pressure on a

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its symptoms (vomiting and profuse, watery diarrhea which can lead to severe dehydration). Accordingly, they were urged to choose water from safe sources, avoid ice, ensure food has been cooked thoroughly before eating, and pay attention to hygiene.

As a general principle, staff are encouraged to follow basic commonsense strategies such as regular vaccines and handwashing, which Waters calls the “single most effec-

tive way to prevent infection.”

In addition, the staff safety manual suggests avoiding public gatherings. “During a pandemic, governments may cancel public events, but even if they don’t, you should probably stay away from them. Any large gathering of people in close proximity creates a high-risk situation.... Social distancing, deliberately limiting contact with people ... is a reasonable precaution to take.” ◆

Photo by Steve Sugrim

bleed,” says the instructor. “Five minutes will often do it, unless it’s arterial.”

Then there’s a quick demonstration of applying a tourniquet to stop blood flow from an arm or leg wound and a word about the importance of employing a windlass, a lever that can be twisted to tighten the tourniquet and amplify pressure.

Students are told to not panic if a limb is severed. “Amputations aren’t always catastrophic. They don’t always bleed as much as you’d think.”

Waters volunteers to serve as the demo model as students take turns practicing how to treat limb fractures with emergency slings and splints.

Staff are taught as much basic first aid as can be crammed into a single day of training.

The trainers carefully outline the possible contents of a medical kit and an emergency “go bag” to make it possible to aid survival for up to 72 hours in a dire situation. Suggested contents include a compass, rations, water purifying tablets, waterproof matches, flares, cleansing wipes, rubber gloves, tape, dressings, even a roll of sturdy tooth floss that can be used as string or sutures. Students are told that MEDA reimburses up to $150 for acquisition of a go-bag and medical kit.

A relative newcomer to

remote first aid is pandemics, as seen in recent deadly outbreaks of Ebola and cholera. Last year a MEDA partner in Sierra Leone lost a staffer who transported an Ebola-infected nurse to hospital and caught the disease himself.

More recently, an outbreak of cholera claimed several lives in various regions of Tanzania. MEDA staff were alerted to how cholera spreads (contaminated food and water) and

Instructor Scott Waters offers up a leg to demonstrate how to treat limb fractures with an emergency splint.

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Spicing up the value chain MEDA joins longtime partner to help Haitians boost nutrition and income

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aybe you’ve generating activities that seen them provide food security and peddling stable incomes. wares in Fonkoze enlisted a Haitian market, sellMEDA to help them ing things like peanuts strengthen their develand red peppers along opment approach using the street. They are like market-based developthe 1,500 marginalized ment and facilitation that women who are getting a offers sustainable opporhelping hand from MEDA tunities for farmers and and its longtime partner, rural people. This portion Fonkoze Foundation. of the project, called CLM Fonkoze has been helping Plus, promotes financial, economic women in rural areas of Haiti’s Cenand social inclusion of these most tral Plateau to boost family nutrivulnerable women, encouraging their tion by growing crops to feed their long-term integration into agriculfamilies and sell any excess. The two tural markets that will provide them crops that are the focus for this prowith stable and reliable incomes. ject are peanuts (also called groundIn addition, Fonkoze in partnuts), a major crop in Haiti and an nership with their project partners important source of protein, and red including MEDA intends to docupeppers, a staple of many Caribbean ment the project’s experiences and stews and soups. outcomes in order to inform the national policy and strategy discussions The overall project is called regarding extreme poverty and food Chemen Lavi Mayo (CLM), which in security in Haiti, says Kara Klassen, English means Pathways to a Better MEDA’s project manager.

Life. Worth $4.5 million, the four-year (2015-2019) initiative is funded by the Overall outcomes will be tracked Swiss Agency for Development and by indicators such as the percentage of Cooperation (SDC). clients who become While Fonkoze food secure; percenthas been impleage of children of menting this proCLM members who gram since 2007, attend school; and helping marginalthe percentage of ized women with women who develop some assets, skill at least two sustainbuilding, and menable sources of revetorship and support nue. MEDA’s segment to rise out of povwill carefully track erty, the goal of the the degree to which SDC-funded project women become acis to help 1,500 tive and sustainable ultra-poor women players in the peanut and their families and hot pepper value Vendors like these are a familiar sight in Haiti’s markets. Many women to operate incomechains. ◆ like them will be getting a helping hand toward a stable income.

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A well-knit group Unique ownership model helps Goshen yarn store thrive

by Kirsten L. Klassen

Photos by Tyler Klassen

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ear the end of 2012, wool sweaters by the women word got out that in the Soup of Success program the only yarn store in Elkhart. We accept a lower in Goshen, Ind., profit margin because we want was closing. One of the ownto support the program.” This ers of Ewe-Nique Knits, Sher program is an intensive eduGunden King, was interested cational and business training in creating a new business course for women who want that would reach a broader to improve their situations and clientele. That’s when seven gain greater self-sufficiency. women who loved knitting and In addition to supporting crocheting became business local causes, the owners liked partners, joining with King to the idea of having a business form the Reverie Yarn Shop. and sharing responsibility. “A Many of these women didn’t lot of people say they don’t know each other.

Rose Widmer, a retired pasknow how eight women can tor, and Kelli King, former Goswork together. We each have hen College director of alumni our area of expertise and relations, were the exception. responsibility — what we are The two had daydreamed about most excited about. In meetings, running a gift shop together we brainstorm about where to before the opportunity arose go next. We have a real camaat Reverie. Toraderie and gether they find enjoy working the gifts Revtogether. We erie offers — don’t want to vintage items, take over the children’s gifts, rest. As part Polish potowners, we’re tery, and home motivated by decor — in what’s best for the store,” addition to the Widmer said. yarn.

Trish “We like to Habegger, an buy from local artists. We owner and look for quality retired muitems that will sic teacher, last, that the said, “There customer will are things we like to give,” don’t agree on.

Widmer said.

Someone will feel strongly “We sell handfor an issue made mittens Lynn Linn (left), Carol Histand (standing) and Barb Nelson Gingerich (right) partici— or against made from pate in a knitting group that meets at the store.

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Co-owner Melissa Bebout-Schmitz demonstrates a hook used in Tunisian crocheting during a class she teaches.

They weren’t afraid to make mistakes.

“You’re going to buy yarn that doesn’t sell.

It’s okay to fail.” it — and that will sway us. We have a constant communication with each other, constant back and forth. And a willingness to be present to each person’s needs and wants.”

“It’s just fascinating to me that it works so well emotionally, financially, and creatively. I didn’t know these women,” Habegger said, getting tears in her eyes. “Now they are some of my best friends.”

One contributing factor to the shop’s success is likely that the group is not afraid of making mistakes. Habegger credits Gunden King with helping them accept this early on. “Sher told us, ‘You’re going to make mistakes. It’s okay. It happens.

You’re going to buy yarn that doesn’t The Marketplace November December 2015

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Wanda Weaver (left) and Wanda Campbell discuss Tunisian crocheting during a Reverie class.

sell. It’s okay to fail. Just try something different next time.’”

Gunden King also approached Marci Burdick, senior vice president at Schurz Communications, to share in the ownership. Burdick, like Gunden King, is largely a silent partner, but her business acumen and love of knitting made her an ideal addition

to the team. She works one day a month in the shop.

Widmer’s husband, Dave, has also worked in the shop from the beginning, setting up their computerized inventory system. He serves as the shop’s chief operating officer, taking care of merchandise inventory, as well as office supplies.

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Most of the owners work

one day a week in the store — and all of them attend a monthly business meeting. A smaller group meets once a month to choose yarn, calling themselves the “yarnies”: Habegger, Melissa Bebout-Schmitz, Maggie Schnaars, and Linda Altenhof. “We choose what will best serve our customers’ needs and wants,” Habegger said. “We try to stay current on trends, fashions, and techniques to inform our choices.”

In addition, the store offers classes on knitting and serves as a meeting place for women who want to knit together. Habegger teaches a year-long class where participants learn skills that build on the previous lessons.

“So much happens in the group,” she said. “A lot of the students are women who have been widowed. They come to get out, or be with other people, or simply to learn to knit. They’ve said it’s been a real healing process for them. I never expected that.”

Recently Habegger agreed to teach a class for a few women who had suffered a stroke. “It was a total learning experience for me, too.

Some of them had limited mobility in their hands. I had to ask myself how I can make this easy and possible for them. In the midst of their struggles, they want to give and be creative.”

“Knitting is a gift twice over. The first is working with a fiber you love, and the second is finishing a gift to give someone.”

“Knitting is a gift twice over,”

Bebout-Schmitz, who also works at the Goshen Public Library, teaches a knitting class at the Center for Healing and Hope, a clinic offering free health services. She volunteers her time and the shop donates the yarn so expecting mothers can learn how to knit something special for their babies. A translator helps overcome language barriers since Spanish is the first language for many of the

Most of Reverie’s owner group: Front row, from left: Melissa Bebout-Schmitz, Marci Burdick and Trish Habegger. Second row, from left: Kelli Burkholder King, Maggie Schnaars, Rose Widmer and Linda Altenhof.

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clients served by the center.

The owners’ philosophy of giving back to the community is also demonstrated when they invite their clients to make caps for premature babies or people undergoing chemotherapy. “We offer to collect the caps and deliver them to the hospital. We have also arranged evenings where we provided snacks and donated yarn so people could come into the shop and knit together,” Widmer said.

Habegger said. “The first is working with a fiber you love, and the second is finishing a gift to give someone.”

Habegger began knitting in 2004 when she wanted to make her daughter Beth a poncho to take to college, something to keep her warm while studying. Previously comfortable with crocheting, she learned knitting for this project — and loved it.

But for Habegger, the act of giving away something she’s made has a deeper meaning. “When you create a piece of art like a quilt or a knitted item, it’s not a permanent piece of art.

It’s like music, it’s transient. That can be troubling. You put all the time into it and you know it’s not going to last forever. You want to tell the person, ‘Treat it like an heirloom.’ But you have to let it go. Sometimes that’s a struggle.

“It’s like the totem poles I saw on a recent trip to Alaska. They were made as a tribute to a family member. They were beautifully painted, but they are never repainted. There’s no repair done when the wood cracks. The totem carries memories of being transitory. It’s not going to last forever. This carries over to your philosophy of life and death, reminds you that this too will pass away.”

The life of a yarn store, too, may be transitory on a grand scale. For now, though, the only yarn store in Goshen is open for business because of the commitment eight women have to each other, to the joy of creativity, and to their community. ◆ Kirsten L. Klassen is a writer in Elkhart, Ind., who occasionally crochets scarves for fun.

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Here comes the sun Waging war on climate change can be a good test of entrepreneurial chops

Y

ou might not think birds, bats and ancestral burial grounds would figure into renewable energy. But for Doug Wagner these have been part of the due diligence process as he built a new power company from scratch.

A seasoned entrepreneur, he was no stranger to the intricacies of permits and land deals, but starting a wind farm posed a new learning curve.

For one, he had to arrange an archeological assessment to ensure no ancient cemetery would be disturbed by the presence of turbines.

“And for the first two years the developer has to count and report how many birds and bats die from flying into the rotating blades,” he says.

Then, too, there are the scare tactics of people who, for one reason or another, oppose new renewable energy initiatives (see sidebar).

But Wagner has learned to take it in stride as he’s built Saturn Power Inc., in New Hamburg, Ont.

ting into a business that was dominated by heavy-hitters.

What helped tip the scales was the creation of Ontario government subsidies that made the wind and solar business more inviting to small players.

“I had been enamoured seeing wind turbines across Ontario,” he says. “Here was a chance to do something. I wanted to do one project.”

Within months he had launched Saturn Power Inc. with a goal to “provide clean, sustainable renewable energy solutions through longterm partnerships that will drive growth.”

Entrepreneurship runs in Wagner’s veins. As a teenager, he and his brother tapped maple trees on their family farm near Baden, Ont., and sold the syrup. Then he rented some nearby land and began farming on his own, using his father’s equipment.

Later he spent 20-plus years as owner and operator of Alpine Plant Foods, a fertilizer business. When he sold the company in 1996 he opened an investment office.

He’d long had an interest in renewable energy. It concerned him that half of all the oil used in the world has been consumed in only a few decades. But it wasn’t easy get-

The first project was a 10-megawatt wind farm in the Chatham-Kent region of southwestern Ontario, an area of plentiful wind. It featured five wind towers 90

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He’d been enamoured seeing wind turbines across Ontario. Here was his chance to put a toe in the water.

metres high, then the tallest in the province. (Today’s towers can exceed 100 metres, roughly the length of a football field). This was enough to power 3,500 homes.

Wagner was pleased to have a toe in the water. Not many companies his size had accomplished this much.

He enlisted a partner who knew wind power and recruited 22 local investors.

While the wind farm plodded its way through the inevitable thicket of permits and approvals, Saturn expanded into solar generation in eastern Ontario’s Ottawa Valley, where sunlight is abundant.

Today Saturn Power Inc. has 12 employees. “We’re mainly a developer but also an independent power producer,” says Wagner, who serves as president.

Besides its wind farm, Saturn Power has three solar projects in operation, two of which it developed for others and one which it operates on its own. Each consists of 40,000 solar panels located on about 80 acres of land.

The newest is the 10-megawatt David Brown Solar Park Project completed this spring near Ingleside, Ont. It is expected to produce 16.8

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gigawatt hours of energy annually, enough to power 1,800 households.

“As a privately owned Canadian company, we’re proud to have successfully participated in the war on climate change, in a market that has been dominated by large multinational corporations,” Wagner said at the time. “It demonstrated once again Saturn’s ability to complete a quality renewable energy facility from greenfield to commercial operation.”

Saturn has also supplied small solar energy systems to farmers, who typically own at least some underutilized land that doesn’t contribute to the bottom line. “The founders of Saturn Power both grew up on the farm and understand the reality of business,” says the company’s website (www.saturnpower.com). “With our help, we can turn your no crop land into cash crop land by harnessing the sun and generating clean, renewable solar energy.”

The latest project provides enough energy to power 1,800 households.

Despite successes, renew-

able energy is still a relatively small player in Ontario. The proportion of electricity produced by wind and solar is still in the low single digits.

Electrical demand took a hit when major industries were lost in the 2008 recession. Further shrinkage has occurred as better energy conservation has lowered consumption.

Beyond Ontario, Saturn has two 10-megawatt solar projects under development in the state of Oregon and has a large project in process in Turkey, which has its own program to promote renewable energy and has the added benefit of paying in U.S. currency.

“Energy consumption there is growing four to five percent a year,”

Doug Wagner: Investing in energy that’s clean and renewable

says Wagner. “We got in on the ground floor. When we went in a year ago the whole country had less solar installed than Saturn had done in Ontario.”

Disarming fears

H

ow could something so “clean” generate opposition?

There are those, for example, who fear wind turbines can cause health problems such as stress and insomnia. Never mind that a 2014 Health Canada study found no link between turbine noise and any illness or chronic condition. Numerous similar findings have not deterred a vocal minority of opponents, though Doug Wagner notes that such complaints have eventually died out in Europe where wind energy has a longer history.

In the meantime, though, “it can be hard to get neighbors on board.”

Every time a new project is approved, an appeal is inevitable, says Wagner. And under current laws, an opponent does not have to live near a turbine to launch an appeal, no matter how frivolous.

“In Ontario, no one has ever won an appeal, but it still adds an additional risk,” he says. “Moreover, the court can assess costs against you, even if you win.”

Solar energy, seemingly so benign, also has its opponents. Some critics fear green energy drives up electrical costs for everyone, even though in Ontario less than one percent of energy is solar and three percent is wind.

David Suzuki, Canada’s leading environmentalist and not always seen as a friend of business, defended renewable energy producers in an article in New Scientist magazine titled “The Beauty of Wind Farms.”

While he concurred that environmental assessments were needed before beginning projects, he said renewable energy through wind farms should be encouraged because global warming was hurting the planet. “A blanket ‘not in my backyard’ approach is hypocritical and counterproductive,” he wrote, saying later, “If one day I look from my cabin’s porch and see a row of windmills spinning in the distance, I won’t curse them. I will praise them. It will mean we are finally getting somewhere.” ◆

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When completed, the 20-megawatt project will be the country’s largest. More projects there are possible as Turkey becomes more active in the war on climate change. ◆

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The view from the loading dock After years of executive leadership Ed Nofziger loves getting behind the wheel and seeing customer service from the other end

W

owned a trucking firm in Morton, Ill. “I got a lot of tips from those guys,” he says.

When his main business was Nofziger Door Sales in Archbold, Ohio, he enjoyed hauling his own doors and doing additional trucking on the side, such as transporting furniture for neighboring Sauder Wood-

hat do you do when you’ve built a thriving company, passed daily management on to the next generation, but still have plenty of fuel in the tank? For Ed Nofziger, 67, longtime owner of Haas Door in Wauseon, Ohio, the answer was easy — hit the road.

Literally.

Nofziger’s love for trucking goes way back to before he got into the overhead door business.

He’s had his own trucks since the early 1980s and enjoyed hobnobbing with trucking veterans from the MEDA fraternity like Vernon Erb, owner of Erb Transport in Elmira, Ont., Dwight Hartman, a truck dealer in Harrisonburg, Va., and the late Maurice Stahly who

One of two business cards the “undercover boss” likes to use.

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working. On the way back he’d carry equipment like garage door openers from east coast suppliers.

“I always enjoyed trucks. I’ve got a PhD in trucking,” he quips.

In 1995 he purchased Haas Door (see sidebar), which has grown steadily over the 20 years it has been owned by the Nofziger family. It produces both commercial and residential doors for 300 customers around the country and parts of Canada. “Our long-time customers are in Big Ten country,” says Nofziger. This includes Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin), with newer growth in the Carolinas, Florida, Ontario

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and western Canada. The company employs 270 people.

Today Ed and Carol’s son Jeff is president of Haas Door. Ed is chair of the board and Carol is treasurer.

Their middle son Jon owns the Nofziger Door dealership in Columbus, Ohio, and their youngest son Joel is a psychiatric nurse in Seattle.

While some people in Nofziger’s shoes might feel retired, Ed still shows up pretty much every day. “I like to make sure the place is clean from the outside,” he says. “I push snow and drive my tractor — I’m a gofer,” he laughs.

audience. “He enjoys taking his truck across the country, delivering garage doors and meeting the dealers first hand. You can imagine the impact it has when the owner (of the company) shows up in a semi to drop off a load at the dealership.”

Not every customer knows that their loading dock is getting a

visit from the “undercover boss.”

“I’m there in jeans and grubbies, hustling materials at the back of the van,” says Nofziger with a chuckle. “I’m likely dirty and grimy and greasy. They’re in their business suits.”

If they know it’s Nofziger, they may come back to say hello. Some even stick around and help for a little

When it comes to driving

truck, Nofziger is no gofer. One of his business cards proudly identifies him as “part time truck driver.” He checks regularly with the dispatcher

His unique perch gives him a look at how the back-end is performing and how they can do better. and frequently climbs into a big Volvo tractor with a 12-speed automatic transmission and a 53-foot trailer and hauls product around the country.

“I make maybe one trip every other week,” he says.

These can be short or long. In a recent four-month period he put on 11,000 miles traveling to Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New York, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

When Nofziger was given a Citizen of the Year award by his Archbold, Ohio, community, Kent Nafziger, VP of Sales & Marketing, provided an overview of his employer’s career in the overhead door business. Despite honors such as being named Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000 and an industry service award in 2009, “Ed’s true passion has been, and continues to be, driving semi,” Nafziger told the

Nofziger makes a trip every other week, putting on 11,000 miles in one recent four-month period.

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Ed and Carol Nofziger and their son Jeff (president) at the Haas Door facility in Wauseon, Ohio.

Mentoring and the Golden Rule

I

n a Marketplace article in 2000, Ed Nofziger traced his family’s involvement in garage doors over more than half a century. His father, Dennis, opened Nofziger Door Sales in Archbold, Ohio, in the 1940s.

Ed joined the firm in 1969, and a few years later he and his wife, Carol, purchased the company.

Then Haas Door came up for sale in 1995. Nofziger was interested.

An installer becoming a manufacturer was like a business version of David and Goliath. He knew he had something unique to offer the industry — a manufacturing company based on the values and relationships that had sustained his family’s business over many years.

He bought Haas Door and moved it to Wauseon, Ohio. He opened for business in 1996, making sectional overhead doors of steel or aluminum filled with urethane insulation. He invested in a highly automated stateof-the-art roll forming line that made a wide array of door models. He kept expanding to keep at the front of the industry.

Nofziger’s faith values remained visible. During two terms on the MEDA board of directors (1989-1997) he enjoyed the related aspect of mentoring which he sees as a form of Christian mutual aid and which he carries on with others.

Another faith value was the Golden Rule (Matt. 7:12). As a manufacturer, he always sought to treat installers the way he wanted to be treated.

And taking a turn on a highway rig is one more way to extend the Golden Rule to customer service. ◆

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while and then go back to their office.

“Some employees have said, ‘He’s never done that before’,” says Nofziger.

Would he recommend this to other manufacturers who happen to like driving truck?

“It’s my style of management,” says Nofziger, who always enjoyed meeting customers and relating to them. “I’ve walked in their shoes as a dealer. There’s a lot I can observe and suggest.

“It gives me a contact with the customer without interfering with our own sales staff. Our outside salespeople walk in the front door, I walk in the back door. It helps me understand our customers.”

It also, he says, helps him make sure that the company’s back-end is performing properly. Are his people loading the trucks right? How can they do better?

“I’m always looking at how we can do better with the logistics of this thing.”

Kent Nafziger says Ed’s visits to customers’ loading docks have improved quality control as the company seeks to minimize damage in transit. A direct result has been changes to how they wrap their product for transport.

“Ed can take pictures with his phone to show where problems arise and how to fix them,” says Nafziger.

“He can interview the guys unloading the truck, take a short video, and e-mail it back so we can show it on a big screen at our morning meeting. It brings our people right onto the loading dock.”

Adds Carol Nofziger, “He really enjoys visiting with the dealers, and they love it, too. He sure loves making the customers happy.” ◆

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Letters

Enlisting church members After reading an article published in The Marketplace (“Enlist your church,” March/April, pp. 10-11), I invited the pastor of my local church to do something similar and he liked the idea, and started a monthly interview, during the service, to people from our congregation with some of these questions: • tell us about your work/career?

• what led you to do what you’re doing today?

• how do you integrate your faith or relationship with Christ into your work?

• what do you hear God telling you most about your work place?

• how can we pray for you and your work, work place?

The first interview happened in late September and we have scheduled two more in October and November.

— Oscar Cardozo, MEDA Montréal

Helpful, challenging I have found your last issue of The Marketplace particularly helpful and challenging.

In the article about “Der Dutchman” the statement, “Adding non-family directors, who can ask the tough questions, was one of the best things we ever did” was relevant to a company I’m involved in.

I was delighted with some of the mission statements some well-known companies have.

The 10 top reasons to love MEDA reinforce my commitment to the organization.

Your review of the video “Going on vocation”… made me want to watch it to see where I could use it.

— Don Kroeker, Winnipeg

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News

Bracing brew helps growers, youth groups What better way to enjoy good coffee than to know you are helping growers in Peru and Mennonite youth groups at home. Coffee distributor Menno’s Best, which operates out of Goshen (Ind.) College, concluded its first year with strong sales figures and a significant benefit to participating youth groups.

Besides selling 5,331 bags of organic coffee purchased from 1,740 Peruvian growers, the unique program raised $26,695 for Mennonite youth groups attending the 2015 Mennonite convention in Kansas City.

Youth groups sold bags of the direct-trade Peruvian coffee, known as “just java for the journey,” which was grown by small-scale farmers that Goshen College students have worked with during the college’s Study-Service Term (SST) in Peru’s mountainous Chanchamayo Province.

The beans were harvested and

shipped to Goshen where they were roasted and sold at the college coffee shop, Java Junction.

As an incentive for churches, a contest was created to award prizes to the top-selling youth groups. Coffee bags were personalized with a “blend” label specific to each church. The two top selling youth groups were College Mennonite Church in Goshen, and Hesston (Kan.) Mennonite Church, both of which sold about 500 bags.

“It was an easy fundraiser for us, being so close to the college,” says Daniel Yoder, youth pastor at College Mennonite Church. “Our church has connections in Peru through the college, so it was a no-brainer. Our stu-

Business and Economics vacancy Eastern Mennonite University announces a Fulltime Assistant or Associate Professor in tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Business and Economics beginning mid-August 2016. PhD in Management or Doctorate in Management (D.M.) or terminal degree in a related field of business or leadership; teaching experience in business, management, marketing or leadership; strong affinity for the values espoused by EMU that draw from its Anabaptist/Mennonite heritage; evidence of scholarship and/or practice in the field; cross-cultural (international) experience desirable; and ability to contribute to university and departmental service. Teaching responsibilities (typically four courses per semester total) include primarily undergraduate courses in the Department of Business and Economics, and possibly one or two graduate courses in the MBA or M.A. in Organizational Leadership programs.

There may also be opportunity to carry some teaching load in the EMU Core curriculum. Applicants must have a strong commitment to high quality teaching and be enthusiastic about mentoring and advising students. Engagement in ongoing scholar activity and departmental and university service is expected. Ability and willingness to take on administrative responsibilities desirable. Nine month contract, salary determined by education and experience. Send letter of application, curriculum vitae, transcripts (unofficial acceptable), and three letters of reference to Dr. Deirdre Smeltzer, Vice President and Undergraduate Academic Dean, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA 22802. ugdean@emu.edu. http://www.emu.edu. Review begins immediately. Applicants will be asked to respond to questions specific to EMU’s mission after the initial inquiry. EMU reserves the right to fill the position at any time or keep the position open. AAEO employer.

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dents were able to see that this was a much bigger thing than just us.”

Buyers could purchase 12-ounce bags (either whole or ground) directly from youth groups at church or online. Youth groups received $5 from each $12 bag. The rest covered the cost of the beans, shipping, roasting and packaging. ◆

Signs of progress on global food front This is no time to take the foot off the gas pedal but there are indications of improvement in global nourishment.

British-based journalist Carl Mortished reported recently that the global food supply is approaching glut status.

“The price of food is plummeting around the world,” he wrote recently in the Globe & Mail Report on Business. “Everywhere there is abundance.... More food is being grown on less land than ever before.”

Global grain stocks are said to be at a 29-year peak. Prairie silos are full and wheat prices are down 20 percent.

Mortished says this is the fourth year global grain production has exceeded consumption.

Geo-politics plays a role, but other factors such as better technology, higher-yielding grains and more efficient land management cannot be discounted, says Mortished, adding “It’s been lovely for consumers but tough for farmers as breakfast gets cheaper.”

He notes that population growth is stabilizing around the world, which reduces pressure on the food supply. Currently, some 795 million people lack sufficient food for a healthy and active life, according to the United Nations’ Food and ☞

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The high cost of being poor Everyone knows (at least those connected with MEDA) that providing affordable financial services to the global poor is a big step toward their achieving a stable livelihood. That’s why MEDA has worked so hard over

Continued from page 22 Agriculture Organization. That’s an improvement of 216 million people from 25 years ago.

From 1997-1999 the FAO classified 22 countries as suffering from chronic undernourishment. “Today,” Mortished says, “the number has fallen to just five: Haiti, Namibia, Zambia, Central African Republic and North Korea.” ◆

the decades to bring credit and banking services within reach.

Fewer people know how deeply the issue affects impoverished people here at home.

“Life is expensive for America’s poor, with financial services the primary culprit,” The Economist magazine says in a recent issue.

Simply writing a check can be out of reach for low income people who may not be able to afford a regular bank account. If they need to send a check they may have to get a money order, which could cost $7 at a bank or $1.25 at a post office (if one is nearby).

The magazine says eight percent of American households do not have bank accounts, making it tougher

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to cash a paycheck. Using a credit union or other outlet can cost two to five percent. If they need a loan, a payday lender might charge interest exceeding 300 percent. “Nearly half those who borrowed using payday loans did so more than 10 times in 2013, with the median borrower paying $458 in fees,” the magazine says.

Many low income folk can’t benefit from mobile banking because far fewer of them use smartphones. And a quarter of such households do not use the internet, so they lose out on finding lower prices.

A key implication of “the cost of being poor,” the magazine says, is that “inequality is much worse than income figures alone suggest.” ◆

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Another business solution to poverty Weaving in Tlamacazapa, Mexico, watercolor by Ray Dirks The Marketplace November December 2015

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