Doing Good One Cup At a Time

Who knew giving back could taste so good? Jonathan Golden, owner of Land of a 1,000 Hills Coffee Shop in Roswell and Atlanta, Georgia, found out his daily cup of coffee could do more than wake him up each morning.  After talking to his friend, a Rwandan bishop, about what Americans could do to help after the 100-day genocide in 1994, Golden learned that investing in Rwanda’s agriculture, especially coffee beans, could start rebuilding the life of many farmers. 

 

With an approved $20,000 line of credit and a used coffee roaster bought off eBay, Golden began the Land of a 1,000 Hills Coffee Shop with the mission of not only selling a rich cup of joe, but reaching out to those in need. The company’s logo was born “Drink Coffee. Do Good” and the business grew one cup at a time. Since the beginning, Golden has worked directly with the Rwandan farmers.  Land of a 1,000 Hills promised to pay a minimum of $1.26 per pound of beans when they began building their business in 2004.  This was over three times the meager 40 cents other coffee companies had been paying previously.  Today, Golden’s business consistently pays farmers an average of $1.86 per pound.

 

In addition to fair prices, the Land of a 1,000 Hills promises to set aside $1 for every 12 oz. bag of coffee sold for micro-finance programs.  These micro-finance programs help Rwandans rebuild their economy through micro-loans that allow those devastated by the genocide to start and improve their own small businesses.   Golden has chosen to participate in these types of programs directly by starting his own “Sustainable Cycle.”  This play-on-words is actually a fund built by customer donations that goes towards the purchase of bicycles for Rwandan farmers to help them efficiently and safely transport their goods.  Land of a 1,000 Hills currently has a goal of 250 cargo bikes, custom designed by Tom Ritchey, a pioneer in mountain biking and owner of his own bicycle design company. Customers interested in donating or just finding out more about the company can check out their website, www.drinkcoffedogood.com.

 

Land of a 1,000 Hills Coffee is a for-profit business whose message promotes healthy capitalism for the farmers in Rwanda.  Golden’s business serves as an excellent example of philanthrocapitalism, a growing trend that has recently caught the eye of many nonprofits.  Businesses like Jonathan Golden’s exercise a greater freedom to address currently social issues through the power of the consumer that the more traditional nonprofits are unable to do.

A Bank That Leaves a Mark

I love to listen to Dave Ross on Dave Ross on KCBS, newstalk radio. He usually comments about life and politics and government in his radio reports with humor and wit. But his latest report, "Can the Right Thing Be The Profitable Thing”, especially caught my attention because it was about a business, Shore Bank Pacific in Washington, that gives loans only to local businesses that are socially responsible. They call their approach to banking, the first one on the US: "Sustainable Banking”

In his report, Dave Ross, interviewed Dave Williams, the president of Shore Bank Pacific, about the business benefits of their policy. Dave Williams believes that they are making a bet these companies will thrive because customers are willing to pay more for the products and services of socially responsible businesses. He used the organic food industry as an example of a sector that experienced tremendous growth in the last few years.

Shore Bank Pacific, makes their investment decisions after looking at the environmental and sustainability aspects of the business, and also other areas of social responsibility such as how they treat their employees, how they contribute and generate wealth in the community, and whether they support local businesses by buying locally.

Shore Bank Pacific not only invests in these businesses but gets involved with them, by providing consulting services in all areas of their business development. Shore Bank Pacific supports alternative energy, real estate, specialty fishing and green building.

Their logo is: “Lets’ change the world” and their motto: “We leave a mark on everything we touch”.

Dave Ross did manage to tie in politics and government in his report and it was very serious. He asked a question about government not needing to regulate businesses that acted responsibly. “That’s right” said the banker. Guess Dave Ross had to stick to his bio somehow and Dave Williams left his mark and touched all the listeners, including me.