“We took the cake off the table, so
we wouldn’t be temped,” says Rodney
North, the company’s spokesperson.
“Unlike most companies that are de-
pendent on one person’s character
and determination, we built the pro-
tection of our mission into our busi-
ness structure.”
But that doesn’t mean the worker-
owners don’t get to enjoy the sweet re-
wards of the company’s success. Each
year, 7 percent of the net profit is do-
nated to non-profit organizations, 3
percent is invested to assist start-up co-
operative businesses and, of the re-
maining 90 percent, 40 percent is
equally divided among all the worker-
owners and 60 percent is invested back
into the co-op. Because owners need
to continually invest in their company,
part of each employee’s profit check is
kept in a company account which they
can only redeem if they leave the coop-
erative. This system not only has built a
successful company but has led to
happy employees, says North, who has
been with the company for over 14
years. The company’s turnover is less
than 10 percent a year.
“In our mission statement, we don’t
want to just trade fairly and support organic farming, we want to demonstrate
the viability of this entire business
model. We may never be one of the really big guys, but we can be profitable,
have a high impact and still stay independent,” says North.
accept limited returns because they believed in the fair trade model the company was developing. This type of progressive investor really does exist. In fact,
even with a modest 5 percent return on investment and no liquidity or voting
rights, Equal Exchange has been able to raise over $6 million in capital from
around 480 investors.
“Making a huge return is not the main goal. These investors know they are
helping build an organization and business model that is really committed to
the mission of fair trade and they see the importance of that,” says Dickinson.
This capital is combined with innovative investment products, including the
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Unconventional Capital
One of the major reasons why
Equal Exchange was able to remain independent all these years is because
they approached capital from a very
different position than most. Instead
of growing too fast and going down
the venture capital route where so
many burgeoning entrepreneurial
business lose control, the founders of
Equal Exchange looked for like-minded investors who were willing to
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