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The entire US financial system may be on the ropes, but according to Richard Seireeni, the recently formed "Salmon Nation" financial network is doing just fine
Like every other American, I have been sitting in awe as our mighty financial institutions have vapourised before our eyes. So, I began to wonder: How have green financial groups been doing? I wondered because earlier this year I had interviewed leaders of Portland's "Salmon Nation" banking and investment alliance for my forthcoming book: The Gort Cloud: The Invisible Force Powering Today's Most Visible Green Brands.
The companies joining in this financial venture have been thinking big. They are attempting to build not only their own individual financial brands, but also a whole new conservation-based economy stretching over a thousand miles of the Northwest Pacific Coast. They've labeled their community Salmon Nation, after the area where Pacific salmon run.
Three of the financial organisations involved in building and branding Salmon Nation are Ecotrust, a self-described conservation organisation promoting natural capital objectives in the Pacific Northwest and creator of the Salmon Nation concept; Portfolio 21, an investment company that works in partnership with Ecotrust objectives; and ShoreBank Pacific, a full-service bank formed by a partnership between Ecotrust and Chicago's ShoreBank Corp. All three are neighbours at Ecotrust's Natural Capital Center building in Portland, and all share in the vision of Salmon Nation.
In contrast to Wall Street, where profits and investor returns trump all, Salmon Nation is modeled on a broader principal where profits aren't necessarily everything because protecting the health of the planet while ensuring social equality are just as important.
Ecotrust: Dedicated to Economy, Ecology and Social Equality
Spencer Beebe founded the nonprofit Ecotrust in 1991 to preserve the temperate rain forests of his Northwest home and to spread the economic rewards from sustainable development among all the region's citizens, including Native Americans. He's a fourth-generation Portlander who had previously spent 14 years with The Nature Conservancy, serving as the organisation's West Coast director. He also helped to found Conservation International.
Ecotrust's underlying principle is that sustainability is best achieved through the development of localised economies. To that end, it funds local and sustainable projects that fall roughly under the headings of food and farms, Native American, fisheries, and forestry.
On Wednesday, I sent Howard Silverman, a writer and analyst for Ecotrust, an email. "How are you guys doing amid this Wall Street mess? Are you singed, immune, engulfed? Please do tell."
Silverman promptly responded with a reply from Beebe. Speaking in particular about Salmon Nation's headquarters, Beebe says, "The Natural Capital Center is full and has been from day one. We're getting market rents, almost four million visitors, and host to over 2,000 conferences. We turn down a potential tenant every one to two weeks for lack of space." Sitting in the heart of Portland's Pearl District, the Natural Capital Center is a nexus for the green community. It hosts a farmer's market, retail shops including Patagonia, meeting spaces and restaurants.
