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A Partnership with Wainwright Bank |
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Written by Alistair Williamson
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Do you know where your money in your bank account has
been? Every day, your carefully saved money is being used
to fund something—but do you think about what it is?
Wainwright Bank of Massachusetts was founded in 1987
with the mission of having its customer’s money fund something
good. A publicly traded $800 million bank, about a
third of Wainwright’s commercial loan portfolio is invested
in community developments like affordable housing, homeless
shelters, HIV/AIDS services, community health centers,
and environmental projects. Over the years Wainwright has
won numerous Business Ethics and Community Citizen
awards, and has become one of the fastest growing businesses
in the state. And now, we are proud to say,
Wainwright Bank, has partnered with Equal Exchange.
The bank will launch the Equal Exchange Certificate of
Deposit (CD) On February 1, 2006. It will be similar to
those you can buy at any bank. Our CD has a 3-year
term, a competitive rate (currently 4.03%) and a $1,000
minimum. Investing in the Wainwright CD is a way for
you to directly finance Equal Exchange and Fair Trade.
As Equal Exchange grows we buy more coffee. $2,000
allows us to purchase coffee from a typical family farm
supporting 6–8 people. Your dollars make a real difference
to real people.
Although the Equal Exchange CD assumes some risk, it is
fairly secure. You might think of CDs as being “safe as houses,”
and usually they are. In fact a typical CD might help finance
a subdivision in Miami or a hotel in Las Vegas. The Equal
Exchange CD, however, helps to secure a loan to us to
finance Fair Trade coffee, so your money is more like “safe
as coffee.” If Equal Exchange cannot repay its loan you may
lose some of your CD. However we have a twenty-year track
record of running a sound business with sound financials
and haven’t lost anyone’s money yet.
Check out Wainwright Bank at http://www.wainwrightbank.com.
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