Another interview - Inventing a new financial system…

Another interview - Inventing a new financial system…

INTERVIEW 2: Chris Meyer, Board Member, Common Good Bank

Story of Business Innovation: Write at least 300 words about the innovation itself. Please answer the following questions:

• WHAT is the innovation?
• HOW did the innovation emerge?
• WHO was involved in the creation of the innovation? What did they do?
• WHAT quotations from the interview best describe the innovation?

“Common Good Bank is an alternative financial system that is meant to facilitate strong, vibrant, sustainable local economies so that people can be consistent in all three ways they’re connected to companies.”

These words by Chris Meyer, Common Good Bank Board Member, hint at the audacity of the innovation that is Common Good Bank (CGB). This innovative financial startup is seeking seed money to launch operations, and is still very much in its infancy. However, once launched, CGB will provide a financial home for individuals and businesses who care about sustainability.

CGB seeks to provide a competitive financial system that saves the world from domination by publically traded corporations. In the view of Meyer and CGB, the number one reason we have an unsustainable economy is that public corporations exist solely to maximize wealth for their shareholders. They are legally bound to put their bottom line above everything else. This single fact forces business leaders to make decisions that maximize short term profitability and remove from consideration any other factor of consequence such as energy, pollution, climate change, or the health and welfare of employees, except where these factors impact short term profitability.

At the core, CGB aims to support strong local economies of independently owned businesses. This comes out of a mission to advance the greater good of the community. This mission impacts lending practices, decision making, profit-sharing, transparency, ownership, and business operations. CGB will also provide all the major consumer services of a financial institution like savings and checking accounts, debit/credit cards, mortgages and car loans. There will be incentives for green activities (fuel efficient vehicles, renovations that increase energy efficiency, etc). Also, the democratic nature of CGB will give members control of community lending priorities and which not-for-profit organizations the bank’s profits will fund.

Meyer’s entrée to Common Good Bank came after completing an undergraduate degree at Goshen College (Indiana). Meyer had been studying history, business, economics, public policy, ethics and religion. Immediately after college he entered a year of voluntary service in a rural setting in South-central Colorado helping low-income people write business plans and launch small entrepreneurial ventures. During this time he authored a white paper to capture his vision of a new, sustainable financial system that would work for the good of the community.

Meanwhile, at about the same time, William Spademan published his paper “Common Good Bank – A Society to Benefit Everyone” in the Friends Journal. (http://www.friendsjournal.org/common-good-bank-society-benefit-everyone). When Spademan and Meyer met in 2007 they immediately recognized the similarities in their visions, and Spademan invited Meyer to join his advisory board.

Impact of innovation: Write at least 250 words about the impact of the innovation:

• WHAT was the impact of the innovation? What people or organizations were affected?
• WHAT were the short-term effects? What were the long-term effects?
• WHAT observable evidence suggests that this impact has occurred?
• WHAT quotations from the interview best describe the impact?

The Common Good Bank is still positioning itself to begin operations. For this reason, we can’t point to specific, measureable impacts on people or organizations. However, the organization has taken some baby steps and we can point to those activities as signs of impact.

First, it has developed a corporate charter, bylaws, and a business plan. These documents have been reviewed and approved by bank regulators. They form the foundation for what the bank will become and how it will operate. According to Meyer, “There has been a lot of good work that has been done. We’re doing what we can without financing… When we get the capital, we’ll be ready to go.”

Second, this ground work has generated a great deal of interest in more than a dozen communities across the United States, as well as internationally in Sweden, Zimbabwe, and Brazil. From a small group based in rural, western Massachusetts the group has grown to nearly 3000 interested persons. This groundswell of support indicates the way the Common Good Bank ideas resonate with people who are frustrated with a financial system that considers short term impacts over all else.

According to Meyer, “One measure of success is that the bank is giving some measure of hope to people who have such negative attitudes towards banks and banking systems. Since this recession, a lot of people are fed up with banks and financial institutions. Common Good Bank provides an alternative to that and provides people with a little more control in their financial institutions. One of the things we have done is generate enthusiasm for a better type of financial institution, and a certain amount of hope in people who thought things were hopeless.”

Ultimately, Meyer says, “Common Good Bank will be an enabler of a lot of good things, if not directly doing them itself. It is more than a single business doing one or two things. It is facilitating the growth of an entire economy, which is the real meat of it – to be able to support everyone who is interested in creating a sustainable economy.”

Once launched, then this aim will make it easy to measure CGB’s impact by tracking the number of sustainable business ventures it supports.

Motivation and Purpose: Write at least 250 words about the motivation, purpose or inspiration behind the innovation.

• HOW did the original idea come about?
• WHAT was the motivation or purpose for doing the innovation?
• Does the innovation relate to a sense of mission, purpose or meaning? If so, HOW?
• WHAT quotations from the interview best illustrate the motivation behind the innovation?

Meyer is motivated to engage in the work of CGB because of his faith, and because of his prophetic insight into the current state of the world.

Since he was a very young man, he has had a vision that the world we know today is, in his words, “heading over a cliff.” Three things in particular make him think the world will change dramatically in his life time. Those three things are climate change, peak oil, and the collapse of the financial system. In his words, “We’re going to have to change – out of necessity. Whether that change is abrupt and very uncomfortable for many of earth’s people, or whether it is relatively smooth – I think that is the question. It’s not IF, but HOW.”

That insight met his faith during his undergraduate studies, when he had the opportunity to connect faith to business. For him, the connection happens in two important concepts: yieldedness and compassion. Yieldedness is the recognition that there is a higher being who loves us and calls us to do the right thing. Compassion is embodied in life and teachings of Jesus. Compassion is genuine caring and loving for all of life; a deep sympathy and kindness towards all of life.

For Meyer, that call to compassion makes him care about sustainability, the ecosystem, other humans – everything. Compassion “brings in the practical. Faith is not just believing something, but doing something.”

Ultimately, Meyer says, “The epitome of compassion is Shalom, where God, humans and creation are in fulfilling relationships. In trying to apply the Shalom concept to the modern world, I believe it mirrors the idea of sustainability. It’s a system of mutual benefit of all involved – that does not take away from future generations – that can exist perpetually.”

Given Meyer’s faith – his yieldedness – and his understanding of the call to compassion or Shalom, he fights despair with action: “Its hard a lot of times. There is so much to worry about. I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. But we need to enjoy life too. And ultimately, is there anything else I’d rather do than work towards shalom? The answer is ‘No, there’s not.’ And any tangible progress along the way is heartening.”

Headline: If your story were published on a front page of a local newspaper, what headline, or title, would you give it?

Inventing an alternative financial system

Interviewers Story: Tell us your story. Write at least 200 words about your experience:

• Why were you interested in interviewing this person?
• What did you learn or how were you inspired from the interview?
• What was the best quote you heard during the interview?
• What did you find most interesting about the story?

Last year I met a person who was working on the Common Good Bank idea, and I was intrigued by the concept. As we talked about it, he identified Chris Meyer as one of the thought leaders of the movement. I knew of Chris as a newcomer to my church, but had not made the opportunity to speak with him. The BAWB interview provided a nice reason and structure to open a conversation.
I was impressed with the audacity of the vision: an alternative financial system. I went into the interview with the expectation that he was creating an alternative model for a bank. As we talked I came to understand that he was talking about more than an alternative financial institution – he was talking about a wholly new financial system. This new system is based on a foundation of justice and peacemaking – what in the Judeo-Christian tradition is called Shalom.
I was most inspired by how Chris consciously transforms despair into positive action. I identified with his comment: “Its hard a lot of times. There is so much to worry about. I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders… And ultimately, is there anything else I’d rather do than work towards shalom? The answer is ‘No, there’s not.’ And any tangible progress along the way is heartening.”

There is a lot to be pessimistic about in 2010. Chris Meyer and The Common Good Bank choose to say ‘No’ to pessimism and take positive actions to plant seeds for a wholly new economic model.