Equal Exchange, one of the earliest purveyors of fair-trade coffee, tea, cocoa and sugar, has teamed up with Wainwright Bank to a create a new opportunity for socially-responsible investment. The bank now offers a Certificate of Deposit (CD) that provides a line of credit available for use exclusively by Equal Exchange, a democratic, worker-controlled coop that deals only in fairly traded goods. Investors can buy a 3-year CD for as little as $1000 and receive interest currently set at 4.2% per year.

Unlike “socially-responsible” mutual funds, which often invest in irresponsible corporations and rarely invest in employee-owned coops, this company-specific CD ensures that funds will actually be used to advance ethical business practices. The Wainwright-Equal Exchange CD may be the first of its kind within the United States.

For more info, visit: www.equalexchange.com/eecd

– By Kristina Hallez, khallez@wesleyan.edu

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