Why does ShoreBank Pacific focus on small and mid-sized companies for lending business?
DW: For starters, we’re of a size that we can really work best for small and mid-sized companies. The second reason is that 94 percent of employees in the United States works for a company with less than 24 employees. So if you want to change the economy, that’s where it’s going to happen. You don’t change it with the big guys, you change it for the little guys. Third, these smaller companies are quicker to make changes, because it often just takes the owner changing his or her mind. Therefore, you can push adoption of sustainable activities much more quickly than if you’re dealing with a large company. The fourth piece is that, if you look at the state of Oregon (more than Washington), it’s primarily a small business state. It’s much more responsive to these activities than if you’re an area with a lot of large businesses. SE: How do you rise above green washing by your competition? DW: There are some banks that have purported to do green things and for that we congratulate them. But
