Organically Grown Co., Eugene, Ore., has received a $750,000 loan to help it move to a new ownership structure.
The Oregon Community Foundation loan is to help Organically Grown to shift to a structure that focuses on “purpose over profit into perpetuity,” according to a news release.
Organically Grown is using the funds to buy back stock from shareholders, to transfer them to the recently established Sustainable Food and Agriculture Perpetual Purpose Trust. The loan was led by RSF Social Finance, and Oregon Community Foundation is participating with other “values-driven investors and lenders, according to the release.
The trust ensures that Organically Grown delivers “positive economic, social and environmental impact and maintains its independence into perpetuity, never to be sold,” according to the release.
“We would have been unable to pioneer this groundbreaking steward ownership structure without the support of mission-aligned lenders and investors such as Oregon Community Foundation,” Elizabeth Nardi, CEO of Organically Grown, said in the release.
“Our new ownership structure gives us the freedom to focus 100% on our core impact metrics including the realization of a low-carbon economy, farm and soil sustainability, and a progressive workplace.”
Organically Grown moves more than 100 million pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables across the Pacific Northwest each year, according to the release.
