BP Isn't the Only Problem in the Gulf

The New York Times today came out with an article "Gulf of Mexico Has Long Been A Dump Site for Industry" that explains the pollution -- independent of the BP oil spill -- that slides into the Gulf on a regular basis. This is worth worrying about:

"Runoff and waste from cornfields, sewage plants, golf courses and oil-stained parking lots drain into the Mississippi River from vast swaths of the United States, and then flow down to the gulf, creating a zone of lifeless water the size of Lake Ontario just off the coast of Louisiana."

"the waters of the northwestern gulf take on more oil on average per year, from spills, natural seeps and land-based sources like coastal refineries and everyday transportation, than any other North American marine waters"

Of course someone needs to clean this up, but the article states that "environmental groups said they had found much of the gulf a hostile fund-raising and political atmosphere".

This is where Mission Markets comes in. As a sustainability exchange, Mission Markets helps companies working on projects like mitigating water pollution, to get access to investors interested in supporting their cause. It also provides a space on Mission Markets Earth for companies to buy and sell water quality credits (among other environmental credits) which helps buyers to offset their environmental footprint, and sellers to clean up our waters.

See www.missionmarkets.com and www.mmearth.com.

Save the Earth
- The Mission Markets Team

Mission Markets is growing every day!

MISSION MARKETS REGISTERED MEMBERS:

• TOTAL # ORGANIZATIONS SEEKING CAPITAL: 15

• TOTAL # INVESTORS: 15

TOTAL # OFFERINGS/DEALS:

• APPROVED: 4

• DRAFTS: 4

Mission Markets is currently in its beta launch, accepting both issuers and investors in the social and environmental markets to sign up as members. Learn more and register at www.missionmarkets.com. Call 646-837-6877 or email info@missionmarkets.com for more information or assistance signing up.

- The Mission Markets Team

Mission Markets - a B Corp for B Corps

Mission Markets is now one of B Lab's Financial Service Partners!

B Lab is a nonprofit focused on making a new type of corporation, the B Corporation, focused on Benefit to all stakeholders, not just shareholders. To become a B Corporation, companies must pass the B Survey which rates a company's level of accountability, treatment of employees and consumers, and impact on their community and environment. They must also include the interests of employees, the environment, and the community in their corporate governing documents. Mission Markets is a B Corp and you should become one, too!

Mission Markets was featured in the B Lab newsletter sent out last week with the news that Mission Markets is now one of B Lab's Financial Service Partners! Here's the blurb about us that showed up in the newsletter:

This B Corporation is a new private investment exchange that brings socially and environmentally focused companies like B Corporations into contact with mission-driven investors, allowing companies efficient access to capital. B Corporations seeking to raise capital can list their company and their financial offering on the Mission Markets private capital marketplace. Accredited investors search through listed offerings and can decide to pursue due diligence and make an investment. Fees are only success-based and are currently low during their Beta release phase. There are no membership or listing fees for B Corporations. As a B Corporation itself, Mission Markets aims to be the go-to platform for other B Corps seeking funding. Several B Corporations are already considering or in the process of listing their offerings. Please visit Mission Markets and sign up as a issuer member at www.missionmarkets.com. Contact the Mission Markets team for more information, a demo of the platform, or for help signing up as an Issuer. You can reach them at 646-837-6877 or at info@missionmarkets.com.

To learn more about Mission Markets as a B Corp and the rest of the B Corp community, check out the following links:

- Read about Mission Markets on the B Corp website here.
- Read more about B Corps here.
- Check out the B Corps Declaration of Interdependence

And remember, Mission Markets is still in its Beta launch and waiting for YOU. List your company at www.missionmarkets.com.

- The Mission Market Team

Slow Down! Mission Markets in Slow Money Newsletter

Mission Markets was mentioned in the Slow Money July newsletter!

The Slow Money alliance, led by Woody Tasch, works to channel capital to local communities by supporting sustainable agriculture and other social and environmental initiatives. The Newsletter describes Slow Money's planning group Discovery Session in Wisconsin this past June 28th. The discussions of the day ranged from local food system financing, keeping businesses local, alternative financing structures, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI's), L3C's, and other ways we can use corporate and investment structures for the good of the community and the environment. As a part of these discussions, Mike Van Patten, Mission Markets CEO told the entire group about Mission Markets during a lunch presentation. Mike addressed how MissionMarkets.com could help finance the full range of financing solutions for companies and organizations.

Read more about the gathering here.
Read more about Slow Money at www.slowmoneyalliance.org

Don't miss the planning groups' next Slow Money Wisconsin gathering on August 9th.

Remember, Mission Markets is in its Beta launch. List your company at www.missionmarkets.com.


- The Mission Markets Team

TEEB report on biodiversity Released! Mission Markets mentioned

New release of one of the most anticipated business and biodiversity reports, the 2010 TEEB Report, “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity - Report for Business”! The third annual report was created by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) research consortium at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and released at the first Global Business of Biodiversity Symposium in London, England yesterday, July 13, 2010. As the UN has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity, reading this report is key to getting up to date in the business-biodiversity fields.

The report focuses on the role of business in biodiversity ecosystem services, and covers areas such as climate change, pollution, threats to habitat, and REDD+. It stresses the interrelated effects of increasing biodiversity loss with other aspects of climate change and the degradation of ecosystem services. It also emphasizes the opportunity for the world of business and the natural world to not only coexist, but benefit from each other.

Read it at: http://www.teebweb.org/

Mission Markets brings together organizations in all environmental sectors to battle the environmental issues relayed in the TEEB report, and to build opportunities from the potential synergies between business's and nature's services.

The TEEB report describes us on Page 19 in Section 5:

“Mission Markets Inc. is an example of a new company anticipating the emergence and growing importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services markets, as societal and market norms shift towards sustainability and social responsibility. As such, it has created an electronic transactions and communications platform for voluntary environmental and social capital markets. It allows the increasing number of investors focusing on Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and sustainability to access a network through which to find, compare and assess new investments, organizations and assets. The platform not only consolidates social and environmental markets, but provides transparency and liquidity, unifying selected metrics so that visitors can compare organization and assets in creative ways, confirming the quality and credibility of transactions and the accountability of the organizations themselves (www.missionmarkets.com).”

Enjoy biodiversity!
- The Mission Markets Team

Social/Environmental Resources at the Mission Markets Knowledge Center

The Mission Markets team has aggregated reports, articles, and links regarding the various social and environmental sectors that Mission Markets works with, and has uploaded all the info into one webpage. For a place to learn more about your sector, a launching pad for research, or a place to learn about the environmental and social fields at large, visit the Mission Markets Knowledge Center to browse around. (Bookmark our link: http://www.missionmarkets.com/about/knowledge-center)

Our knowledge center reflects our company's goal: to bring all of the sectors in the social and environmental fields together in one place. Our Knowledge Center begins to do this simply on the informational end. Our Private Capital Marketplace does this for capital raising, providing social and environmental companies a place to find mission related investors. And our Mission Markets Earth platform does this for environmental credits – helping people and institutions buy and sell carbon, water quality, renewable energy, habitat, and wetlands credits, to name a few. We are the one-stop-shop for anyone interested in social or environmental information, data, and financing. Come join us for free!

Please don't hesitate to email or call us to learn more about us and how we can help you get involved. We're very happy to show you a demo of our platform, and walk you through the sign-up process to become a member.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

- The Mission Markets Team

Issuers and Investors Unite! Mission Markets has opened its doors

Mission Markets is in beta launch, accepting both issuers and investors in the social and environmental fields to sign up as members. We're growing fast - after less than a week, we already have 5 issuers and 5 investors on board! Call or email us for basic info, for a demo of the platform, or for help signing up. Or feel free to login yourself, at www.missionmarkets.com. We look forward to seeing you on the Mission Markets sustainable investment platform!

- The Mission Markets Team

Issuer Sign-Up

The Mission Markets Private Capital Marketplace is now in beta launch, open to social and environmental organizations looking to raise capital.

How does it work? Contact us and we'll send you our beta agreement, making sure you have the minimum requirements we need (proving you're social/environmental, and getting your paperwork together). Once you have everything in order, sign the beta agreement and send us the documents. We'll give you the beta website you can use to sign up on the Mission Markets Private Capital Marketplace as a member. You'll get a confirmation email or two, and you're in! Fill in your profile - contact info, info about your company, info about the financing you're looking for. We're here to walk you through the process if you have any questions.

Investors will soon be signing on as well, and will see the information you've provided - if you'd rather keep your detailed info and your documents private, you can hide them and only be available as a discreet offering: investors will see you're there, but will have to be approved by you to see more.

We've spoken to thousands of interested issuers and investors, and are now available to get you on board if you're ready to join our beta launch!

For more info about the Mission Markets Private Capital Marketplace, click here.