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Local & Organic Farmland Investing: Iroquois Valley Farms Selected as an Impact Assets 50 Firm, Becomes B Corporation

Local & Organic Farmland Investing: Iroquois Valley Farms Selected as an Impact Assets 50 Firm, Becomes B Corporation

Published 12-12-12

Submitted by Iroquois Valley Farms, LLC

Iroquois Valley Farms, LLC – The leader in local and organic farmland investing, Iroquois Valley Farms, LLC (www.iroquoisvalleyfarms.com), has been named an ImpactAssets 50 (IA50) firm for 2012 and recently became one of the first six-hundred (600) Certified B Corporations globally. Iroquois Valley Farms is the first private equity company in the U.S. to directly connect socially responsible investors with local and organic farmland. The Company, formed in 2007, has pioneered scalable impact investments for accredited and institutional capital seeing the opportunity in sustainable agriculture.

“The ImpactAssets 50 provides a landscape of fund managers diverse in asset class, geography, and impact focus. We are excited to include Iroquois Valley Farms as an outstanding manager focused on investing in local and organic farmland in the U.S.,” states Jed Emerson, ImpactAssets’ Chief Impact Strategist and Chair of the ImpactAssets 50 Selection Committee. ImpactAssets (www.impactassets.org), a nonprofit financial services firm, is a worldwide leader increasing the flow of capital into investments that deliver financial, social and environmental returns.

Iroquois Valley Farms’ focus on local and organic agriculture is foundational to the health and sustainability of emerging local food systems and the environment overall.

“Certification as a B Corporation illustrates Iroquois Valley Farms’ commitment to producing social and environmental impact and providing transparency in its operations," reflects Jay Coen-Gilbert, Co-Founder at B Lab (www.bcorporation.net), the non-profit world certifying body of B Corporations based in Philadelphia, PA. There are now over six-hundred fifty (650) B Corporations in fifteen (15) countries, representing an intention worldwide to be not just the best companies in the world, but the best companies for the world.

“Commitment to achieving generational impact in local and agriculture describes us,” says Iroquois’ CEO and Co-Founder Dave Miller. “We are economic buyers of local and organic farmland and progressive managers of our tenant-farmer relationships,” Miller continues. “An investment in Iroquois Valley Farms is secured by the soils that feed us.”

Expanding it’s impact in the Midwest and Great Lakes region, Iroquois Valley Farms (www.iroquoisvalleyfarms.com) recently purchased over $3.0 MM of farmland for young 3rd and 4th generation family farmers  as part of its Young Farmer Land Access Program, a scalable initiative that will require a huge amount of new investment capital.

"We've seen firsthand the growing interest in investments that have both financial and social ROI,” said IA 50 Selection Committee member Kathy Leonard, vice president and senior portfolio manager at UBS Financial Services. “Impact investing has emerged as the dominant global trend that will drive future financial market opportunities."

Iroquois Valley Farms, LLC is deeply committed to wise stewardship of the Earth. Act today to learn more about the leader in local and organic sustainable farmland investing.

For more information on existing or new ventures, please contact Steven Bianucci, Iroquois Valley Farms, Director of Impact Investing at jsbianucci@iroquoisvalleyfarms.com or 847-401-6050, or Rita Billon, Director of Marketing at rbillon@iroquoisvalleyfarms.com.

About Iroquois Valley Farms, LLC
(www.iroquoisvalleyfarms.com)
Iroquois Valley Farms, LLC  started operations in 2007 building a farmland company focusing on the triple bottom line of solid financial performance, environmental/food health concerns and the social benefit of fostering the generational tenures of family farmers. The corporate structure is unique as Iroquois Valley Farms is operated as a company — not a fund, limited partnership or network of investor/owners.

The company focus on local and organic agriculture is foundational to the health and sustainability of emerging local food systems and the environment overall. Additionally, the Company supports family farms and is helping to transition the next generation of sustainable farmers.

Iroquois Valley Farms, LLC is building a profitable farmland company that can continually renew farm leases to small and mid-size family farmers that care about the health of our food and the soils they farm. In this endeavor, the Company shares the value and vision expressed by the Great Law of the Iroquois: “In every deliberation, one must consider the impact on the seventh generation.”

About the Impact 50 (IA50) and Impact Assets"¨
(www.impactassets.org)
“As the field of impact investing grows and attracts the attention of mainstream investors, the IA 50 is a valuable knowledge resource to acquaint financial advisors and individual investors with the range of established strategies at work in impact investing,” reports Tim Freundlich, President of Impact Assets.

ImpactAssets is a nonprofit financial services firm that increases the flow of capital into investments that deliver financial, social and environmental returns. Its impact investment strategies, donor advised fund and knowledge resources provide a dynamic platform for wealth managers and the clients they serve to advance social or environmental change through investment. ImpactAssets seeks to shed light on and drive capital to the field’s most promising organizations and initiatives, helping to build the field of impact investing."¨"¨“ImpactAssets’ mission is to help investors and fund managers gain access to the resources they need in order to help people double the impact of their capital, and is why we produce the annual IA 50,” explains Jed Emerson, ImpactAssets’ Chief Impact Strategist and Chair of the ImpactAssets 50 Selection Committee.

First announced by Genworth Financial Management Chair and ImpactAssets Board Member, Ron Cordes at the Clinton Global Initiative in 2010, an extensive application and review process of fund managers across the sector conducted each year produces the IA 50 list. In order to be considered for the IA 50 2012, fund managers needed to meet multiple criteria including having at least $5 million in assets under management, more than three years experience with impact investing and demonstrated commitment to impact. For more information, please visit www.impactassets.org.

About B Lab and Certified B Corporations
(www.bcorporation.net)
B Lab is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that serves a global movement of entrepreneurs using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Lab serves these entrepreneurs through three interrelated initiatives that provide them the legal infrastructure and help them attract the customers, talent, and capital to scale."¨Certified B Corporations are leading a global movement to redefine success in business.

By voluntarily meeting higher standards of transparency, accountability, and performance, Certified B Corps are distinguishing themselves in a cluttered marketplace by offering a positive vision of a better way to do business.

B Corps create higher quality jobs and improve the quality of life in our communities. And, as the movement grows, it has become an increasingly powerful agent of change. "¨For more information, please visit www.bcorporation.net.

Iroquois Valley Farms, LLC logo

Iroquois Valley Farms, LLC

Iroquois Valley Farms, LLC

Iroquois Valley Farms, LLC (2007) is the first private equity company in the United States to connect socially responsible investors with local and organic farmland.

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