Featured Company
Wainwright: A Bank of a Different Color

By Ellen Pfeifer
Winslow Environmental News

July 2005

There’s nothing “banker’s gray” about Wainwright Bank & Trust Company (NASDAQ:WAIN). The branch office in the Boston suburb of Somerville features a cybercafé, fireplace and comfy modernist chairs in bright pinks, reds and oranges. The Wainwright website boasts rainbow hues, and the annual report dazzles the eye with crayon colors.

This bold palette deliberately sets Wainwright apart from other banks, conveying Wainwright’s embrace of a broader, more diverse clientele and business model. While Wainwright offers traditional services ranging from checking accounts to mortgages, its difference is its commitment to two bottom lines – conventional financial success and social justice. As Co-Chairman Robert Glassman describes, “…Social justice is the driving value system of Wainwright Bank.” In practice, the bank puts its money behind community development and - of importance to Winslow Environmental News readers – environmental protection.

“Banking on Value”

Founded in 1987, Wainwright currently has assets of $590 million, which places it within the “top 1000 banks in the country,” notes Glassman with a mixture of pride and amusement. As a Boston-based community bank, Wainwright primarily serves eastern Massachusetts, with 11 offices in the Boston area.

Embedded in the core values of Wainwright is the notion that “the management of (customers’) financial affairs is not a morally neutral endeavor,” but can be used to improve social conditions, according to company literature. Nearly 40% of Wainwright’s commercial loan portfolio is dedicated to such projects as affordable housing, homeless shelters, HIV/AIDS services, community health centers, and environmental protection. As of May 2004, the bank had financed the creation of over 1000 units of affordable and special needs housing and over 50% of the housing projects built in the Boston area for peple living with AIDS. In 1997, Wainwright acquired a 30% equity share in Trillium Asset Management, an investment management service specializing in socially responsible investing, as part of the bank’s investment strategy.

Dedicated to equal rights, the bank has worked aggressively to be inclusive not only in its lending practices, but also in its own activities. For example, it was the first financial institution in Massachusetts to extend benefit coverage to partners of gay and lesbian staffers, and the first in the country to elect an openly lesbian member to its board. Wainwright has also won awards for its record of making loans to businesses headed by women; in 2003 it was named on of the 11 Best Lenders to Women by the Community Investing Campaign of the Social Investment Forum Foundation.

Remarkably, Wainwright has been able to do good and still do well by its financial bottom line. “Other banks and businesses look at us and think this is a charitable operation,” says Senior Vice President Steve Young. “But, in fact, we have had a zero percent default rate. We have lost no money on this.” At the same time, the bank has experienced solid growth. Results for the first quarter of this year show Wainwright with consolidated net income of $1.5 million compared to $1.3 million during the same period in 2004. And impressively, over the five-year period ending May 31, 2005, Wainwright’s adjusted stock price has increased by 150%.*

Wainwright’s brightest color may be green

Wainwright is serious about protecting the environment, both inside and outside the bank. Company literature explains that Wainwright is particularly concerned “where environmental issues intersect with social justice,” because “social justice and human rights are powerfully linked to the health of the environment.” As a result, the bank has provided loans, lines of credit and other financial support to such organizations as the Silent Spring Institute and its Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment Study Atlas, the Boston-based Trust for Public Land, the green headquarters of the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Earthwatch Institute. The bank has also introduced its Green Loan program. In partnership with Mass Energy and Solar Boston, Wainwright offers a fixed rate Home Equity Loan discounted by 1.00% when used for the installation of a solar energy system.

Within the bank itself, Wainwright has adopted the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Lights program, uses recycled paper products and soy-based inks whenever possible, has installed energy-efficient heating and ventilating systems in its headquarters and encourages the use of mass transit through employee subsidies. Additionally, Wainwright’s two newest branches will seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

A Unique Opportunity

Wainwright finds that it attracts passionately loyal customers who are diligent about repaying their loans. As a result of its community investment, the bank draws in new depositors, and the bank’s progressive image has become a distinctive brand that sets it apart from the competition. As Glassman explains, “Others in the banking business resist” engaging in community investment and social activism. “They feel the pressure of the federal government and regulators, and the more they are pushed, the more they want to walk away. For them, it’s an obligation. For us, it’s an opportunity.”

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