Ontic Engineering and Manufacturing, Inc., a global aerospace company, will create 126 new jobs in Granville County, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The manufacturer will invest $2.7 million to expand their facility in Butner.

Today, we celebrate National Manufacturing Day, with another global manufacturer selecting North Carolina to expand their operations, said Governor Cooper. Ontic Engineering and Manufacturings decision is a confirmation to our great quality of life, excellent business climate, and strong manufacturing workforce.

Since 1974, Ontic has been providing high-quality aerospace equipment, cost-effective solutions and aftermarket support of maturing and legacy aerospace platforms. With locations in the United States, Europe and Asia, Ontic provides FAA, CAAS, CAAC, TCCA, DCA, EASA Part 21 and 145 original equipment manufacturer (OEM) support for civil and military markets. Their portfolio of more than 6,500 maturing and legacy aircraft parts are licensed or acquired from major OEMs such as Honeywell, UTC Aerospace, Safran, Curtiss-Wright, GE Aviation and Thales.

The strong support and engaging business climate we have seen to date from the state continues to affirm that North Carolina was the right strategic choice for expanding Ontics global manufacturing and services footprint, said Gareth Hall, President and Managing Director of Ontic Engineering and Manufacturing, Inc. We continue to be impressed with abilities and performance of our team here in Butner and look forward to aggressively growing our business here with additional investments in people, factory infrastructure, and intellectual property.

North Carolina is always a top choice for global manufacturing companies, said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland. Last year, our state exported $32.7 billion in manufactured goods and we know our manufacturing economy will continue to grow with the success of Ontic for many years to come.

The North Carolina Department of Commerce led the states support for the companys decision.

Although salaries will vary depending on the position, the average wage for all new positions could reach up to $55,149. The current average annual wage in Granville County is $40,932.

Ontics project in Butner will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the states Economic Investment Committee earlier today. Over the course of the 12-year term of this grant, the project is estimated to grow the states economy by $413 million. Using a formula that takes into account the new tax revenues generated by the new jobs, the JDIG agreement authorizes the potential reimbursement to the company of up to $1,386,900 spread over 12 years. State payments only occur following performance verification by the departments of Commerce and Revenue that the company has met its incremental job creation and investment targets. JDIG projects result in positive net tax revenue to the state treasury, even after taking into consideration the grants reimbursement payments to a given company.

This is a great way to celebrate Manufacturing Day, said N.C. Senator Mike Woodard. We appreciate Ontics continued investment in our community and know there are many successes to be shared in the future.

Ontic Engineering and Manufacturings expansion is a great win for our state said N.C. Representative Larry Yarborough. Granville County is ready with a capable workforce near a robust transportation infrastructure to support their global operations.

Earlier this week, Governor Cooper proclaimed this week North Carolina Manufacturing Week with manufacturing celebrations statewide. With more than 470,000 manufacturing employees across the state, North Carolina has the largest manufacturing workforce in the Southeast and ninth largest in the nation. Manufacturing accounts for 19% of North Carolinas economic output at $104.9 billion. Manufacturing week also celebrated an additional 50 jobs in Harnett County on Wednesday and Honeywells previous commitment to add 750 new jobs during their headquarters groundbreaking ceremony in Charlotte yesterday.

In addition to North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, other key partners in the project include the North Carolina General Assembly, Granville County and Granville County Economic Development Department, North Carolina Community College System, Duke Energy, Vance-Granville Community College, Granville County Schools and the Town of Butner.

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Aerospace Company to Invest $2.7 Million in Butner - NC Dept of Commerce

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Texas have agreed to promote Japanese investment in the southern U.S. state in new business areas such as renewable energy, mobility services and disaster risk reduction.

JBIC Gov. Tadashi Maeda and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a memorandum of understanding on the matter during a Sept. 27 meeting in Tokyo.

The agreement came about a year after the Japanese government-backed lender said it will extend $300 million in loans to Texas Central Rail Holdings LLC for the development of a high-speed railway project linking Dallas and Houston.

The agreement allows JBIC to further facilitate Japanese companies activities in Texas, ranging from existing areas such as auto manufacturing and infrastructure construction to new fields including digital connectivity and water.

We will foster greater investment in both Texas and Japan, while strengthening the economic and cultural bond between our two regions, Abbott said in a statement.

Texas is the second-largest U.S. state in terms of population and gross domestic product.

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JBIC and Texas vow to boost Japanese investment in US state - The Japan Times

SoftBank Group founder, Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son.

Topline: As WeWorks biggest shareholder, SoftBank has been under scrutiny for its backing of the troubled office-sharing startup, but a recent report suggests that for it to profit off its investment, WeWork would need a much bigger valuation.

Key background: SoftBank has poured nearly $11 billion into the real estate and workspace startup. When SoftBank invested in January, it did so at a $47 billion valuation. But since then, mounting investor concern over WeWorks business model and irregular corporate governance drove WeWorks potential valuation down drastically. The company considered going public with a valuation as low as $10 billionbefore it scrapped plans for an IPO in 2019 altogether.

Tangent: Since taking the helm from embattled founder Adam Neumann, co-chiefs Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham have moved quickly to cut costs and raise cash in an effort to save WeWorks business. While cancelling WeWorks plans for an IPO this year, the two said in a statement that they look forward to revisiting the public equity markets in the future.

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Softbank Needs A $24 Billion WeWork Valuation To Break Even On Its Investment - Forbes

Tyler Huck, his wife Claire and daughter Camryn.

Source: Tyler Huck

When Tyler Huck graduated from college in 2008, it was smack in the middle of the financial crisis.

That shaped his views on money and investing.

"I saw friends, family lose heavy money on real estate," Huck said. "I saw parents lose heavy money on their stock investments inside IRAs and 401(k)s."

"My first real exposure to the market as an adult going into the workforce was negative," he added. "It was fear and panic and it was tough to get a job at that time."

A marketing major, Huck eventually landed a job as a teller at a local bank. Now, at 33 years old, he's a financial advisor for Oxygen Financial, a financial advisory and wealth management firm specializing in Generations X and Y (also known as millennials).

His advice: start saving now.

"The rising cost of health care, mixed with the fact you will not have your retirement supplemented by a pension and potentially Social Security, it's going to be on your shoulders to save the brunt of your retirement [income]", said Huck, who also hosts a finance and careers podcast for millennials called "They Don't Teach You This."

The best day to start investing was yesterday. The next best day is today.

Caleb Silver

editor in chief, Investopedia

Retirement is something many millennials feel unprepared for.

In fact, even affluent members of that generation are worried 39% expect to be forced to work beyond retirement age, a new survey by Investopedia found. The investing education website, in partnership with Chirp Research, surveyed 844 affluent millennials, ages 23-38, through an online survey. The median income for the survey was $132,473, compared to the median household income of approximately $71,400 for the generation as a whole, according to Pew Research.

Of those surveyed by Investopedia, 36% said they should be investing more.

"The lack of knowledge and the lack of education makes them fearful and makes it feel very risky to them," said Investopedia's editor in chief, Caleb Silver.

To overcome that fear and start investing or to simply get smarter about how you are doing it there are several steps you can take.

Start putting money aside for your retirement now, whether $50, $100 or $125 a paycheck, said Silver.

"Pay yourself first," he said.

If you work for a company that offers a 401(k) plan, take advantage of it. Some employers also offer matching contributions, which is essentially free money towards your retirement.

"These plans are great behaviorally because once the contribution is set up, it is automatic and a hassle to change," said certified financial planner Cathy Curtis, founder and CEO of Curtis Financial Planning in Oakland, California.

More from Invest in You:You can put cash into socially conscious investments and still make moneySmart investing strategies in any marketHow to invest like Warren Buffett

When you contribute regularly, dollar-cost-averaging comes into the equation, she added.

In other words, "the contributor will buy more shares when the price is low and less shares when prices are high, so average returns will be higher over the long term," explained Curtis, a member of the CNBC Digital Financial Advisor Council.

Roth individual retirement accounts allow your money to grow tax-free, since the contributions are made after tax unlike 401(k) plans or traditional IRAs.

There are income limits. If you are married and have a modified adjusted gross income of $203,000, you can't contribute to a Roth. If you are single, you can't contribute to it if your income is over $137,000.

You can contribute a reduced amount if, as a couple, your income is between $193,000 and $203,000 or, if you are single, your income falls between $122,000 and $137,000.

Curtis likes Roth IRAs, especially for younger people.

"Even though they are best used as retirement plans letting the money grow tax-free for decades, they have flexibility," she said. "If a person really needs the money, if they follow the rules, they won't pay tax on the withdrawal."

Your after-tax contributions can be taken out at any time without penalty. However, it's a different story for withdrawing investment earnings.

After you hit age 59 and have funded the account for a least five years, you can start to make withdrawals without any penalties.

Since millennials do almost everything online, using an app could be a good way to start socking away money, even in small amounts, Curtis suggests.

There are a number of investing apps available from newer disruptors, like Acorns and Robinhood, to those from big banks, like J.P. Morgan Chase.

Still afraid of dipping your toe in the water or diving deeper? You can overcome that fear by making sure you are invested in a diversified portfolio, including bonds, Curtis said.

NicoElNino | iStock | Getty Images

Bonds offer your portfolio some protection when the stock market goes down so if you are highly risk intolerant, don't put most of your money into equities.

In fact, if you start early, a 60/40 stocks-to-bonds portfolio mix can do quite well over the long term, said Curtis.

"Volatility is what scares most people, but volatility is temporary and is the price investors pay to get the better returns that stocks provide," she said.

If you have money in a 401(k), IRA or some sort of index fund and are looking to invest in individual stocks, then look at names that have a product or service you enjoy, said Oxygen Financial's Huck.

"It gets you excited about saving money," he said.

Don't worry if you are just starting now. It's not too late.

"The best day to start investing was yesterday," said Investopedia's Silver. "The next best day is today."

Curtis agrees. She suggests making up for lost time by cutting out a discretionary expense, like a new pair of shoes or weekly restaurant dinners, and investing the money instead.

Also, if you haven't maxed out your 401(k) contribution, increase it by a percent or two and "not even feel the pinch," she added.

"I know people who didn't start investing until their 40's who are doing fine now," Curtis said. "But they could be so much further ahead and have more options later in life if they start early."

Originally posted here:
How millennials can overcome their fear of investing - CNBC

This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story.

Like other third-world countries, one issue that Haiti faces is an abundance of waste, coupled with a minimal sanitation system. Storms dont help the matter either as ocean waste, particularly plastic, washes up on the shores and in the canals of the Caribbean nation. Additionally, a great deal of plastic could end up in the ocean because most Haitians drink their water from plastic bottles or bags.

Yet, despite the obvious challenges in cleaning up so much, HP and two of its partners have found a way to collect plastic waste and, ultimately after treating it, put it to good use. Since 2017, HP has manufactured ink cartridges made from over a million pounds of plastic bottles recycled from Haiti. And for the past 19 years, overall, the company has converted a staggering 199 million-plus pounds of plastic into 3.9 billion printer cartridges.

We decided to focus on plastic because there was so much of it.

The opportunity to use plastic from Haiti landed on HPs radar after the company was approached by Ian Rosenberger, founder and CEO of the First Mile Coalition, formerly known as Thread International. After the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Rosenberger contributed to the relief effort but also discovered that turning this trash into money could do some good for the countrys citizens.

"We decided to focus on plastic because there was so much of it," said Kelsey Halling, director of partnerships at First Mile. "Generally, [plastic] is more valuable than paper or cardboard, and we discovered we could turn plastic PET bottles into fabric and yarn."

After joining the Clinton Global Initiative, First Mile connected with Timberland, their first commercial apparel partner. Upon hearing more about HPs commitment to using recycled materials, and their intention to increase that part of the supply chain, Rosenberger saw where the organization could contribute.

"When he heard that we were using a huge volume [of recycled plastic], he thought that HP could be one of the buyers out of Haiti for this type of plastic," noted Ellen Jackowski, global head of sustainability strategy and innovation at HP. "When we look at our own supply chain, we were buying plastic off of the general global plastics market, mostly out of North America, so shifting some of that volume to Haiti seemed like a good possibility."

In essence, First Mile serves as a go-between for HP and plastic recyclers in Haiti. But, in addition to interfacing with the brand and collection centers, the organization has helped develop programs around safety and hygiene and business-related matters, including how to manage accounting and cash flow. Additionally, the partnership has led to the opening of two learning centers in the country, serving over 100 children with quality education, food and medical assistance.

Since 2010, ECSSA has recycled over 60 million pounds of plastic materials from the country, and he says that the partnership with HP and First Mile has been transformative.

According to Edouard Carrie, founder of ECSSA, one of the plastic suppliers in Haiti, over 9,000 people are registered to collect, with an estimated 1,200 doing so full time. Since 2010, ECSSA has recycled over 60 million pounds of plastic materials from the country, and he says that the partnership with HP and First Mile has been transformative.

"The impact on their lives is amazing," said Carrie, who learned more about recycling as a student at the University of Tampa and then decided to start the company to help his home country. "Without recycling, they would have no other source of income or revenue. Whats most rewarding to me is seeing the number of people we can help. People are buying something that was affecting our ocean, [and it] is helping the rest of the world."

The next phase of the project involves additional investment by HP. Specifically, the company has committed $2 million for a new plastic washing line in Haiti that helps eliminate the need for an extra step before the harvested plastic is sent to Montreal, where the ink cartridges are manufactured.

The facility helps lower HP's carbon footprint by eliminating steps and providing a more direct line from raw materials to finished products. According to HP, it also could create more than 1,000 new local income opportunities. Yet, from a practical perspective, the new, sophisticated equipment helps accelerate the scale of moving plastic from Haiti.

"Its [a modest] investment for a company like ours," said Jackowski. "But the significance of that decision is breakthrough."

According to Dune Ives, executive director of Lonely Whale: "There are currently more than 86 million metric tons of plastic in our ocean, and each year, over 8 million metric tons of additional plastic enter the ocean," and that "HPs collaborative approach in Haiti is driving meaningful impact to reduce marine litter."

We want to get [the Haiti] process scaled and stable. Weve been open source about this and share our knowledge with other global companies.

"The appetite to repeat and extend it to other countries is huge both internally and externally," she said. "We want to get [the Haiti] process scaled and stable. Weve been open source about this and share our knowledge with other global companies," referring to the partnership the brand has with Next Wave Plastics, a coalition of companies dedicated to drastically reducing plastic waste in the ocean.

For now, however, the focus continues in Haiti, where the brand not only has reinvented sourcing of materials but provided an essential opportunity to improve the lives and futures of people in the country.

"HP has been a really unique partner for us," added Halling. "Theyve had a tremendous impact on the neighborhoods and communities that were working in."

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A peek into HP's investment in reducing ocean-bound plastic in Haiti - GreenBiz

Rue Gilt Groupe, which owns Rue La La and Gilt, has attracted an investment from Simon Property Group to take outlet shopping online.

Online discount retailer Rue Gilt Groupe has attracted an investment from the nations largest shopping mall operator, Simon Property Group, to launch a new website for outlet shopping.

On Wednesday, Simon said it had invested $280 million for a 50% stake in Rue Gilt Groupe, which is backed by billionaire Michael Rubin and owns flash-sale sites Rue La La and Gilt. The companies have collaborated on a new site, called ShopPremiumOutlets.com, where shoppers can find discounted products from 2,000 brands. The site, which has been in beta testing since March, currently has 300,000 products available, with more to come, the companies said.

Rue Gilt Groupe will operate the site and earn a commission on every sale that is made on the platform. Simon has pledged to use a portion of its $100 million-plus annual marketing budget to promote the new site.

The unconventional partnership brings together a brick-and-mortar retail company and an online retailer in a play to create a new marketplace for off-price merchandise. Its a slice of the retail industry that has remained stubbornly offline. For instance, Marshalls only recently introduced a website. TJMaxx does only a sliver of its total sales through its website.

Simon and Rue Gilt Groupe plan to leverage their customer databases, which together include more than 35 million people, to market the new offering. They say the platform will help brands drive additional online sales, get rid of excess inventory and serve as an additional channel for acquiring new customers.

When you put the physical and the online world together, sales for both go up, David Simon, CEO of Simon Property Group, said in a phone interview. This gives us an opportunity to create an online platform that shoppers can go in between visits to the outlets.

As foot traffic at malls has declined, Simon Property Group, a retail real estate giant, has been looking for ways to diversify its business and take part in the e-commerce boom. The CEO says he does not expect the website to cannibalize sales at the nearly 100 outlets that he operates around the world.

For Rue Gilt Groupe, this is a way to diversify its business away from the flash-sales model and become a more dominant player in the online discount space. We look at this as the biggest opportunity we have at Rue La La and Gilt, Rubin, the executive chairman of Rue Gilt Groupe, said in a phone interview.

Last year, Rue La La purchased a struggling Gilt for under $100 million, which was a far cry from the billion-dollar valuation it fetched in 2011. Rubin says that business has turned around, noting that he has added 2 million customers since the acquisition and that Gilts sales are growing 30% year-over-year.

Forbes estimates that Rubin is worth $2.9 billion, thanks to his majority ownership in Kynetic, a holding company for e-commerce companies Fanatics, Rue Gilt Groupe and ShopRunner.

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Rue Gilt Groupe, With $280 Million Investment From Simon, Is Taking Outlet Shopping Online - Forbes

I work with many types of real estate investors people who want to buy their first investment properties, investors who want to grow their property portfolios and first-time homebuyers who realize that even their homes are investments in their financial futures. My conversations with these investors have revealed the following as eight of the most common real estate investing mistakes, which can be avoided with smart preparation and diligent research.

1. Not Starting

For most people, not starting is the common enemy. There are many things that get in the way: lack of confidence, lack of knowledge, fear of losing money and fear of failure, to list a few. You can never succeed if you dont take the first step. It is okay to be afraid. But not taking the first step means losing opportunities and not achieving the financial success you've dreamed of.

Know what success looks like to you. More importantly, know what it means to you. This is your driving force. Take that first step!

2. Jumping Right In Without Proper Planning

A common piece of advice I see in many books and investing articles is: Just start. What are you waiting for? Theres some wisdom in taking the leap, but theres a distinction between jumping in unprepared and starting with a proper plan and strategy. The age-old adage Look before you leap is very apt here.

Have a plan. Dont merely rely on luck and on winging your way through it.

3. Trusting Everyone

Real estate investing is a topic covered extensively online. My biggest challenge was to figure out who I could trust, especially when I didn't know a lot myself. There are so many gurus and experts out there but do they have a sound strategy? Do they have a good track record? Or are they pushing an expensive system with a risky strategy? Ask many questions and be cautious about who you place you trust with. Only follow advice from people you can trust.

4. Following (Only) Your Gut And Getting Emotionally Attached

Its easy to get emotionally attached to an investment. Gut feeling and instinct play an important role in real estate investing, but so does data. In the words of Edward Deming, Without data, all we have is an opinion.

There is so much information that can be analyzed: market data, neighborhood data, demographic data, trends, property data, cash flow, rental projections, etc. This is data that can accurately predict trends for you. Think intuitive right brain versus logical, analytical left brain: Neither side is better. Balance it out and get the best of both worlds. Use data to stay grounded. It can help you ensure that you are making a good investment.

5. Trying To Do Everything By Yourself (Who Needs A Team?)

Real estate investing is a team sport. I cannot stress enough the impact a team can have on an investors success. A great real estate agent will help you find a terrific property at a fair price. A great mortgage broker will ensure that you get financing at a good rate. A great real estate investment coach will help magnify investment success. A complete team also needs a lawyer, property inspector, tax accountant, property manager, contractor, stager, interior decorator, real estate photographer, architect and more.

Remember that a team is stronger than any one member. Surround yourself with an army of experts. It often is the difference between success and failure.

6. Failing To Learn The Basics Of Real Estate Investing

Many people buy their first or their second property without really knowing much about real estate investing. I should know I was one of those people. On the surface, investing seems simple: Get approved for a mortgage. Buy a property. Find a tenant. Done. The problem is that experience can be expensive. If I could go back and redo some of my early investments, Id be much further ahead today.

Knowledge is power. Learn as much as possible from others. Avoid having to learn by making the same mistakes. As Warren Buffet has said, The best investment you can make is an investment in yourself ... the more you learn, the more you'll earn.

7. Overspending On Renovations

Whether an investor buys a property to flip it or to rent it out, Ive noticed that its very common for them to overspend on renovations. In some cases, it happens because the renovations go over budget. In many cases, its because there wasnt a clear plan or budget. But most of the time, the investor willingly overimproves their property. They fail to analyze the impact the renovation will have on appreciation and cash flow.

Dont spend on renovations that wont benefit you! Do your due diligence to understand what adds value and what doesn't.

8. Not Knowing When To Be Patient And When To Be Aggressive

Its important as an investor to recognize a deal when there is one and to make a decision quickly before someone else does. One of the best investments I ever made was a house I visited at night with a flashlight so that I could make an offer that same night. What many dont realize is that I had been watching the market for months before jumping on that opportunity that I couldnt resist.

It can often be difficult to assess when patience is required and when to jump in. Use your data and your gut but most importantly, be alert.Know how to balance being patient and taking action to achieve the best outcome.

See the article here:
Avoid These Eight Common Real Estate Investing Mistakes - Forbes

Fisheye Farms got started in Detroits West Village neighborhood in 2015 with just 1,200 square feet of raised bed space. The farmers discovered quickly that the citys resurgent restaurant scene meant there was plenty of demand for local, sustainably grown vegetables.

We were making sales and growing a lot of produce, said co-founder Andy Chae. We had a business going, and the whole time we were trying to find more land and just hitting roadblocks everywhere we went. When Chae and co-founder Amy Eckert found a promising parcel, they approached their bank for a loan, but they were quickly shot down. So, when a team from Steward, an investment start-up looking to funnel capital into regenerative agriculture projects around the world, expressed interest in giving them a loan, they were intrigued.

Thanks to their partnership with Steward, Fisheye Farms acquired a plot thats nearly 10 times larger than the original, in the neighborhood of Core City.

Fisheye Farms Amy Eckert and Andy Chae.

Its one example of how during a proof-of-concept phase over the past year, Steward put $2.2 million into 16 varied projects hand-picked by the companys team. Now, farms can apply for funding directly on Stewards website. And on the investment side, anyone can buy into the Steward Farm Trusta fund that will provide loans across the portfolio of farmswith a minimum of $100.

That was the idea all along, said founder Dan Miller, a real estate and tech entrepreneur, that people can come to the website and invest directly, and farmers can submit directlyand we connect those two components. Investors at certain levels will also soon be able to invest in individual farms.

Over 2,000 farms applied for funding in the first year, and Miller is looking to scale up. Ive generally found that these farms have economic opportunities. They are just starved of funding, he said. More people are getting into regenerative and sustainable farming. Wed love to be working with hundreds, and hopefully thousands, of farmers in the not-too-distant future.

The Steward Model

Steward is not the first company promoting and enabling investment in sustainable agriculture. Dirt Capital is known for its work helping organic farmers in the Northeast buy land, and Denver-based Bio-Logical Capital has financed and helped execute regenerative agriculture projects in Vermont and Hawaii. Online platform Kiva connects investors to small-scale farmers around the world. And Arabella Advisors and RSF Social Finance have advanced impact investing in various food system projects, including sustainable agriculture initiatives.

Dan Miller of Steward.

While each project approaches the challenge slightly differently, Miller says this alternative funding is still just a drop in the bucket compared to the financing that goes into industrial commodity agriculture. Almost all agricultural lending is driven by government policy, whether its direct government lending or through banks that have government programs, and those policies incentivize large industrial production, he said. So, the second youre not [producing] commodity products, youre in another bucket thats too small, too complicated, and is completely ignored.

Anu Rangarajan, director of the Cornell Small Farms Program, said accessing capital is a huge issue for the small farms her team works with around the country, especially those run by new farmers who dont inherit land. Its pretty well established that funding is a real issue these days given that land values have gone up a lot, she said, and then having operating capital is also a challenge.

Rather than competing with other good food investment vehicles, Miller sees Steward as complementary, with each company adding eggs to the still-tiny basket of investors trying to tip the scale in the other direction.

Plus, while many funds focus specifically on land, Steward also provides loans to improve infrastructure. For instance, loan recipient Omar Beiler, an Amish grass-fed dairy farmer, bought processing equipment that allowed him to sell milk, butter, and ice cream directly to customers.

Whatever the farmer needs, well adjust accordingly, Miller said. In addition to the investments in Beilers operation and Fisheye Farm, Steward has helped Oregon-based East Fork Cultivars buy 12 acres of land to grow certified organic hemp and Louisiana-based Dusty Roads farm buy a walk-in cooler for its organic vegetables, more than half of which had been going to waste due to lack of refrigeration. Steward has also funded several international projects, such as a natural winemaker in Switzerland and a pomegranate farm in Morocco.

Omar Beiler on his horse-drawn tractor.

While the farms the company has funded so far are diverse in location and crops, the farmers are overwhelmingly white, a point Rangarajan hit on right away when evaluating the companys model. Miller said the team is actively working on diversifying their portfolio, and noted the many women and LGBTQ farmers who had accessed funding. Weve had many ongoing discussions about how to guarantee more inclusivity in an area that is historically harder for people of color to break into or thrive in, he said.

To apply for funding, farms fill out an application on the website. Steward then evaluates applications based on business plans and farm practices. For example, it requires farms to be regenerative, meaning they increase biodiversity, enrich soils, improve watershed health, sequester carbon, and enhance ecosystem services, and sustainable, defined as prioritize[ing] self-sufficiency and capable of sustaining farmers, resources, and communities. It also sends employees and consultants to visit farms the company is considering investing in.

Once a farm is accepted, Steward works with the farmers to structure a loan based on their specific needs and resources. Miller said loans could range from $10,000 to $1 million (the majority from the first round of funding were six-figure numbers). Each farm also gets a farm steward, who is tasked with offering guidance and resources as necessary.

Any investor with $100 or more can go to the website and invest in the Steward Farm Trust, which owns the entire portfolio of loans and has a projected annual return rate of 4 to 6 percent. The company is calling the model crowdfarming, since individuals can do it easily online and theyre investing alongside others. But unlike crowdfunding models such as Kickstarter, the online investment pathway does not allow you to select a specific project; the lending is spread across Stewards portfolio of farms. There are opportunities for qualified investors to put their money into specific farm projects, but that is through a separate fund and requires more capital.

The challenge, then, will be finding investors who are interested in supporting regenerative agriculture and are willing to bet their money on itwith returns that are much higher than what one would make from a savings account but with less potential for profit than investing in, say, stocks.

One challenge, Miller said, is that people dont invest in farms. Its not something they have in their investment portfolio. So, were going to have to educate them about that.

Future Stewardship

Another challenge is that while Steward has big plans for the future, many of the farms it has funded have not yet entered the repayment phase. And the small farms will have to manage high interest ratesStewards loan rates are between 8 and 10 percentwhile working within tight margins and in the face of unpredictable weather patterns.

Rangarajan of Cornells Small Farms Program said she was concerned that those rates were so high, farmers may not be able to manage them. The margins on a farm are so low, she said, so if you have a crop loss, that could be an issue, people defaulting on loans because of loss.

Miller recognized how high the rates seem to farmers used to seeing government subsidized rates of around 2 percent, but said that is another example of how the system privileges large commodity operations, in terms of only giving larger farms access to artificially cheap capital.

Steward aims to build a capital market for sustainable agriculture that fairly compensates both partiesinvestors earn returns commensurate with the risk of small farms and farmers access flexible funding tailored to their needs, he said. Though the interest rates are higher we have found that farmers are able to grow rapidly with appropriately tailored funding, especially when supported by Steward and our network of Farm Stewards.

At East Fork Cultivars, CEO Mason Walker and farm founders Nathan and Aaron Howard had been growing CBD-rich cannabis since 2015. The team had been looking to grow hemp for several years but hadnt been able to access land. That changed when they met Miller. When a neighboring farm went up for sale, they were able to buy it with a $640,000 loan from Steward. That loan came with a 9 percent interest rate, but Steward gave the farm a two-year grace period before theyd have to start making payments, which was crucial, Walker said.

East Fork Cultivars CEO Mason Walker (left) and co-founder Aaron Howard.

Its certainly way more expensive than a traditional mortgage, but [we liked that] they would be an ally for us and a strategic partner to support our mission, Walker said. The consultants on staff also helped us buy farm equipment, and with budgeting and marketing opportunities.

Rangarajan said that this kind of ongoing partnership could make a big difference in whether the Steward-funded farms are able to succeed. When people are ready to scale to build toward greater and greater farm viability the three- to four-year stage can be the make-or-break point, she said. To be able to go into partnership with someone who understands that risk and is supportive as the farm grows, I think that would be really exciting.

Today, East Fork is growing certified organic hemp for CBD and has also turned its farm into a kind of living lab. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley are using the site to study how growing cannabis impacts wildlife migration patterns. Meanwhile, the farm team is experimenting with how to reduce energy and water use and creating and testing its own fermented soil amendments in hopes it will improve the soil and help the plants defend themselves against pests.

At the end of the day, Walker said, We would not have bought this property without Steward.

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With $100, You Too Can Invest in Regenerative Agriculture - Civil Eats

And we have record foreign direct investment of 1.3 trillion more than any other country in the EU.

Boris Johnsons speech to the Conservative Party conference this week contained a list of the partys economic achievements while in government.

Theres one claim in particular that some FactCheck readers have been querying that foreign investment is still at a record high following the Brexit vote.

The short answer is that the Prime Minister accurately quoted one official statistic which does show that Britain is still a popular destination for foreign investors.

But other ways of measuring investment are much less flattering, and Mr Johnson failed to mention more recent bad news about investment into the UK which some commentators have explicitly blamed on Brexit uncertainty.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) refers to significant investments made by overseas investors in domestic companies.

Downing Street pointed us to the latest worldwide figures for 2018 published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in June this year.

There are two main measures. Flow is the value of investments made from abroad over a given year and stock is the value of the equity held by foreign investors at the end of the year.

Boris Johnson was talking about stock in his speech. The book value of foreign investments at the end of 2018 was actually higher than 1.3 trillion it was around 1.48 trillion, according to the UN.

This was indeed a record high, and higher than any other EU country. In fact, Britain ranked third in the world for inward FDI stock in 2018, behind Hong Kong and the United States.

Mr Johnson didnt mention the alternative flow figure though, possibly because the latest numbers do not show a record high. In fact, FDI flows to the United Kingdom declined by 36 per cent between 2017 and 2018, as new equity investments halved, according to the UN data.

And that came after an even bigger fall in inward investment flow the year before. In all, FDI flows fell by nearly two-thirds, or more than 100bn, between 2016 and 2018.

Its fair to say that FDI flows are often volatile and there was a massive spike in 2016, so arguably the 2017 and 2018 figures werent all that bad in historic terms.

But there has been other bad news on foreign investment since these figures were published.

Statistics from the Department for International Trade show that the number of major investment projects fell by 14 per cent from 2017/18 to 2018/19and the number of new jobs created fell by 24 per cent.

Other indicators are more positive: the value of stock and the number of cross-border investment projects rose after the Brexit vote. So the picture is mixed.

But while there is no proof that Brexit is to blame for changes in foreign investment flow, some commentators including the accounting firm EY have said they believe the political uncertainty around our exit from the EU is making the UK less attractive to investors.

Using Mr Johnsons preferred measure, the stock of inward foreign direct investment, the latest available figures do show a record high. Its actually higher than the 1.3 trillion figure he used.

But other measures of foreign investment, like the annual flow of investment into the UK, have fallen since 2016.

Overall, its fair to say that the UK has historically been a favourite destination for global capital, and overseas investors continue to hold large amounts of equity in UK firms compared to other EU countries. There are mixed signals on whether Brexit is changing that.

Excerpt from:
Is foreign investment in the UK really at a record high? - Channel 4 News

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Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A) (NYSE:BRK-B) is one of the most closely studied and followed stock portfolios on the planet and has thrived under the leadership of founder and stock market guru Warren Buffett.

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Here at MyWallSt, we have built our investment strategy around the ideology of Buffett himself: buy and hold 'til we're grey and old! This is the basic tenet of Buffett's strategy: He believes in investing in companies with long-term value rather than a "flash in the pan." We take a look at arguably the five best additions to the Buffett portfolio.

Berkshire Hathaway currently owns roughly 5% of the second-richest company on Earth, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). It also happens to be Berkshire's top holding by quite a large margin, coming in at close to a $50 billion market value. Buffett first began buying up shares in Steve Jobs' brainchild in 2016 and has bought more shares every quarter since, with gains coming in at around 25% since its first purchase. Despite Apple's declining hardware sales, Buffett firmly believes in the company's "stickiness," or the ability to remain relevant in everyday consumer life for years to come.

Much of Berkshire's enormous 9.3% stake in Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) came about following the Great Recession of 2008. The investment mogul invested $5 billion into the struggling bank, purchasing the shares at a much-reduced price of $7.14 per share, well below the trading price at the time of $26.99 per share. With the bank growing back to its pre-recession heights, Buffett has seen the market value of his position in BofA grow to $26.7 billion, making it an extremely successful investment.

It's safe to say that Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) hasn't been short of scandals in recent years, which has contributed to it being one of the worst-performing banks in the sector. However, through all of this, Warren Buffett has publicly backed his investment and its managers. Wells Fargo is one of Buffett's oldest banking investments, which he bought in 1989 worth $3 per share. With CEO Tim Sloan resigning earlier this year, and its stock price seemingly beginning to become steady after a fluctuating year, the company looks to be on the path to recovery. Despite all this, it's still one of Buffett's top stocks, and he has actually had to sell shares to meet regulatory demands of remaining below 10% ownership, with the market value of his position coming in at close to $20 billion.

Another golden oldie for Warren Buffet -- he purchased his first Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) stock back in 1988 at a time of struggle-- that appears to still hold his seal of approval despite the changing landscape and growing health-consciousness of the average consumer. Buffett originally paid $1.3 billion for shares of the company, which translates to a current market value of roughly $18 billion, an increase of almost 1,300%. The investment pays Berkshire a massive $650 million per year and has seen increases in annual dividends almost annually for the past 50 years. It pays to own 9.5% of the world's most recognizable beverage maker. Fun fact: Buffett is actually a massive fan of the drink itself, and claims to drink several cans a day.

In a surprising move, Berkshire Hathaway recently bought a stake in e-commerce giant Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN). One of Buffett's two lieutenants, Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, started a position in the first quarter of 2019, and then added shares in the second. Though not a typical Buffett stock, considering its high price and price-to-earnings ratio, the purchase was still a wise move, as Amazon does fit the Buffett model of compounding growth with a formidable moat. The dominant leader in e-commerce over the past 25 years, Amazon has grown into a massive empire including hardware, music, streaming, and more. Not only does its core delivery service control 50% of U.S. market share, but its subsidiaries such as Amazon Web Services are also dominating in their respective fields. It may be too early to call it a great Buffett investment, but it has all the signs of potentially being his greatest yet.

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MyWallSt operates a full disclosure policy. MyWallSt staff currently hold long positions in Amazon, Apple, and Coca-Cola. Read thefull disclosure policy here.

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