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Some PR Savvy: What I'd Like to Hear From Eastern Bank about Buying Wainwright Bank and Trust

I stopped by the local office of Wainwright Bank & Trust Co. at Fresh Pond Mall in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the other day. I was excited to pick up a copy of the bank's 2009 Annual Report and the report's insert, Wainwright Bank: A Social Justice History.

Taken together, the 2009 Annual Report and the Social History portray a bank that is nothing short of wonderful: growing, recovering from the recession, and committed to social justice in its market in areas ranging from affordable housing finance, environmental lending, lending to not-for-profits, equitable treatment of people without regard to class, race, gender, or sexual orientation, and innovation to keep it all going. I'm glad to have accounts at a bank like Wainwright.

The bank's three leaders, John M. Plukas, founder and co-chair; Robert A. Glassman, founder and co-chair; and Jan A Miller, president and CEO; have won numerous personal awards from many politically left organizations.

So how do I feel about all this? I feel sad because in late June, Wainwright and Eastern Bank announced that Eastern will acquire Wainwright later this year. Eastern is a much bigger bank, founded in Salem but now headquartered in Boston, just a few blocks from Wainwright's headquarters office. I'm sad and disappointed because I think Eastern clearly knows what a special bank it is buying.

I think Eastern has been pretty upfront about the business reason for buying Wainwright: the latter's network of retail banking offices in Boston and the immediate surrounding towns fills in a gap with Eastern, which has strong presence in Eastern Massachusetts, but not in the Boston core areas. While Eastern has made its interest known in filling in the hole at the center of its donut, Eastern has not said as much specifically about the social justice aspects of Wainwright's life as a bank. For example:

• Wainwright's devotion to funding social and community efforts is legion. It supports housing projects up and down the housing ladder. U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said, "I'm very appreciative of Wainwright for showing how profitability and social responsibility combine."
• In 1993, Wainwright was the first publicly traded company to sponsor Boston's Gay Pride event.
• The bank signed onto Green business and banking principles.
• The bank was named one of the world's Top 20 Sustainable Stocks by SustainableBusiness.com.
• The bank is among 75 socially responsible companies ranked as an "ultimate high-purpose company" in The High-Purpose Company, by Christine Arena.

Is Eastern Bank an unaware slouch in this arrangement? Hardly. It also has an enviable record for lending to not-for-profits (though not as amazingly strong as Wainwright). It wins the Customer Satisfaction Award from J.D. Power. It is a mutual bank, accountable only to its account holders, whereas Wainwright, for all its benefits, was organized as a public company and thus subject to the short-term whims of Wall Street, which boosted the likelihood of an eventual sale. And Jan Miller, the CEO of Wainwright, will become CEO of the new Eastern Bank company. All of this is good and speaks well for what might become of the combined Eastern/Wainwrtigh

So what do I miss? What makes me disappointed? I'd like Eastern to acknowledge that it is doing more than buying another bank. I'd like to receive a letter from Eastern, very soon, that commends me on my decision to bank with Wainwright, for my support of Wainwright's socially responsible banking practices, and promises me that Eastern will change and evolve as it absorbs Wainwright so that Eastern absorbs many of Wainwright's socially responsible practices, too. I'd like to know that Eastern will sign the same pledges and principles that Wainwright signed earlier.

If I, as a customer, received a letter from Eastern saying all that, I'd be very happy and I would look forward to the day that the Wainwright signs come down and the Eastern Bank signs go up. Absent those assurances and explicit recognition of the extraordinary characteristics of Wainwright, I not not happily look forward to the merger. I have too much counted on banking on Values, to use Wainwright's tag line.

Giving Time, Over the Web, in Small Chunks: A Prediction Mashup for 2010

It looks like it'll be hard to get through mid-January without seeing predictions across the blogosphere for the hottest trends of 2010. (And there're lots of expressions of good riddance to 2009, to boot.)

The most interesting prediction I've seen was published on Mashable and written by Ben Rattray, founder and CEO of Change.org. His predictions concern changes in social good behavior for 2010. He's in a position to know.

His predictions:

1. Social activism will explode across the web.
2. Micro-volunteerism will become extensive.
3. Giving work will become as important as giving money.

Mr, Rattray's conclusion:

These three trends – providing new ways of giving voice, giving time and giving work – represent the future of social change on the web.

I don’t mean to imply that giving money will stop being important. On the contrary, the web will continue to be an essential tool for fundraising in 2010, and for good reason – donations are the lifeblood of non-profits and the Internet is a highly efficient means of raising money. There are also an increasing number of effective fundraising platforms that leverage the unique power of the web to enable new types of giving – including well-known innovators such as Kiva and DonorsChoose, and new entrants such as Vittana.

But fundraising isn’t where the innovation will be in 2010. Instead, we’ll see the rise of new forms of participation that move beyond fundraising and make 2010 the most interesting year yet for social change on the web.

Interesting trends to spot. Read his post. Sign up for The Extraordinaires at BeExtra.org

What do these trends need that we can offer? Communications and great content. And training presentation materials. And more...

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Cross-posted to ContentWordshop.com

Clear Discussions of Our Problems with Economy and Environment

Two publications I came across this past week have unusually clear explanations for two of the major problems facing American society now: the economy and the environment. On Saturday, the New York Times published a story explaining the Chicago Fed National Activity Index. This story doesn't make the economy any less unpleasant, but it does provide a graphic that rings true to me and lets me appreciate the economic trend at a glance. (The Chicago Fed has a webpage devoted to the index.) Also, I read the November/December issue of Mother Jones, which is all about a call for a new economy based on saving the global climate from the fossil fuel economy. Two Nobel Prize winners write articles: Al Gore and Joseph Stiglitz. The issue is titled, "How to Rescue the Economy and Save the Planet." (At this writing, the November/December content has not been published to Mother Jones' website. It's still showing the September/October issue.)

Hoosiers Consider Windfarms; Community Relations Looks Like a Problem

Hands down, my favorite form of electricity production is going to get a shot at making power in Indiana.

The Indianappolis Star reports today that two California firms, Orion Energy LLC and enXco, Inc., are proposing wind farm projects in Benton County, northwest of Lafayette. (Benton County is highlighted in the Indiana map at right.) It is reportedly one of the two windiest areas of the state.

The other windy area is just northwest of Indianapolis.

The Star says a community-relations battle is brewing, which is to be expected but is unfortunate. Unnamed critics are reportedly concerned unsightly windmills, reduced property values, and a large number of bird kills.

Having driven through southern Alberta in Canada, I can say that prairie wind farms are attractive and hardly classify as visual blight. In fact, in my opinion, there's a certain appeal to them. I can think of a lot more developments that would lower property values.

[Cross posted to NIMBY Monitor.]

A Subtle Way to Help Make Indy a World-Class City

My hometown, Indianapolis, is capable of wonders few other cities its size consistently achieve. The latest improvement will show that an upgrade in customer service will improve public perception of the city. And this action will be in an oft-overlooked area: parking meters.

Deputy Mayor Steve Campbell tells the Indianapolis Star that electronic parking meters that take charge cards -- plastic! -- will be a winner with motorists (think: public parking customers) angling for a metered space downtown or in the Northside entertainment distrit of Broad Ripple.

Campbell cites convenience, and of course he's right. But the electronic meters support the image of Indy as a 21st Century World-Class City, which is what all of us want -- at least those people who care about Indy's future. Perception of the city will move up another notch on the hip scale, and that's good news for bringing people back to our fair and hospitable city.

We Interrupt This P.R. Blog for an Indiana Politics Break: (1) Gary Mayoral Election and (2) *Sigh* Major Moves, Again.

Two quick comments on the p.r. perceptions of Indiana and its politics. We're going to (1) take a surprising twist on the surprising mayoral developments in Gary and then (2) we're going to return, God help us all, to the bipartisan gridlock on the Major Moves transportation highway funding program.

As always with these Hoosier-centric posts, readers are encouraged to move along if the minutae of Indiana state affairs is of no interest.

Start Up RV-1, Governor, Because Major Moves Needs a Major P.R. Road Trip

Thirty hours after Gov. Mitch Daniels' divisive "Major Moves" highway and job development plan was approved on a one-vote margin in the General Assembly, an evaluation from a public relations perspective is clear.

The governor still has a sales job to do. I hope he plans it strategically, and travels with an open mind and open ears. I hope that he takes lots of notes on tweaks in the plan that will mollify Hoosiers and can be implemented administratively or with passage of enabling legislation next year.

The reason that Mitch Daniels is in the odd position of selling his plan after the Legislature approved it is that while Major Moves has merit, the selling of it (and the selling of criticism of it, for that matter) can only be described as botched from the beginning.

Description of the U.S. Economy: The Red Queen Race, Alice -- and the U.S. -- in Wonderland, and Impossible Chess

Today, I discovered Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis, a blog today that appears to cut through all the blather and give the reader real economic analysis. That's the good news.

The bad news is that we're in trouble -- those of us in the U.S. economy, that is.

The author, Michael Shedlock (get it? Mish?), has a glowing resume. He's worked in financial services for 20 years at top-drawer companies. Now he provides economic and investment research to private clients. And, oh yes, he's a heckuva writer. Erudite, too.

Today's post, "The Red Queen Race," discusses the tilt-a-whirl U.S. economy in terms of Alice's land through the looking glass. The Red Queen begins a race in which Alice runs, but nothing around her moves. That's Mish's analogy for our economy.

He also has a fine finish, moving adroitly from Alice in the Looking Glass to chart after illuminating chart of key economic indicators, to a masterful chess analogy tied closely to Wonderland. It turns out that Alice is really our new Fed Chair, Ben Bernanke.

Chris Christy: A Leader Passes

Indianapolis has lost an important leader. Chris J. Christy.

His obituary was in the Indianapolis Star a few days ago. His "celebration of life and faith" will be today at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodix Church, 4011 North Pennsylvania Street. Sadly, I cannot attend.

Chris understood that an important part of corporate public relations has nothing to do necessarily with media relations. He knew that to prosper in a community, you must genuinely embrace it, make it your own and work to help the community face its challenges. That's good on its own, and it has the added benefit of enhancing the reputation of your organization.

Brooke Tuttle of Columbus, Ind.: A Man of Vision Decides to Retire

I am passing through Columbus, Ind., on the way back from a client meeting in Southern Indiana, and I am hanging out at Jitters, off Ind. 46 a mile west of the Columbus exit on I-65. (It's one of Indiana's nicest locally owned Internet cafe and it deserves your patronage. Hint: the Starbucks in Columbus does not have wireless Internet service.)

I'm glad I stopped here, because I picked up the spare copy of the local daily newspaper, the Republic, that was on the table next to mine and muttered a silent prayer for Columbus when I saw the banner front-page headline: "Tuttle resigns economic post."

Say it isn't so, Brooke Tuttle!

Let me explain, for I doubt I have many readers who know Brooke's name (candidly, I doubt I have many readers, period!) But I presume readers from Indiana know the economic miracle that is Columbus, Indiana. Brooke Tuttle is one of the key people behind the miracle, and his resignation from his post in Columbus is a loss for the community.