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ShoreBank Enterprise Pacific and Cascadia Revolving Fund Announce Merger 
Dear friends, colleagues and partners,
We’re about to embark on a venture we’re convinced will deliver greater impact on the economic, social and environmental health of rural and urban communities in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. We’re announcing our intent to merge.
We’ve shared deep respect for our respective institutions for years and have been actively seeking a way to collaborate and amplify the triple bottom line impact of our combined organizations. As ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia we will become the largest community development financial institution (CDFI) in the Pacific Northwest focused on the triple bottom line of economic, social and environmental well being.
By combining the expertise, programs, infrastructure and dedication of our two organizations, our vision is to build a permanent institution that bridges the growing chasm between the region’s population centers and its increasingly less affluent rural communities, building a truly regional institution in the process.
Already our plans have attracted more than $7 million in new support from private and public sources that recognize the value, capacity, integrity and experience this merger promises. These include national philanthropies such as the Ford and MacArthur Foundations, as well as regional foundations such as the Meyer Memorial Trust, as well as the nation’s largest financial institutions. The Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund has also joined in support of this ambitious plan for growth toward scale. As the first merger of this kind in the country, our effort is being observed by others who share our understanding that deepening our impact and gaining scale is paramount to addressing the problems at hand. We will share our experiences, challenges and lessons broadly.
Our new nonprofit model combines the human, financial and program assets of our two organizations to expand and magnify scale, in both operations and outcomes, with a focus on measurable results. When we finalize the merger in early 2007, the institution will have combined resources of $70 million to offer loans to people, nonprofits, public entities and businesses unable to access traditional sources of capital. Just as we do today, our work will focus on community development, economies dependent on natural resources, poverty alleviation, water quality, family farming, minority entrepreneurship, access to essential services like health and child care, the special needs of recent immigrants, and high impact innovation.
 Thank you for your continued support, confidence and partnership. We welcome your comments and questions about our plans to grow and better serve the Pacific Northwest. Just send us an e-mail or call. We’ll keep you posted of our progress toward achieving a vision for equitable economic vitality and opportunity in the region.
Sincerely,
John Berdes
ShoreBank Enterprise Pacific
jberdes@sbpac.com
360.642.4265
Shaw Canale
Cascadia Revolving Fund
shaw@cascadiafund.org
206-447-9226 ext. 104
This merger has been made possible by financial support from:
Annie E. Casey Foundation, Bank of America, CDFI Fund, Ford Foundation, Heron Foundation, Hong Kong Shanghai Bancorp, Key Bank, MacArthur Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, Medina Foundation, Northern Trust Bank, Seattle Foundation, ShoreBank Corporation, US Bank, Washington Mutual Bank, and Wells Fargo Bank.
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