I've enjoyed these two interviews with Bill because he's able to take these ideas, that to me are very heavy material and largely impenetrable from the outside, and demystify them into something very accessible. As permaculture practitioners, we take gardening, horticulture, and biochar, to name a few, and tie them together under the big top of Permaculture, which thankfully have numerous clearly written books available to understand them. But Banking? Finance? I haven't found anyone who can break those down into easy-to-understand bits as well as Bill can. And I am greatly appreciative. Plus, as with his involvement in the Permaculture Credit Union, he has the ethical and principle based understanding in common to the more visible structures of permaculture. Though we have alternative economic options in the permaculture literature with things like Local Exchange Trading System, Bartering, Time Banking, and Local Currency, what gives me hope from this conversation is that here is another way to approach banking and finance a bit differently, in a way that can engage the system that currently exists. I agree with that idea given to us by Ethan Hughes, and reiterated by Lisa Fernandes and others, that we need meet people where they are at to make permaculture more accessible, and desirable by the public in those areas that aren't hungry for it yet. As we get the physical structure designs down, the invisible becomes more important as we build community and permanent culture.

Resources:
The Permaculture Credit Union
CDFI Fund

Though I'd heard about the Permaculture Credit Union before, I didn't get around to looking into it further until Wes Roe, one of the board members of PCU, contacted me with the suggestion of talking to Bill. In setting up the interview, I spoke with Bill at length, and felt his background offered a unique perspective to discuss banking and financial permaculture; he's been involved in finance and business for over 30 years including holding a Master of Business Administration degree from Loyola College. Here is a banker who also practices permaculture. This interview adds another model to those presented by Eric Toensmeier and Lisa Fernandes on applying permaculture more broadly, particularly to business. We begin with Bill's background in the world of banking and finance, and how he came to permaculture. From there we move to the Permaculture Credit Union: how the organization began, the process involved to get started, and the ethos that allows people to join the credit union and also bind them together philosophically. Throughout it all, Bill speaks with clarity and frankness as I seek details on understanding the causes of the financial crisis/melt down/great recession over the last few years, and how the Permaculture Credit Union performed in comparison to the big banks. We throw some numbers around and touch on esoteric ideas behind what makes a particular financial institution secure or insecure. We close out talking about how community focused banks can make a difference to the people that live within there, even if the bank is located hundreds, or thousands, of miles away. In the information age physical location may matter less and less, but the we should ally with those who agree that the best place to start building a better world is at home, in our neighborhood, and our nearest town or city. Resources: Permaculture Credit Union 8 Forms of Capital