CLF Ventures began in 1997 as an experiment.  We sought to test the hypothesis that an advocacy organization could engage in the market, create solutions to environmental problems, retain its focus on mission, and simultaneously generate revenue from its projects.  That appeared to be a complex challenge, but nearly six years later it seems to be working and we are here to stay!
 
The roots for Ventures were planted in the 80s, in the north woods of Maine.  CLF was fighting to protect the West Branch of the Penobscot River from construction of a dam by the Great North paper Company.  Advocates at CLF argued that building the dam would cost far more than an alternative – a dramatic improvement, by Great Northern, in the energy efficiency of its mills in nearby Millinocket and East Millinocket.  We argued that this would save the company money, improve its competitive position, and avoid the need for the dam.  CLF won the case and the dam project was abandoned.
 
Some years later, Great Northern sold the mills to Georgia Pacific (GP) as well as its installed hydroelectric facilities and two million acres of Maine forest.  GP turned around and sold those assets to South Carolina’s Bowater Incorporated, for $325 million.  With the acreage alone worth nearly $400 million and the hydro anther $200 million, it occurred to CLF that a conservation-oriented business venture could buy the whole shebang for just over $325 million.  It could then turn around and sell the paper business to another operator, while saving much of the river and the forests that we had spent years trying to protect.  And so was born the idea for CLF Ventures.
 
That Maine initiative turned out to be unsuccessful, but it set the stage for all that came afterwards.  Ventures has gone on to a series of successful initiatives, including the cleanup and reuse of contaminated brownfield sites, the donation of natural resources by decommissioning power plans, the creation of an insurance agency and its soon to be launched mileage-based auto insurance program, and the siting of a super-clean electric power plant in Londonderry, NH.
 
And where does Ventures go from here?  On the project level, several promising initiatives are in the development stage.  Strategically, we have two major objectives.  The first is to more closely align our work with CLF’s broad advocacy objectives.  Since Ventures began as an experiment, we intentionally seized opportunities as they rose, like a sailor tacking on shifts of wind.
 
Now, having cleared the harbor, we’re better able to steer the courses we choose.  The synergy between CLF’s traditional advocacy and Ventures is growing, enhancing the overall organization’s ability to solve problems using different tools.  Our second objective is to position Ventures so that, in partnership with experienced investment manager, we can help direct capital to enterprises that are both environmentally beneficial and financially rewarding.  This would fundamentally strengthen our role in transactions, and it’s a new direction, no less exciting than the creation of Ventures.  It’s been a wonderful five years and our future could hardly be more exciting.