I’d like to begin with the story of a group of entrepreneurs that have shaped the world that we live in today. Their plan was one that, by conventional banking standards, would have been rejected by any loan committee.

The idea was revolutionary, their passion contagious, and their willingness to achieve their goal, despite insurmountable odds was unshakeable. The founders of this enterprise diligently wrote a business plan with such foresight and attention to detail, that their success defied logic and the market conditions of the time.

The market they sought to enter was one that was overwhelmingly unfavorable. Their main competition had an advantage at every level. They were better capitalized, had complete dominance in markets locally and abroad, and their workforce was better trained and equipped with superior technology.

The founders were a diverse group, representative indeed of the enterprise they would give birth to in the months and years that followed. Some were merchants, others speculators. Some were politicians, and others simple farmers. To say that they had experience running the enterprise they sought to create would be an understatement of great magnitude.

Did they have 2 years financial statements? Absolutely not, they were a start-up with dreams to rival their passion, but no financial history for loan committees to trace performance.

Did they have collateral? No, they rented their property from a tyrannical landlord that additionally created a tax structure that would cripple any modern day corporation.

The story of these entrepreneurs is that of the Founding Fathers of the United States. They were a group of passionate entrepreneurs whose vision defined a country, and a spirit of innovation that lives on today. And though what these founders created has grown into an incredible enterprise, capable of securing arguably more debt than necessary, they would have been hard-pressed to find a conventional lender willing to take the risk to get them off the ground. However, this story and that of the founders represent the intangibles that go beyond the balance sheet and financials, the HUMAN SPIRIT. It is this value that Accion truly embraces.

I reference this, as our company faced similar circumstances, and Accion was our light of liberty. Our company is Waste Farmers, and we too are fighting a revolution of sorts. We are fighting against a short-sided “revolution” set in motion by the Industrial age, which gave birth to notion that pollution and environmental degradation are inevitable by-products of human progress.

Like the founding fathers, we did not have 2 years financial statements. The small amount of collateral and savings we owned were invested in the business. The market forces facing our company were formidable, though not insurmountable. However, we are forever inspired by the story of our founding fathers and the great entrepreneurs that have shaped this county and their legacy of optimism and passion bleeds through our veins in a way that no balance sheet can capture. A passion that was almost extinguished from the unrelenting “No’s” we heard from lenders at larger banks, or leasing companies. “No” was a word repeated with such frequency that it almost lost its meaning.

Lisa Adams, and Accion were a beacon of hope. They offered us a chance to prove our credit beyond what was in our bank account or on our financial statements. They saw value in our passion and determination to succeed, and in so doing, helped to fuel it further. They helped us finance a piece of equipment that has allowed us to grow from 1 to a team of 4 passionate members, and achieve month over month revenue growth of 38% since the loan in January. Their willingness to work with us and belief that we could succeed, further instilled our desire to pay them back, not as a creditor, rather, out of gratitude for taking a chance and for giving us an opportunity to pursue that American Dream, defined by those visionary Forefathers so many years ago. Further, it strengthens our desire to give back to this wonderful group should we be fortunate enough to succeed, so that Accion can work with other entrepreneurs and dreamers, and keep that spirit alive.

Thank you to Lisa Adams and the rest of the Denver team. Waste Farmers would still be a dream were it not for your willingness to look beyond conventional standards. We are forever grateful, and you can trust that we will give back when the time is right so that others can have the same opportunity.