RSF Social Finance Makes a Loan to DePaul Industries

SAN FRANCISCO, February 26, 2013 /3BL Media/ - RSF Social Finance (RSF) is pleased to announce a new loan to DePaul Industries, a social enterprise providing job training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. An RSF mortgage loan will help DePaul retain its permanent headquarters in the Portland, Oregon metro area.

DePaul Industries is an integrated social enterprise working to create employment opportunities for people with disabilities.  DePaul works with private and public customers to solve their business problems by leveraging this overlooked and undervalued workforce, operating on the premise that providing services in demand is the most effective way of eliminating barriers to employment. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of unemployment in the U.S. for people with disabilities is twice that of people without disabilities—and only one-third of working-age people with disabilities even participate in the workforce—with ‘participation’ meaning either having a job or actively seeking one. By way of contrast, three-quarters of working-age people without disabilities are participating in the workforce.

In its 41-year history, DePaul Industries has evolved into a regional business leader and a nationally-recognized social enterprise. The organization has been honored as one of Oregon Business magazine’s ‘100 Best Companies’ in 2012 and 2011, and has consistently been named a top staffing firm by the Portland Business Journal. DePaul Industries has also been honored as one of Portland Business Journal’s ‘Most Admired Companies,’ and in 2012, DePaul’s CEO Dave Shaffer was awarded Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in the Pacific Northwest.

“RSF has a history of supporting organizations that provide housing and care for people with disabilities,” says Kevin Thompson, Senior Lending Manager at RSF. “DePaul provides another critical component—work—to integrate marginalized groups into society.”

“DePaul is delighted to receive this loan and spark the beginning of a prosperous relationship with RSF,” says Dave Shaffer, President & CEO of DePaul Industries.  “We’re looking forward to working with an organization that understands how social enterprise can transform the employment landscape for people with disabilities.”

About RSF Social Finance
Located in San Francisco, CA, RSF Social Finance (RSF) is a non-profit financial services organization dedicated to transforming the way the world works with money. Since 1984, the organization has made over $275 million in loans and $100 million in grants to non-profit and for-profit social enterprises working in the areas of Food & Agriculture, Education & the Arts, and Ecological Stewardship.

RSF's lending capital comes primarily from 1,300 individuals who have invested $1,000 or more in the organization's Social Investment Fund. Investors earn a competitive return on their money comparable to a certificate of deposit while their funds are deployed to leading social enterprises. To learn more, visit www.rsfsocialfinance.org.

About DePaul Industries
Since 1971, DePaul Industries has focused on its vision of changing the landscape of employment of people with disabilities while growing into the Northwest's most comprehensive outsourcing specialist. DePaul helps people with disabilities to have the opportunity to work through a self-sustaining business model that generates more than 97% of revenue through the operation of three core businesses: food packaging & contract manufacturing, temporary staffing services, and security services. To date, DePaul has trained or employed in excess of 17,000 people with disabilities and paid wages and benefits of more than $210 million. To learn more, visit www.depaulindustries.com.

Contact
Kevin Thompson, Senior Manager, Credit & Portfolio Management
kevin.thompson@rsfsocialfinance.org
415.561.6178

Jillian McCoy, Senior Associate, Communications
jillian.mccoy@rsfsocialfinance.org
415.561.6156