By Kevin Kam for Energize Ashland 

A belated Happy 2025 from Energize Ashland!  Every December I find myself watching the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life, and especially the bank run scene where Bailey Brothers Building & Loan is filled with customers seeking return of their deposits and Jimmy Stewart’s character passionately explains to them that “your money’s not here, your money’s in Joe’s house, which is right next to yours, and next to the Kennedy’s house,” and so on.  His point being that we’re all financially connected and invested in each other’s homes and well-being, both literally by holding a mortgage or savings account, and indirectly through being a community.  

In the same way that fellow BBB&L shareholders and neighbors invested in each other, you can directly invest in your neighbors’ climate-related home improvements and solar projects. The simplest way to accomplish this is to hold your checking or savings deposits in a local bank or credit union, perhaps one of the 67 which participates in the Mass Save HEAT Loan program and several of which have a branch in Ashland!  Alternatively you could identify a bank or credit union which specializes in loans for climate-related projects by using the search tools at bankforgood.org and bank.green which allow you to sort and screen by numerous categories, including physical locations and savings/loan products. 

Higher on the risk/reward spectrum is direct investment in specific companies or projects.  These types of investments typically come in one of two flavors: 1) you loan money to the company which the company (much like BBB&L) then puts to use in its business of climate-related projects like building solar farms or installing heat pumps, and then you receive monthly or quarterly interest payment; or 2) you have a small ownership interest in such a company.  Let’s be clear: there is no guarantee that your investment will provide the stated return or even that your investment amount will be returned to you in the same way that a federally-insured bank’s deposits are guaranteed.  With that important caveat, I recommend the following platforms which offer access to such investments: Honeycomb Credit, Climatize, and Energea.  Each of these platforms has a different target investor and different types of offerings, so it’s useful to browse each thoroughly.  Investment minimums can be as low as $10.  Also, consider your own willingness and ability to take risks with your money.  

If you found this brief introduction interesting, check out the events page on our website, https://community.massenergize.org/AshlandMA/, for details on a presentation coming in the spring on crowd-funded investments in climate companies and projects.