[caption id="attachment_1277" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="----A Palm Fruit----"][/caption]

It had to be a script from a movie. In one scene I was chatting with high-powered fund managers and Singapore “Wall Street” Executives, and in the next embarking on an Indonesia jungle speedboat ride through former headhunter territory, being chased by a massive storm surrounded by haunted, fog-covered islands that looked like they were meant to lie unexplored so as to protect humanity from the angry beasts within.

Such was my recent trip to Asia.

I arrived in Singapore at 1:30am Monday morning after flying for 2 straight days. Dead tired, I pulled myself out of the plane and walked out of the jet way. Sitting right outside of the gate was Dr. Suparno, a long time friend and soon to be new boss. We cleared immigration then made our way to his mother’s home, finally getting to bed at 3am.

A short four hours later we were up and ready for the “road show” – a series of meetings where we showcase the company to fund managers from a variety of different fund management companies.

We were going from one high rise skyscraper to …

[caption id="attachment_1269" align="aligncenter" width="325" caption="----Palm Fruit Bunch----"][/caption]

So my friend Matt Hall was out here last week for his Anesthesiology boards (yeah, he’s a doctor). Jokingly, he kept ribbing me about the company I was joining, asking if we let the kids in our sweat shops take breaks for water.

Haha, Matty.

Nonetheless, our humorous banter that day made me want to share a little more of the story. Let you know that we have no “sweat shops” and the dignity filled work we grant is helping a ton of people.

Because the company went public today, I can actually share more information.

Global Palm Resources Holdings Limited (visit our website) is now a publicly listed company on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX). We were just able to raise S$46.5 million through our initial public offering (this is about $34 million in US Dollars).

We have around 2000 employees and another 1400 families that are given land through the Plasma Program. Find out more about this program and how we care for our employees here. The company is so well respected that over 80% of our employees have been there for 7 …

[caption id="attachment_1238" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="----Oil palm trees are different than regular palm trees----"][/caption]
As you may have read in my latest blog post (http://mattelsberry.com/its-time-to-part-ways-with-crown/), I am no longer with Crown Financial Ministries. And while my time there has been most memorable, it’s time to move on to what’s next.
I have been talking with a good friend of mine who owns a oil palm plantation in Indonesia. He has been incredibly successful in business, and is getting ready to take his private company public next month.

This may sound blase at best, but wait until you hear…the rest of the story.

Many oil palm plantations are destructive to the environment as well as to the employees they use to make a profit.

Not this one.

My friend’s company operates under a “triple bottom line”.

People. Planet. Profit.

People

When the company employs people they go well beyond the established minimums most companies are required to pay people. In fact, they build villages, complete with houses, education, health care, sanitation, clean water and a ton of other …