I am about to shop for shades for my windows and after reading the following, I instantly knew from whom I would buy - Hunter Douglas. Doing good things as a corporation will definitely bring customers to your door and keep them there! And congratulations also to Davis-based MicroCredit Enterprises CEO, Jonathan Lewis, who constantly finds innovative ways to help the world's poor.

HUNTER DOUGLAS FUNDS ENDOWMENT FOR MICROFINANCE SUSTAINABILITY MicroCredit Enterprises to Operate Fund; Donation to Assist the Estimated 1.1 Billion Desperately Poor People Davis, Calif. – April 24, 2007 – MicroCredit Enterprises, a leading not-for-profit venture that provides philanthropic guarantor-backed microloans to aid third-world poor, today announced the creation of the Hunter Douglas Endowment for Microfinance Sustainability. Thanks to a generous contribution from Hunter Douglas, the leading manufacturer and marketer of custom window coverings in North America, MicroCredit Enterprises can continue in its quest to reduce global poverty through self-help opportunities. The Hunter Douglas Endowment for Microfinance Sustainability is a liquidity account that underpins the MicroCredit Enterprises financial model, acting as a cushion to guarantors and lenders. The Hunter Douglas donation to the endowment will leverage $10 million in overseas microloans, providing food security for 500,000 poor people (60 percent of whom are children) on an annual basis and in perpetuity. Every penny benefits the program; no overhead costs are paid by the endowment. “This endowment represents a commitment to hope and opportunity that will make a significant difference in the lives of desperately poor people,” said Jonathan C. Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of MicroCredit. “Moreover, with a securely funded endowment in place, MicroCredit Enterprises can now attract more microloan guarantors” California-based MicroCredit Enterprises is an innovative, anti-poverty venture which leverages private capital to deliver tiny business loans to destitute people. To date, the venture has secured $20 million in guarantees for loans to aid the desperately poor in developing countries. MicroCredit Enterprises uses the collateral assets of individuals and institutions to borrow debt capital that is channeled through overseas, locally-run, non-governmental microfinance organizations. Marv Hopkins, Hunter Douglas Inc President and CEO said “Micofinance is a proven concept that is close to our entrepreneurial roots. Microcredit’s innovative approach opens up a new way for successful entrepreneurs in the first world, to support poor women entrepreneurs in the third world, and we regard this endowment as an opportunity to help jumpstart that process. It is a significant step in our company’s ongoing commitment to enhancing lives in the community at large and our belief that we are all neighbors on this small planet.” Microcredit Enterprises has developed an innovative concept, which enables private individuals and charitable institutions in the US to support the extension of loans to high quality microfinance institutions in developing countries, by becoming guarantors. Rather than making cash donations, guarantors pledge assets, on which they can continue to earn a return. About MicroCredit Enterprises Based in Davis, California, MicroCredit Enterprises is an innovative, not-for-profit, anti-poverty venture which leverages private capital to make tiny business loans to impoverished people, mostly women, in developing countries. MicroCredit Enterprises uses the collateral assets and personal guarantees of individuals and institutions to borrow debt capital in the United States that is channeled through overseas, locally-run, non-governmental microfinance organizations. The impoverished loan recipients generally have no credit history, no collateral and no formal education, but with microloans, they create and build home-based businesses. MicroCredit Enterprises’ economic development objective is to reverse the cycle of poverty in economically distressed countries using the tools of the marketplace to provide self-help opportunities to millions of impoverished women and their families. On the Net: http://www.mcenterprises.org About Hunter Douglas Hunter Douglas Inc. is a national sponsor of Habitat for Humanity, covering windows in every Habitat home built in the U.S. and Canada. Headquartered in Upper Saddle River N.J., the company is the leading manufacturer of custom window coverings in North America. For more information, contact Hunter Douglas at 1-800-274-2985 or visit: www.hunterdouglas.com.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive