Grameen testimony: Jeff Rutt and the benefits of microfinance on small-scale enterprises

According to Jeff Rutt, founder of HOPE International, businessmen are constantly being consumed by the details, logistics, and operations of their corporate paradigm and perhaps are losing sight of the reasons why they are tackling difficult challenges. “Let’s all remember that in every technical and intricate aspect of operating business, we should ultimately always return to focusing on our clients—men, women, and children,” he said.

From JEFF RUTT

Microfinance provides hope to small-scale business owners. Unlike large companies, microenterprises have more potential to have a well-controlled corporate system because their size doesn’t promote many problems, operational challenges, and hectic diversification. Yehu Microfinance Trust, a Grameen Foundation program established in Kenya, is a major provider of micro-financial services to small-scale Kenyan entrepreneurs. Jeff Rutt agrees that this kind of economic aid will yield boons to a lot of African business owners, especially female entrepreneurs who are oftentimes culturally disregarded in the world of business.

From Scrapbook Photos

Grameen Foundation established Yehu Microfinance Trust to make sure that well-run local groups reaching out to the poorest of the poor have access to the money they need to make loans and increase the number of people they serve. A particular success story, one from Charity Kulola, reveals that microfinance can open up a world of opportunity for business aspirants like her. Charity received her first loan of $64 from Yehu and opened a stall that sells coconuts in the coastal village of Chakareli. With her second loan of $128, she started to expand her business and added vegetables on her products list. Charity recently took out a loan of $102 to invest in a retail shop and to diversify her business.

From JEFF RUTT

For more information about Jeff Rutt and his view on microfinance, visit www.hopeinternational.org.

Houses selling like hotcakes: Jeff Rutt on Sheridan Manor

Located in quaint York, Pennsylvania, with its picturesque streets and the nearby York College, Sheridan Manor has captivated many buyers. Developed by Jeff Rutt’s Keystone Custom Homes, Sheridan Manor is a bestseller in the truest sense of the word. As of October 2011, only eight of its home sites remained unsold.

From Jeff Rutt

Named America’s Best Builder award three times by Builder’s Magazine, Keystone Custom Homes has built many residential communities in various parts of the Eastern United States, choosing small countryside towns like York as a stunning backdrop to its homes. Sheridan Manor offers estate homes for around $200,000 with 18 available floor plans. It also has close access to major transportation routes and shopping areas, making it an ideal place to call home for buyers of many types.

From Jeff Rutt

Sheridan Manor owes a lot to the company’s core philosophy. Keystone Custom Homes offers thousands of options to help meet the customer’s specific needs. Jeff Rutt, the founder of Keystone Custom Homes, firmly believes in providing customers with great value and service.




Whether it be the breathtaking location, the accessibility to nearby travel routes, the many available floor plans, or the developer’s commitment to addressing the needs of its customers, there is no wonder why Sheridan Manor sold so fast.

From Jeff Rutt

Sheridan Manor is one of the many residential communities built by Keystone Custom Homes. Details of this and the company’s other developments are available on their official website: www.keystonecustomhome.com

Jeff Rutt: Build a home, save the Earth

From Jeff Rutt

Jeff Rutt, Founder and CEO of Keystone Custom Homes, believes that every house that his firm builds must be safe not only to its residents but also to the environment. This is why the building company uses green (or sustainable) building technology where builders use environment-friendly materials when working on houses and other infrastructures. Green building is applied not just in the construction stage but in all stages, from siting to demolition. The main objective of green building is to lessen the impact of building on natural environment and the health of the structure’s occupants.

From Jeff Rutt

The need for sustainable building started in the ‘70s and continues to grow as pollution increases and natural resources decrease. This concept stresses the importance of using renewable energy sources and using natural materials in building houses.


Jeff Rutt and Keystone Custom Homes make certain that the houses built by the company have the following characteristics that adhere to the concept of green building:

From Jeff Rutt

• Correctly installed insulation in floors and walls reduces energy usage and evens out the temperatures.

• Energy-efficient windows, which are made of protective coatings and sturdy frames, can block the heat and harmful UV rays during summer and lock the heat in during winter.

• Properly sealed holes and cracks in the ducts help lessen moisture, pollen, dust, and noise, therefore improving the air’s quality and reducing maintenance.

• Properly installed heating and cooling systems use less energy and reduce humidity

• Energy-efficient and ENERGY STAR-qualified products used at home help cut down electricity costs.


More information on Keystone’s green building can be found at KeystoneCustomHome.com.

Jeff Rutt’s Hope International Honored: Hope’s Microfinance Microbox Recognized by the Benny Awards

Founded almost ten years ago by Jeff Rutt, HOPE International has since then directed its focus on alleviating physical and spiritual poverty through microenterprise development, giving many creative and intelligent people mired in poverty access to capital.

From Jeff Rutt

In the organization’s pursuit of excellent microenterprise development and with its mission to present innovative and unique platforms for its supporters to engage with its work, it has released the HOPE Microfinance Microbox to encourage others to support its causes. The home hosting event kit contains a variety of resources that can help party and event planners, offering them flexibility to plan anything from an informal game night to a formal dinner party while providing opportunity for potential donors to learn more of HOPE and become involved in its work. The box from Jeff Rutt’s HOPE International contains recipes from the four regions in which HOPE works, a DVD of powerful stories of transformation, the Loan Cycle Game which conveys the huge impact of a small loan, and a comprehensive planning guide complete with event presentation tips and discussion questions.

From Jeff Rutt

This past June, the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association held the annual Benjamin Franklin (aka Benny) Awards to recognize excellence in direct marketing projects from commercial companies and non-profit organizations. While most awards are usually given to large advertising and marketing agencies, the HOPE Microfinance Microbox bagged the Benny Award in the Non-Profit Social Services category of 3D Dimensional – Invitation to Inquire that night.

From Jeff Rutt

The Microfinance Microbox, designed by Jeff Brown and its copy written by Erin Longenecker, can be bought at www.hopeinternational.org. Donations will help break the cycle of physical and spiritual poverty for over 300,000 men and women in 15 counties worldwide.