Social Impact

Peninsula Capital Partners was founded in 1995 in downtown Detroit, and remained headquartered there until 2022. As a result, we have a deep connection with Detroit and are committed to supporting its ongoing renaissance. Accordingly, we have partnered with a truly great Detroit-based and focused organization, Detroit Dog Rescue, to give back to the city to which we owe so much.

Detroit Dog Rescue, or as it is more commonly known, DDR, was founded in 2011 and was a pioneer in the “no kill” animal shelter movement. Since then, DDR has become a leading organization in this truly admirable and desperately needed effort. DDR focuses on raising awareness of the stray dog problem in Detroit and relentlessly advocates for humane alternatives to deal with the problem, including providing sheltering, rehabilitation services, foster care, adoptions and spaying and neutering. DDR’s efforts have resulting in hundreds of otherwise doomed and helpless animals being taken off the streets, nursed back to health and placed in permanent homes.

In 2023, DDR opened a new 11,000 square foot location, the result of a generous gift from an animal hospital and a successful, multi-year, fund-raising effort. The new facility quadruples the capacity of DDR to provide sheltering and medical care to stray dogs. Simply put, it is a game-changer for the organization as it pursues its critical mission to rescue stray dogs from a life on the streets.

Peninsula Capital Partners believes passionately in DDR’s mission and wanted to support its committed staff. As a result, Peninsula Capital has made a substantial financial contribution to DDR to sponsor one of the new facility’s examination rooms. These exam rooms are used by visiting veterinarians to perform health assessments and medical procedures. The ability of DDR to provide these vital services in a clean and modern setting greatly enhances the likelihood indigent dogs can recover their heath and become more attractive candidates for adoption.

To learn more about Detroit Dog Rescue, please visit their website at detroitdogrescue.com, or visit any of their social media sites at Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter. Also, please consider making a donation to this most worthy organization, as every dollar helps DDR pursue its goal of getting all stray dogs off the streets and in permanent homes.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is an investing principle that includes environmental, social and corporate governance/regulatory compliance issues as basic tenets, and is sometimes referred to as “responsible investing”.  While the term ESG has gained wide usage and investor focus in recent years, it is not a new concept for Peninsula Capital Partners.  We have always viewed confirming a company’s commitment to environmental stewardship a core element of our due diligence efforts.  Likewise, verifying a company has fair employment practices, positive community engagement and a history of regulatory compliance are other long-term aspects of our investment underwriting efforts.  Finally, as nearly all of the companies in which Peninsula Capital invests have not previously had an institutional investor, and in most cases are family-owned businesses, our involvement is commonly the catalyst for implementing more formal corporate governance regimes, including defined reporting structures, active board of directors oversight and retaining competent corporate counsel, accounting and tax providers and other professional services providers as necessary to adequately fulfill the company’s corporate mission in an ethical and professional manner.

In conjunction with our commitment to ESG investing, Peninsula Capital is a signatory to the United Nation’s Principals for Responsible Investment (“UNPRI”) compact and its six principals as summarized below:

• Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes.
• Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.
• Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest.
• Principle 4: We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry.
• Principle 5: We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles.
• Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles.

Again, we view all of these principles as consistent with our long-established investment strategy, underwriting priorities and portfolio management processes.  Accordingly, we are pleased to support an organization that reinforces our long-held investment priorities.