Clyde is currently the CEO and co-founder of Impact Wealth Group and of IWG Advisors LLC a registered financial advisory company. He splits his time between his work in the financial services industry and his activism. He has been a leader in the movement to restore our country to its founding principles. He has also been a leader in improving our environment as a board member of two successful non-profit organizations and author of two books.
Clyde was the co-founder and President of Randall Marketing Group (RMG). RMG started operations in 2005 and was a leader in the field of training financial service agents marketing insurance and securities products.
In 2003, Mr. Cleveland co-founded Seminar Crowds, a direct mail company that specializes in mailings for financial agents who give complimentary dinner seminars to build their clientele. In 2002 and early 2003 Clyde operated a financial advisory business in Des Moines, Iowa.
In 1990 Clyde switched from his previous work in financial services to the Infomercial industry. He was directly responsible for the development of the first two successful golf club infomercials ever produced.
Tim Hawthorne, Chairman, Hawthorne Direct; Co-Founder, Electronic Retailing Association, had this to say about Clyde’s impact on the informercial industry:
"Prior to the 'Putt to Win' infomercial, no one thought that a golf club could sell through this mass marketing medium. Clyde proved the industry experts wrong. Twice. He has had a profound impact on the entire infomercial industry."
In 1981 Mr. Cleveland founded and served as President of United Investment Groups, Inc. which became the third largest syndicator of privately offered research and development partnerships in the country. In conjunction with UIG, Clyde was the General Partner of twenty-three limited partnerships, including real estate, research and development (R&D), and wind energy syndications. The common theme of each R&D partnership was a focus on environmentally friendly, socially conscious products. In 1986, Conscious Investors, ltd. named Clyde the "First Socially Conscious Venture Capitalist" at their international symposium on Conscious Investing in Estes Park, Colorado.
Mr. Cleveland first became involved in the financial services and investment management industry over 40 years ago. He began his career with Investors Diversified Services in Glenview, Illinois in 1974. In 1977 he started working with La Jolla Investment Groups in La Jolla, California (LIG) as a property manager. His responsibilities included managing all the properties owned by LIG located in California, including single family residences, duplexes and small apartment buildings. In 1978 he became the President of the affiliated real estate company, which purchased and sold all of the properties for LIG. As broker and President of the company Mr. Cleveland was responsible for managing over 40 licensed real estate agents. LIG, through it's partnerships, purchased over 60 million dollars worth of real estate in the Southwestern states from 1977 to 1983. Mr. Cleveland was responsible for the acquisition, management and disposition of all properties held by the partnerships in which he was a general partner. He held real estate brokers licenses in California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Iowa.
Clyde is the author of "Common Sense; Revisited" which has sold over 60,000 copies and been read by thousands more as it is given away free on his website. He is the co-author of "Restoring the Heart of America, a Return to Government by the People."
Both of his books have been endorsed by members of the Republican, Democrat, Green and Libertarian parties. He was the Libertarian candidate for Governor of Iowa in 2002.
Clyde and his wife Debby have been married for over 48 years. They have four children and seven grandchildren.
Read more on Clyde's Environmental Background Audio and Video Interviews
Environmental Background:
Clyde first became interested in environmental issues in the late 1960's. It became apparent to him that one person, acting with persistence and passion, has the ability to make a big difference. This understanding led him to the concept he later named "environmental entrepreneurialism."
After college he joined ARCO as an Automotive Ecologist and traveled the country educating the public about how to reduce auto emissions.
He started United Investment Groups (UIG) in 1980 with the intention of practicing environmental entrepreneurship. The first break came in 1981, when the company funded research for a Japanese language typewriter. UIG raised $1.5 million in 4 weeks. UIG now had a clear vision and the search began for companies positively impacting the environment. The company formed the following partnerships from 1982 to 1986:
- United Wind Industries was funded with $600,000. This partnership purchased windmills for a wind generation farm in Palm Desert, California.
- United Soil Technologies was funded with a total of $6,000,000 in cash and long-term notes. Soil Technologies manufactured all natural cover crops that contained various kinds of algae. It is currently one of the leading companies supplying natural alternatives for all types of agricultural uses. Microp for golf courses is a product used by many of the nation's top golf courses.
- United Fibertech Ltd. was funded with $2.8 million dollars. Tetratech created a process and machine that took any fibrous agricultural waste product, such as wheat straw, and created building materials. The end product was amazingly strong, pest resistant and fireproof. The ecological implications were enormous. Many homes were built around the country with Tetra board, including the office buildings Clyde and his partner built in Fairfield, Iowa in 1983.
- United Magnetics Ltd. UIG raised approximately $3 million dollars in venture capital which funded Magnetics Research International. The product was a highly innovative technology that made electric motors more ecological and energy efficient.
- United Investment Groups raised $3.5 million for 3 additional companies during this period, all of which performed R and D for computer related innovations designed to increase productivity. It was in 1986 that the international organization called Conscious Investors Ltd. invited Clyde to an international conference on socially conscious investing in Estes Park and honored him with the title of "The First Socially Conscious Venture Capitalist"
In 2012, in an effort to protect raw milk farmers from extreme harassment by the FDA, Clyde co-founded Free America Now (FAN), which helped Sheriff Richard Mack create the first ever Constitutional Sheriff Convention. By using a powerful non-coercive, non-hierarchical, consensus based organizational structure FAN, in just 3 months, raised over $130,000, recruited over 120 county sheriffs, and enlisted a highly qualified group of speakers to this unique, revolutionary, and highly successful event.
Affiliations:
A few years ago Clyde became very concerned about Genetically Engineered foods. He felt immediately that taking genes from one species and forcibly inserting them into the DNA of a different species was a bad idea. He became a stand-in speaker for Stephen Druker, the attorney who sued the FDA for the fraudulent approval of GMO food.
Mr. Druker's current book "Altered Genes, Twisted Truth" is quickly becoming a best seller as it exposes the truth about this world endangering technology.
Clyde also serves on the board of directors of the Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) founded by Jeffrey Smith, the most recognized speaker and author on GMO issues.
Clyde serves on the board of JFAN, one of the most effective organizations in the country educating the public on the dangers of confined hog operations.
Books:
Restoring the Heart of America 2001 By Clyde J. Cleveland and Edward F. Noyes
What a joy to discover a new breed of politicians that want to expand our freedoms, enliven communities AND save our environment.
Jennifer Reed Hawthorne, Co-author "Chicken Soup for the Women’s Soul"
Common Sense Revisited by Clyde J. Cleveland 2008
Websites:
www.flourishfairfield.org
www.commonsenserevisited.com
Randall Marketing Group
Audio Interviews with Clyde Cleveland
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