Joint Harvesting
Joint Harvesting is an Amarr Empire corporation that was founded in YC96. Despite only being in existence for two decades, it has managed to prosper in that time. Born from a desire to unite agricultural and mining companies as a single corporation while avoiding ties to political and military interests, the venture enjoyed a rapid expansion in its early years. Joint Harvesting is one of the few Amarr corporations to establish itself deep in Minmatar space, having secured a significant amount of its assets across the racial divide.
Contents
Early History
Mimian Mimian, the industrialist that formed the venture and now serves as the CEO, originally worked for a competitor - Further Foodstuffs. While serving a prestigious role in upper management, he secured a position for his son as a foreman on a food packaging station orbiting Vashkah IV, primarily staffed by overworked and malnourished slaves. Not possessing the same temperance as his father, Genys Mimian often expressed his disgust with the corporation’s partiality as they shipped large quantities of food to the subjects of the Ardishapur and Sarum families while the slaves themselves went hungry when quotas were not met.
Against the advice of Mimian, Genys started an industrial action, halting distribution from his station until conditions improved for the workers. Reprisal was swift. He was stripped of his position within the company but refused to leave his station. As Imperial forces moved in, the protest turned into a chaotic riot that needed to be forcefully quelled. Mimian’s son was injured in the explosion that ended the occupation, and he was put into a medically induced coma in response to serious brain injury. Genys was subsequently hospitalized permanently, existing in a persistent vegetative state.
With a future already in question, and reportedly disillusioned with the news that, due to the termination of his contract, Genys would not be receiving any funds towards his ongoing medical expenses, Mimian resigned from Further Foodstuffs. His intention was to start a new way of business that would “provide for all that toil”. Joint Harvesting was soon in operation within the first days of YC96, capitalizing on the promise of a new year as the perfect time to begin a fresh collaborative venture.
Mimian had applied his experience in an expedient recruitment campaign, securing many talented minds working primarily within distribution and agricultural infrastructure. These Amarr were not only chosen for their business savvy but their reputation as negotiators who had acquired and moved product quickly, establishing trusted networks in the process. Word spread among these contacts, and soon others had sought out Joint Harvesting and amalgamated themselves within the combined enterprise. While originally intended to be an agricultural corporation, those that approached the newly established venture were primarily industrialists experiencing financial hardship, keen to turn over their mining assets. Mimian and his cohorts originally jumped at the chance to acquire assets that would afford them some liquidity, as well as a promising avenue for expansion of their operations. In founding itself as an organization for those that “toil” and then accepting most of those that approached them, Joint Harvesting unintentionally garnered a reputation as a philanthropic organization that was keen to take on those that were struggling and looking to offload their chattels. When careworn Caldari industrialists approached Joint Harvesting in early YC99, seeking to become part of an enterprise that could develop beyond cultural and economic borders, Mimian arranged to meet Doriam Kor-Azor to present the reality of the corporation’s financial situation.
A Benevolent Brotherhood
Despite early success, Joint Harvesting had found that its growth had plateaued, primarily as business practices altered with increased expansion across New Eden. Motivated by the words and ideals of Doriam Kor-Azor, Mimian approached him for assistance in expanding beyond the borders of the Amarr Empire. He has since admitted that it was a gambit, but he trusted that his liberal countryman was keen to strengthen ties to the other empires of New Eden, and would invest in an opportunity to do so. The Kor-Azor family are, as a result, understood to have shares in Joint Harvesting, though Doriam and those after him have never wished to promote a conflict of interest. Considering that the Ardishapur and Sarum families continued to have a competitive outlay in Further Foodstuffs, admission of investment in Mimian’s extrication from their corporation would only have increased tension between the houses. During the coronation of Doriam II, Amarr Certified News revealed that the Emperor had upheld Joint Harvesting’s desire to reach out to others and expand, and that the benevolent leader had given the enterprise his “blessing” before his rise to power, but went to great lengths to guarantee that this was the extent of his personal connections. Ostensibly, someone in Kor-Azor has a financial interest.
Doriam also made the request that the Amarr corporation attempt to establish connections with the Minmatar, and in spite of the difficulties that an alignment with a figurehead would present, Mimian was galvanized by the prospect. Within a year of Joint Harvesting’s expansion into regions of Minnen in Lonetrek, and Suon in The Citadel, Mimian and his administration were meeting with Minmatar in Metropolis.
Across the Barricades
After expansion into Caldari space, Mimian had supposedly felt confident that subsequent media attention could help him realize a personal ideal, and had contacted the Minmatar Mining Corporation with a proposal of partnership. He was swiftly rebuffed, but word soon spread, and reached ears prepared to listen. It was Genys Mimian’s defence of slaves years previous that has been credited with the apparent ease with which Joint Harvesting gained favour, though the desperation of companies floundering in the last years of the Age of Expansion was once again a singular motivator. Some months after they were initially rejected by Minmatar, Joint Harvesting was offered a battered plantation above the burning coal of Reset II.
In a move that surprised and impressed many, Mimian didn’t immediately acquire it but instead approached the Minmatar Mining Corporation again, this time asking for permission to move into a system they already occupied. The gesture had a significant impact. Accustomed to the Amarr simply taking what they wanted, especially when it was considered their property, many found themselves profoundly impressed with the Godlover’s humility.
Joint Harvesting were soon operating in another sixteen systems across Metropolis, Molden Heath and Heimatar and is one of the only Amarr corporations to be operating with pervasive success in the Republic’s territories. This is especially true in Barkrik, where Karin Midular made a deal to secure the corporation territorial rights after some of its key members were among the first Amarr to officially apologize for the 'crimes' committed by the Empire. Circumstances like this have attracted both positive and negative renown for Joint Harvesting. Despite its liberal ideals and apparently smooth elevation to a position as one of the largest raw material companies in New Eden, the unifying enterprise has emerged out of turbulent circumstances and occasionally finds itself a target of regional anxieties.
Recent Events
With the death of Doriam and the tensions that arose during Karsoth’s subsequent stewardship, Joint Harvesting found its fortunes stagnating once again as clients steered clear in the Republic. This is a situation that persisted with the fiery reappearance and ascension of Jamyl I. Despite the resurgence in hostility between the Minmatar and Amarr, it’s the capsuleers that have since contributed most to the continuing health of Joint Harvesting. While the venture has not acquired new property for a number of years, it is managing to gain profit from interactions with Empyreans - most of whom are expatriates or those that have fallen out of Imperial favor - who appreciate the novelty of having a chance to ingratiate themselves with the Empire across the territorial divide. The constant interactions that they have with Joint Harvesting’s agents in these regions have continued to provide mutual aid.
Capsuleers originally posed a threat to the financial prosperity of the mining enterprise. Joint Harvesting had less freedom to roam the heavens as indiscriminately, and were initially wary of how Empyreans also acquiring licenses for starbase technology of their own would affect their profits. Joint Harvesting later managed to secure some exclusivity on the distribution of blueprints for the fuel blocks for these towers, however, ensuring another source of income and co-dependency.
The Amarr corporation has spent the last decade attempting to remain neutral in conflicts and political squabbles by necessity, instead focusing on gathering raw materials for industry and agriculture. These are then distributed alongside the crystals, containers and lasers that ply the trade. Joint Harvesting has, however, made other questionable investments. Despite their policy of neutrality, the corporation did find themselves contributing to the manufacture of rocket launchers in the wake of Tibus Heth's influence on partners in The Citadel and Lonetrek. This has led to assertions amongst the Gallente that Joint Harvesting's administration has “chosen a side”. These allegations have been further evidenced by the fact that Mimian and his administration have never approached the Gallente about entering their territories. While the leadership of Joint Harvesting have submitted that the Girani-Fa incident was something that was still on their minds as they formed their new venture in YC96, Gallente politicians went on to openly dismiss this explanation, particularly in light of the expansion that took place in subsequent years. A small cadre of Federation politicians have disputed Joint Harvesting’s claims on record, citing the corporation's willingness to eventually enter into Minmatar territory as they expanded, despite the more pronounced hostility they’d encountered there. It's this cynicism that has resulted in Gallente monitoring Joint Harvesting’s presence in the systems of their Republic allies and Caldari enemies.
Joint Harvesting has not invested in its own defence to a significant degree, seeing it as a potential catalyst for further political tension. Despite their pacifist approach, however, they have experienced occasional threats that have lead to an increased security presence in systems such as Aunenen, Barkrik, and Stirht. There have also been rumors from time to time that Minmatar are planning an uprising against the corporation in the Ani constellation. Any attacks in these regions have largely been strikes by those that take offense to their use of slaves, or their trafficking in ordnance blueprints. Mimian and his administration have attempted to reduce the incidence of both in the future operation of their corporation, particularly the employment of slave labor in light of the circumstances that incapacitated Genys Mimian. Joint Harvesting have also been a target domestically in systems within Domain, Kor-Azor and Tash Murkon, due primarily to the perception that they're contributing to the erosion of the heritage of the Amarr.