Start a new company in a shrinking industry — magazines. Target people who don’t read many magazines — teenagers and young adults. Depend on nonprofit credit unions and cash-strapped public schools for revenues.

Sounds crazy, but after six years Corvallis-based brass MEDIA has proven the merit of a concept that more than 200 investors rejected. The company, whose magazine reaches 400,000 people, is launching a new effort this year to further expand its distribution.

Founded in 2003 by Bryan Sims, brass MAGAZINE is a for-profit publication with a heart of gold. Its mission: help young adults understand money. Published quarterly, each issue includes personal finance tips — how to buy a used car, how to buy sports gear at a discount — as well as success stories from young entrepreneurs and lessons on investing and understanding the economy.

But unlike most mainstream magazines, brass does not depend on subscription fees or advertising dollars for revenue.

Instead, sponsors, primarily credit unions, buy brass for their young adult members, and the magazine is co-branded with the sponsors’ names and logos.

Beaverton-based First Tech Credit Union has been a sponsor for five years, and buys between 10,000 and 15,000 issues each quarter for its 16-to-24-year-old members.

“We’ve always done financial education, but brass is unique because it talks to this generation in ways that they are familiar with,” said Deborah Colby, vice president of business development and marketing at the credit union. “We consider it as a value-added offering for our members.”

Today, 170 credit unions, banks and financial institutions in 35 states have joined First Tech, providing the bulk of the company’s revenue.

As the economy has cooled, however, many institutions have cut their marketing budgets, which has hurt brass MAGAZINE’s reach. Circulation, which peaked at 500,000, has dropped by 100,000, and revenue is down, though Sims declined to say by how much.

Now brass MEDIA is looking to grow by reaching out to schools, again through sponsorships, which pay to send the magazine to business and personal finance teachers. The program launched two years ago in three states, and is expanding nationwide this year as it adds online curriculum support for teachers.

In Wisconsin, one of the trial states, credit unions banded together in 2007 to distribute the magazine to all 603 public high schools.

“Credit unions not only see brass as a means to create responsible future borrowers, they also aim to improve the long-term financial health of Wisconsin by inspiring our young citizens to save regularly, use credit appropriately, avoid financial pitfalls and build wealth over a lifetime,” Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle said in 2008, when he gave his state’s credit unions a “Governor’s Award” for supporting the program.

Although one goal of the sponsorship is to build brand awareness among potential future customers, many Oregon high school students will never be eligible to join First Tech Credit Union, which has chosen to sponsor distribution across Oregon nonetheless. First Tech is open only to high-tech and telecommunications workers, and to some education and government employees. Building financial acumen among all young people is the goal of the sponsorship — which is funded through First Tech’s charitable giving arm, Colby said.

Teachers are constantly being pitched educational products, but most are too costly for cash-strapped schools, or are heavily skewed toward selling products to students. Though brass MAGAZINE has some ads, Sweet Home High School teacher Michael Morrell said he appreciates that they are age-appropriate and geared toward personal finance products that students should be thinking about.

Morrell, who teaches accounting and business law, said he incorporates the magazine into his classes as a way to squeeze more personal finance education into his students’ days.

Despite its initial success, so far the student program contributes less than half of brass MEDIA’s revenue, but it’s growing fast.

Lori Rosen, executive director of the Custom Publishing Council trade group, said that both the student and traditional sponsorships are the base of a solid business model.

Sponsored magazines and similar publications make up a $33 billion industry that had been growing at 5 percent to 10 percent per year until the recession hit.

Now growth is flat or down slightly among most of these magazines, while their mainstream publishing peers are struggling with 30 percent to 40 percent revenue drops because of declining advertising spending, Rosen said.

“We’re in a recession, but this industry is going to keep growing,” she said. “If you produce good content, custom publishing is going to be successful.”