Reply #28: this isn't new: Benefit Corps, a New Kind of Company

[xchrom]

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/can-animals-save-us/benefit-corps-a-new-kind-of-company

For-profit corporations have become known over the past two decades for layoffs, outsourcing, and determination to maximize profits for investors—no matter the cost to employees, consumers, or the economy. But such practices may be waning: States across the U.S. are considering laws to enable entrepreneurs to create corporations that do as much for society as they do for their shareholders.

Maryland was the first state to pass Benefit Corporations (“B-Corps”) legislation. Co-sponsored by State Senators Jamie Raskin and Brian Frosh and Delegate Brian Feldman, the law, which went into effect in October 2010, creates a new class of corporation committed to having a positive impact on the environment and society. Vermont and New York passed similar legislation in June. Legislators in other states, including California, Colorado, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington, are considering the issue.

Businesses incorporated under B-Corps laws have social goals and commitments written into company bylaws. This ensures that companies will no longer face the hard choice of sacrificing their socially beneficial goals in order to fulfill their responsibility to investors when, for example, an acquisition offer is on the table. Under traditional corporate law, company heads can’t refuse such an offer for fear of a lawsuit from shareholders.




this has probably been posted on du before -- but i like the article and i think other marketeers would like it.