By Ralph
A new bill recently signed into law by NY State Governor will enable corporations to legally structure themselves as Benefit Corporations or B-Corps. B-Corps are for-profit entities that have a specific social mission.
The new law mandates that businesses focus on more than simply bottom-line profit, but impact from a social and environmental perspective when they make governance decisions. Prior to this updated framework, enterprises seeking to combine profit-making with doing good faced numerous challenges. Legal structuring, difficulty attracting capital and a thorny lanscape when selling or scaling their business.
New York is the second state to approve the law after California. As the two major economies in the US, this is a big deal for capitalism and a country, plagued by the self interest of big business. As social enterprise becomes a growing part of the economy, more states are expected to adopt these frameworks in order to keep businesses in their respective state.
“As a result of this law passing, we’re planning to move our incorporation from Delaware to New York,” David Bolotsky, UnCommon Goods’ CEO, told GOOD contributor Alex Goldmark. “We want to show our support for the fact that socially responsible businesses now have a legal framework.”
It is our hope that progress like this, opens the door for an even deeper shift. Cooperatives, like us, for example, continue fly under the radar as a viable business model in most states.
To read more about the passing of this bill, check out Alex’s Goldmarks article on GOOD.