Singlebrook Technology

The Benefit Corporation: Changing the Fabric of Society

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:09:00 +0000

This editorial was originally published in the CSRwire Talkback blog on 2/22/12: http://csrwire.visibli.com/share/4xdGwA

A deeper look at benefit corporations and the market for transparency they hope to create

By Francesca Rheannon

Part One of this series introduced a new corporate form, the benefit corporation, which could revolutionize the fundamental rules of business. Now in Part Two, we examine the benefit corporation in more depth.

Singlebrook Technologies: A Newly Minted Benefit Corporation

Elisa Miller-Out is on a mission. As co-CEO of information technology company Singlebrook Technology, Inc. headquartered in Ithaca NY, she wants to make the “benefit corporation” the future of business in America.

For Miller-Out, becoming a benefit corporation isn’t just good for the bottom line, adding real value to a company’s brand. It’s also good for the other value she holds dear – making the world a better place.

A benefit corporation must be dedicated to creating a material positive impact on society and the environment.

Singlebrook Technology designs digital products, such as web and mobile apps, but it sees its purpose as much greater: “to use technology in innovative ways to make a positive social and environmental impact in the world,” Miller-Out told CSRwire.

One way is through its T4C (“Technology For Change) Campaign, which works with social ventures to expand their reach.

Singlebrook supported legislation in New York – just passed February 10, 2012 – that makes this new corporate structure available to companies operating in that state. “This shows it’s possible to run a business with a true triple bottom line,” Miller-Out said.

As soon as the legislation passed, Singlebrook Technologies became a benefit corporation. It had already had been a certified B-corporation for the past three years -- and becoming a benefit corporation seemed like the logical next step.

Given the similarity between the two monikers, let’s take a moment to compare them.

The B-Corporation & the Benefit Corporation

Both forms are brainchilds of B-Lab, a nonprofit that is “dedicated to using the power of business to address the world’s most pressing challenges."

B-Lab created the B-Corp affiliation to denote a company that certifies businesses according to a set of social and environmentally responsible standards. It also devised the benefit corporation form and is campaigning for its adoption in U.S. states.

B-corporations are in all 50 U.S. states and around the world, while the benefit corporation is currently available in just seven U.S. states (with more in the pipeline.)

Both B-corporations and benefit corporations hold certain values in common:

Accountability: Both forms have to take into account the effect of their decisions on stakeholders (workers, the community and the environment) as well as shareholders.
Transparency: Both have to report their social and environmental performance to the public, using third party standards.

What’s different is that B-corporations must submit to a B-Impact Assessment by B-Corps in order to gain their certification, while benefit corporations do not have to be certified -- although they do have to use that third party standard mentioned above to assess their own performance.

Market For Transparency and Accountability

I asked Nathan Gilbert of B-Lab why the organization decided not to include a certification requirement in the design of the benefit corporation. One reason, he said, was to avoid the appearance of B-Corp creating business for itself.

Another was to encourage states to adopt legislation making the benefit corporation available. “If we were to put more restrictions in the legislation, it would deter a lot of companies.”

But he’s not worried about compromising the strict standards B-Corp has adopted as part of its assessment process. Gilbert thinks the market will keep companies from selecting a more watered down standard.

“The key element is transparency,” Gilbert told CSRwire. The requirement of putting out a yearly public report will let the market decide:

“The public will be able to see what standard the companies are using and how they measure their performance. That way, they can put better pressure on a company to step it up.”

Elisa Miller-Out agrees. "People will demand this level of transparency and honesty,” she told CSRwire.

“There’s a grassroots movement in business, connected to Occupy Wall Street, that’s resonating with people all over the country that says the standard way of doing business is really hurting us, our economy and our reality. Once people see that the [true triple bottom line] is possible, they are going to demand that of all businesses."

Like other companies that are becoming benefit corporations, Miller-Out expects that adoption of the new form, “company by company,” will build a more vibrant economy and create a healthier environment in the process. “It’s about changing the whole fabric of society,” she says.

Expanding the Benefit Corporation Model

In the U.S., state legislatures are proving receptive to making the benefit corporation structure available – on a remarkably bi-partisan level. Its unanimous adoption by the famously rancorous New York State legislature is emblematic.

Democratic Senator Daniel Squadron sponsored the legislation. “The Republican majority rarely passes Democratic bills,” he told CSRwire. Fear of the unknown often is the greatest barrier to passage, he added, but the benefits of the legislation as proposed were crystal clear. “All the stakeholders understood it.”

In a country where every state has different laws governing corporations, this clarity is a big plus that bodes well for future adoption by more states.

Other countries might also benefit.

B-Lab is currently doing an analysis of the legal framework in certain South American countries (Brazil, Argentina and Columbia) to see if legislation enabling corporations to consider stakeholders, as well as shareholders, is needed.

Depending on the results, B-Lab will determine whether it needs do anything, or promote amending corporation bylaws or new legislation, according to Nathan Gilbert.

In the U.K., Community Interest Companies provides a similar model of considering stakeholder interests along with those of shareholders.

Changing the underlying laws of how business can do business is what changes business overall, says social entrepreneur Andrew Greenblatt. He inspired Daniel Squadron, his representative in the New York State legislature, to introduce the benefit corporation legislation, as I reported last week.

“It’s earth-changing,” Greenblatt told CSRwire. “This is a very big deal.”

Subsidies Needed to Jump Start On-the-Job STEM Training

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:43:00 +0000

Originally posted in the Washington Post on 2/18/12: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/subsidies-needed-to-jump-start-on-the-job-stem-training/2012/02/16/gIQAx0mhLR_story.html

By Elisa Miller-Out

Job opportunities abound for young people trained in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs. Yet those of us who run high-tech companies can’t seem to find enough skilled young people.

The difficulty stems, ahem, from the fact that neither a K-12 nor university education adequately prepares young people for technical jobs. Even top universities have trouble keeping up with technological change. Their curriculum often lags in covering the skills that students need for the jobs that are available now.

So what is needed to prepare young people for high-tech careers? We need a combination of community-based programs, internships and apprenticeships, incubator programs and supportive government policies.

Businesses and nonprofits should be incentivized to create community-based, accessible workshops and training programs. These non-traditional programs can move and adapt quickly, teaching technologies such as Ruby on Rails (a Web programming language and framework that’s popular in the growing tech start-up world), and allowing people of all ages to learn skills that will allow them to take advantage of high-paying technology jobs.

In addition to community-training programs, internships and apprenticeships provide some of the best ways to learn new technologies and gain practical engineering skills. Many employers would gladly increase their talent pipeline by offering more internship opportunities. However, these programs require major sacrifices from busy small business owners and their staff because of the training and mentoring that interns require. Utilizing internships as an entry-point to STEM jobs is also a challenge to many workers who struggle with the fact that internships tend to be unpaid or low-paying. An increase in on-the-job training programs that offer grants and subsidies to employers and/or interns could significantly increase the availability of and access to these jobs.

Accelerator and incubator programs are popping up all over the country to help young people who can’t get internships to learn the skills they need to go into STEM jobs. These programs give budding entrepreneurs the mentors, peer support and training they need to launch successful tech businesses and create jobs in their communities. These programs provide a supportive space for learning valuable STEM skills. Similar to community programs and on-the-job training, these entrepreneurial training programs could be more accessible to more students through strategic public-private partnerships.

Companies like mine, and other members of the American Sustainable Business Council, aim to do good in the world while returning a profit to our investors. Recently, we adopted a new legal structure for our business called a “Benefit Corporation” which makes it easier for us to pursue both private profit and public benefit and to keep the two goals in balance. This new legal structure, which recently became an option for companies in states such as New York, California and Maryland, has the potential to revolutionize how business is done. It will help businesses make the investments in workforce training that are required to build employees’ skills in STEM.

With government and community support for STEM training programs, we can create a skilled and talented workforce of young people who are ready to seize the job opportunities available in the fastest growing sectors of our economy. In the process, we can build a healthier, more sustainable economy and a vibrant STEM community.

Elisa Miller-Out is chief executive of Singlebrook Technology, a Web and mobile development firm based in Ithaca, N.Y.

Call2Action Benefit Corporation Spark

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:36:00 +0000

A big victory for sustainable business is being celebrated on February 10th as leaders of the benefit corporation movement gather in NYC to file changes to their corporate structures under new New York State legislation. A benefit corporation is a new kind of company that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. Two CEOs from the tech industry’s woman-owned businesses have partnered to support benefit corporations using innovative technology.

[script src="/javascripts/b_corp_spark.js"][/script]

The Benefit Corporation Spark above is an example of this. Call2Action’s proprietary Spark technology is a complete “campaign-in-a-box” in the form of a portable microsite that can be used anywhere on the web, including within mobile apps, social networking pages, and email. A Spark allows campaign supporters to take action immediately by sharing a campaign’s video, linking to a web page, or making a donation to a campaign.

Call2Action, led by CEO, Charlotte Rademaekers, partnered with Singlebrook Technology, which is led by CEO, Elisa Miller-Out. Singlebrook is the technology partner building the engine that runs Call2Action’s Sparks. Both companies are certified by B Lab, an independent, third-party nonprofit organization which requires that companies pass rigorous environmental and social sustainability requirements to attain certification. Call2Action and Singlebrook will be among the first New York companies to amend their corporate structures and legally become benefit corporations. The two entrepreneurs look forward to taking their businesses to new heights together, while doing some serious good in the process!

Coffee for Your Thoughts?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:38:00 +0000

Friday, 2/10 from 2:30 - 4 pm at State St. Gimme! Coffee.

Singlebrook will be conducting a series of 20-minute meetings with local nonprofit organizations in the coming weeks, and we would love to sit down, buy you a cup of coffee and get your feedback on a new mobile web application that we're developing!

Nonprofit user testing is an important part in our development process for WhatCanI.Do, a mobile web app and donation platform for nonprofits. One of our app developers will show you WhatCanI.Do and ask your opinion on the app and what additional features would be useful to nonprofits.

Feel free to let us know if you plan on stopping by, or just show up during that time.

United Way Company Campaign Kick Off

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:53:00 +0000

Last Friday, we kicked off a United Way Tompkins County Company Campaign at Singlebrook!

We hosted an info session with John Gutenberger, Campaign Co-chair and Ann Colt, Chief Development Officer at UWTC, where we learned about the important work that United Way does raising funding for area nonprofits / UWTC Partner Agencies.

Company Campaigns are a great way for businesses and employees to give back. Contributions can be made through payroll deductions, one-time donations, or by volunteering (more info on the UWTC Volunteers website).

We hope others in the community will consider starting a United Way Company Campaign of their own!

Technology for Change: John Murcott, Karma411

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:49:00 +0000

Singlebrook recently interviewed John Murcott, Co-founder of Karma411. We were intrigued by Karma411’s work in creating the Major League Baseball All-Star Game Charity 5K & Fun Run web app. We spoke about how Karma411 is using various technology-driven approaches to create viral fundraising campaigns that utilize supporters’ social networks.

Singlebrook: Can you give an overview of what your organization does?

JM: Karma411 specializes in "people-to-people" online campaigns to raise funds and awareness for causes. We provide the most complete suite of online, viral campaigns, including fundraising, event and social commitment campaigns. These campaigns facilitate online donations as well as record offline donations, so they are an ideal complement to existing, traditional fundraising efforts with no upfront risk. Our expertise and superior service makes this a very user friendly and highly customized experience for our clients.

Singlebrook: How did you come up with the idea for Karma411?

JM: My partner Mark Fasciano and I worked together for ten years in the technology arena and became supporters of several local nonprofits. We quickly learned two lessons:

Raising money for a cause is difficult and expensive.
Friends help friends first, and institutions second.

The question we asked was "what if technology could enable organizations to leverage the personal networks of their most active supporters, allowing the supporter, rather than the institution, to reach out to new donors?"

Karma411 was born a year later.

Singlebrook: How have your original business plan and/or goals changed since you began this endeavor?

JM: In an entrepreneurial environment, fluidity is key to success. While goals are a major focus, the ability to change and adapt in order to meet and uncover consumer needs and demands is a must. Karma411’s mission statement is consistent, but we are a fluid company. As we learn more about how our products and expertise are being utilized to reach immediate and long-term goals of our clients and track the industry landscape, we have grown our business to ensure client success with new and specialized services.

Singlebrook: The Major League Baseball All-Star Game Charity 5K & Fun Run web app is certainly a great example of Technology for Change. How does Karma411 leverage social media and game elements to help mission-driven campaigns succeed?

JM: Our focus on people to people interaction in utilizing social media and incorporating customized engaging elements such as gamification or apps is what sets Karma411 apart from the rest. The All-Star Game Charity 5K & Fun Run is a great example of how we do this. We work together with our client’s goals on the best strategy to create an impactful and engaging tool like this one. When you spark one person to action and generate the interest and enthusiasm, the sharing begins that leads to campaign success.

Singlebrook: Are there other projects you’d like to share?

JM: A unique and powerful one we are working on is Light It Up Blue, for Autism Speaks. Karma411 has created an app that lets people show their support of the organization by taking a picture of anything they “Light Up Blue” and sharing it through their cell phone with others and posting it to the photo gallery hosted on the Autism Speaks website for this campaign. Sharing pictures can be the best kind of user generated content to get people involved, and it demonstrates the power of social media.

Our upcoming project with Tunnel to Towers illustrates how leveraging your support base can really grow a campaign and achieve results. We are taking their annual Tunnel To Towers Run/Walk event and providing an appealing way for new cities to sign up for a local race, allowing registrants to inherit branding and messaging that may be unique to each activity and locality. They have the ability to use this fundraising platform to support run/walks, golf events and BBQ’s, as well as run fully functioning online auctions. Participants have the ability to register and form teams, register as an individual or register as a virtual participant (gives the ability for someone that cannot be present at an event to still contribute). This grassroots platform creates an interactive environment to keep supporters active and engaged and shows how crowdfunding works.

These are just a couple examples of Karma411’s innovation.

Singlebrook: How do you measure your success?

JM: The simple answer is by meeting our customers’ goals. They have a target to meet in donations, awareness, event execution or what have you. When they reach that goal we have done our job.

When the social fundraising channel for our clients starts to approach the fundraising results through traditional channels (direct mail, grants, etc.) then we’ll know we’re on the right path.

Singlebrook: What advice do you have for aspiring social entrepreneurs?

JM: Make sure you have equal parts of both elements of the title: a passion to help causes to address the social piece and a good business sense to make sure your entrepreneurial effort will succeed. You may have both, but if not, I am a firm believer in working with a partner to share the experience.

***

Singlebrook’s T4C campaign spotlights entrepreneurs and organizations that are using technology in unique ways to scale their ideas and create a massive impact. We are also creating our own high impact T4C projects. Check them out at: singlebrook.com/t4c. Share your stories of T4C or other inspirational resources and tips on Twitter (@Singlebrook) using #SBT4C and on the T4C Facebook group, or contact us to be spotlighted in an upcoming feature interview or blog article!

Funding Resources for Social Entrepreneurs

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:04:00 +0000

Are you a social entrepreneur looking for investors aligned with your values? Here are some resources to consider when looking for funding:

Technology for Change: Guayaki Yerba Mate

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:06:00 +0000

Singlebrook recently connected with Guayaki Yerba Mate through the B Corp network. We’re fans of their organic, caffeinated herbal beverage, yerba mate, and have become even bigger fans after learning about the company’s efforts to preserve the habitats and cultures of the areas of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay that supply their mate. Their interactive Impact Report is an innovative way of showcasing these efforts.

We asked Guayaki Yerba Mate’s eastern regional manager, Katie Landry, to walk us through the key components of the Impact Report. The report was created as a web app that can be also be accessed through Facebook or via QR code. Landry explains, “We have a mission to re-forest rainforests in Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. We work with multiple communities who steward the land. The Ache Guayaki in Paraguay is the main group that grows the yerba mate, and where the product gets its name.” This one-minute BBCWorldChallenge video on Guayaki Yerba Mate shows the Ache Guayaki people working to produce mate while restoring and preserving their land.

Landry goes on to describe how yerba mate is a sustainable crop. “The mate is found in the middle-lower shaded level of the rainforest, and you can continually harvest it each year--the trees are not destroyed. We hope that as demand for yerba mate grows in the US, more forest will need to be protected to grow it. We’re working in areas that are 90% deforested and nurturing new trees in those areas.”

Within the Impact Report, the number of trees and square feet protected represent current usage. The ecosystem services column represents the auxiliary benefits to the local communities, such as the prevention of soil erosion and destruction of water systems. App users can calculate their own personal impact or look at the national and regional impact of consumption of Guayaki Yerba Mate.

These kinds of interactive impact calculators are a great T4C idea that other organizations could use. Another example of an impact calculator is BALLE's Leakage Calculator. The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) calculator is used to decipher what is imported and exported within your local economy.

So long and thanks for all the code

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

by Casey Dreier

As of today, I am no longer a Singlebrooker.

I am voluntarily walking away from the best job I have had to spend time not programming and not in front of a computer screen. It will be an adventure, but before I leave, I feel compelled to say a few things about my time at Singlebrook and the wonderful people who work there.

Years ago, I was a frustrated web developer working at a relatively large company in Ithaca. I was a burgeoning Rails developer stuck in a PHP world, banging against the limits of bureaucracy and technology. My job wasn't fun. It was challenging in all the wrong ways. Yet I had resigned myself to sticking it out for the usual suspects: security, salary, and benefits. For my own sanity, I pursued a few potential Rails jobs in New York City, Washington DC, Phoenix, anywhere, but it was difficult to convince people to take me as a remote employee. I was convinced that there would never be a good option in Ithaca, NY.

"Just look in Ithaca," my wife encouraged me, "you'll never know what you'll find." So periodically I would browse the Ithaca tech listings, never expecting to see anything remotely matching my desired skills and compensation.

Then, one day, I found a job listing in Ithaca that contained the magic words: Ruby on Rails. Three weeks later I was a Singlebrook employee.

My new job made me happy. There were cool projects with cool problems to solve. The people I worked with were simultaneously open to new ideas and experimentation, yet demanded good arguments for why new systems were worthwhile. I grew as a programmer almost every day.

Singlebrook prides itself for being a certified B-corporation. Believe me, they truly practice the values they preach. They took data on employee happiness. They treated me like a person. They push to find projects and ideas that make the world a better place. They have a strong moral compass that influences their choice in clients and projects. They put trust in me that was returned with real devotion.

What I'm trying to say is that Singlebrook is a great company, from any perspective. So:

If you are reading this and are a potential client, work with them, you will not regret it.

If you are reading this and are a current client, you've made the right choice and you already know what I'm talking about.

If you are reading this and are a frustrated web developer working in or around Ithaca, NY, you should seriously consider working for Singlebrook.

If you are reading this and work at Singlebrook, thank you every one of you for the past two years. You've challenged and enlivened my days. It's been a pleasure and a privilege to be colleagues and friends.

Singlebrook is 2011 B Corp Supply Chain Award Winner

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:06:00 +0000

This year, at the Annual B Corp Champions gathering, Singlebrook was presented with the B2B B Corp Supply Chain Award!

The award was made by Rivanna Natural Designs, manufacturer of beautiful, eco-friendly awards and plaques.

Go B!