More than profit: St. Pete For Good wants to measure your impact

Corporate responsibility was a major focus of national brands throughout the country in 2017. In response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, many went above and beyond their missions – and into their bottom lines – to help those in need.

Anheuser-Busch stopped beer production in one of its factories during Hurricane Harvey to produce canned drinking water. With the help of local partners, Anheuser-Busch breweries were able to send more than 410,000 cans of water to Texas to help victims of Harvey, and more than 2.1 million cans for areas affected by each of the year’s major hurricanes.

The same year, HanesBrands donated more than 2 million pieces of underwear and apparel to help hurricane victims in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

Companies are becoming adept at generously handling disastrous situations – but how are they responding to the daily, systemic problems so insidious in our society?

Problems like pollution, climate change, racism and poverty don’t just rear their ugly heads just once every few years – they are constant.

Millennial consumers no longer accept the age-old juxtaposition of a thriving profit-driven business sector and a barely limping social sector. Now, consumers are demanding that for-profit businesses care about more than just their bottom line. These consumers demand value – not just from the products or services they purchase – but the larger impact of companies who provide them. In fact, 73 percent of millennial consumers will pay more for a product from socially-responsible companies.

If competition for the consumer isn’t enough reason for companies to think about impact, the competition for talent should be. Millennials will soon make up a vast majority of the American workforce, and 75 percent of them say they would take a pay cut to work for a responsible company. 

Many companies out there might say they’re about more than profit, but if you can’t measure its impact, you can’t improve it. That’s why a new local movement, St. Pete for Good, is asking local businesses to take the Florida For Good Impact Assessment.

The assessment is a free and confidential tool to measure current impact, compare to other companies across the state and analyze areas for improvement. A 30-minute assessment can provide a quick snapshot of impact, while a more thorough 2-3 hour assessment can provide in-depth insights in a full impact report. The full impact report includes a free improvement plan, complete with best practices to help take company impact to the next level.

The impact assessment is the first step in becoming a part of St. Pete For Good – founded in partnership with a local chapter of Conscious Capitalism and organized by a network of socially-conscious entrepreneurs. It seeks to bring together diverse businesses for one collective mission – to contribute to the greater good.

St. Pete For Good is inspired by the B Corp movement. B Corps are for-profit companies certified to meet rigorous standards of accountability and transparency, as well as social and environmental performance. Well-known B Corps include Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, New Belgium and Klean Kanteen.

St. Pete’s first B Corp, Salt Palm Development, became certified in March 2018. Whether a company is interested in becoming a B Corp, or simply joining the free St. Pete For Good movement, they are encouraged to take the Florida For Good Impact Assessment. 

Watch the video below to learn about the B Corp Movement.