A dozen companies sign up to be do-good “benefit corporations”
A dozen, mostly small and somewhat “alternative” San Francisco Bay Area companies are the first California businesses to file papers and pay state government fees to become California’s pioneering “benefit corporations.”
“We rushed to be in Sacramento on Jan. 3,” the first business day to register under a new California law, said Sandra Stewart, principal of Thinkshift Communications, a San Francisco public relations firm that is committed to operating in a sustainable way.
“It’s what people are demanding. It’s not just a trend -- ingraining values into a legal corporate structure is key to a sustainable future.”
On Sunday, California became the seventh U.S. state to give companies the option of being benefit corporations.
The new law gives companies a way to legally structure their businesses to consider social and environmental efforts, in addition to earning a profit, as part of their corporate mission.
Upon a vote of two-thirds of outstanding shareholders, California companies can officially adopt policies “that create a material positive impact on society and the environment,” according to legislation authored by Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael). His bill, AB 361, was passed by both houses of the Legislature on bipartisan votes and was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in October.
In addition to Thinkshift, the 12 companies are:
-- Dopehut, a Bay Area online street-wear seller.
- Dharma Merchant Services, a San Mateo credit card processor.
- Give Something Back Office Supplies, Oakland.
- Green Retirement Plans, Oakland.
- Opticos Design & Architecture, Albany.
- Patagonia Inc., a Ventura outdoor apparel maker.
- Rimon Law, San Francisco.
- Scientific Certification Systems, an Emeryville independent auditor.
- Solar Works, Sebastopol photo-voltaic solar generating system installer.
- Sun Light & Power, Berkeley solar power installer.
- Terrassure Sustainable Land & Resource Development, San Rafael.
California’s new law presents opportunities for socially and environmentally conscious companies, said Mike Hannigan, president and co-founder of Give Something Back Office Supplies.
“This important legal framework marks another giant step of mission-driven business towards the mainstream,” he said.
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