Posted by:
Steve Dubb
Worker-owned firms, "for benefit" B-corps, among top 25
The consulting company WorldBlu recently announced its 2008 list of the 25 “most democratic workplaces.” The criteria by which WorldBlu judges competing companies are available here. An article in US News & World Report entitled, “Why Workplace Democracy Can Be Good Business,” notes in its article covering WorldBlu’s list that, “Democratic companies may be slower in making decisions but faster in carrying them out because employees are invested in them.”
Among the companies making the WorldBlu list in 2008 are Equal Exchange, a worker cooperative based in Massachusetts, King Arthur Flour, a Vermont-based ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) company, and BetterWorld Telecom, a “for-benefits” B-corporation.
Equal Exchange, which began operations in 1986, is the oldest and largest for-profit fair trade company in the United States and offers organic coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, and chocolate bars produced by democratically run farmer co-ops in Latin America, Africa and Asia. In 2007, the worker cooperative, which has 77 member-owners (and an additional 23 employees who have not become owners) earned $500,000 in profits on $29.4 million in sales. A profile by U.S. News & Report on the company is available here. For more information on worker cooperatives, see also the website of the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives, (which also, incidentally, is holding its biennial conference in New Orleans in June).
King Arthur Flour is an interesting example of a family-owned company that has converted over to employee ownership. Founded in Boston in 1790 and now based in Norwich, Vermont, America’s oldest flour company has grown from a small mail-order business with five employees in 1990 to a $45 million a year business with nearly 200 employee owners. The switch-over to employee ownership began in 1996 and the business is now 100% employee-owned. In addition to being an employee-owned corporation, King Arthur Flour in 2008 became one of 82 founding B corporations. To become certified, B Corporations must meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards, and amend their corporate governing documents to incorporate the interests of employees, community and the environment. A list of press articles on King Arthur Flour is available here.
BetterWorld Telecom, which was started in 2003, is also among the 82 founding B corporations. The business aims to be a “triple bottom line” company with social, environmental, and financial returns. The firm is a nationwide voice and data telecommunications carrier “solely focused on serving businesses and organizations that support social justice and sustainability.” BetterWorld also donates three percent of customer revenues to non-profit organizations and supports local businesses through supporting a number of local chapters of Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). To date, the company, although small (a bit over $6 million in sales since its founding), has made $200,000 in donations.