If you’ve been following the Good For Michigan program for a while, you know we’re all about helping companies start and continue their journey to a better business future. You might not know it, but your business could already be creating social prosperity, environmental reciprocity, and a more equitable world for future generations. We say it all the time: It’s not about perfection; it’s about the steps you take towards better practices.
We’ve learned that building a People First Economy takes more than a single action, one time. But it doesn’t have to be as overwhelming as changing everything all at once. We encourage you to instead think about a single action as the beginning of forming a habit. A good habit.
New habits take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to form, which is why we’re going to provide resources all year long.
Where to start
More than 150 businesses across the state have made a commitment to measuring their impact by using the SDG Baseline and B Impact Assessment. Why are businesses taking this step? Because companies that track their social, environmental and economic impact are 63% more likely to survive a recession (An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Certified B Corporations and Benefit Corporations). They also have a greater revenue growth and higher employee satisfaction.
These companies are modeling sustainability as a journey to improve their jobs, our planet, how they show up in a community, and how they keep themselves accountable. Resolve to be a business making strides and building a better business future. See who already has.
In 2021, People First Economy honored five businesses making the most positive impact in these areas through the Good For Michigan Awards.
Mallowfields: Mallowfields strives to go beyond creating employment happiness and has built an infrastructure to support employee-owners as whole people.
FlexTech Education: FlexTech Educaiton operates with transparency in all decisions and have a formal process for new and evolving initiatives, demonstrating a commitment to innovation and equity in the workplace. As they grow, they’ll use what they learned in the assessment to preserve these and other values and principles.
Little Space Studio: Little Space Studio saw a need in the creative community for a more accessible entry point to economic mobility, they’ve structured their membership to allow more pathways to succeed in the industry. They work with members to set goals while also providing the infrastructure and ecosystem to achieve those goals.
Walker Miller Energy: Walker-Miller Energy provides the support and assistance to both decrease harmful greenhouse gas emissions and increase economic opportunity. They work at the city and state level to advocate for everything from better lightbulbs to deeper systems change.
EuzenConnect: As a company in their first year, many of the things that EuzenConnect learned through going through the Baseline assessment serve as a road map for scaling their business and onboarding new employees of their own.
One of these awards could have your business name on it in the future! Good For Michigan works to give participating businesses the tools necessary to lead their businesses into a powerful global movement towards a regenerative economy. Good business matters. Especially now. No matter where you are on your journey, we’ll meet you there. You just need to get started.
Need some inspiration? Check out this #throwback from 2018!
Stay tuned for People First Economy’s Annual Meeting in March 2022. The Annual Meeting is a space for our stakeholders to learn more about how People First Economy’s programs Local First, Good For Michigan, and The Impact Project are supporting businesses and creating an economy that puts people first. Come to learn more about our organization, what we accomplished over 2021, and how you can be involved as we move into 2022.
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