Fast Start: The business of doing good

When Liz Brenna worked at Ben & Jerry’s, it wasn’t the red swirly slide or the ice cream benefits (three free pints per day) that made it a great place to work.
 
Brenna says what attracted her was a prevailing spirit of cooperation and respect among employees, involvement on social issues and a sense of purpose in extending that attitude in customer interactions.
 
"I saw how Ben & Jerry’s ran a successful values-led business. That’s probably what I liked most about working there," she says.
 
Brenna’s 5-month-old firm, Socially Good Business, is one of a handful across the country that are getting in on what they say is the next big wave of business. They help companies and non-profits implement value systems that infuse every aspect of business, from product sourcing to customer relations.
 
Patagonia, Tom’s Shoes and Ben & Jerry’s are examples of global and national brands that aim for more than boosting the bottom line.
 
"Bigger brands are incorporating this philosophy into their business," Brenna says. "The most value comes from making a commitment; let the customers see that through everything you do."
 
Brenna’s firm is developing a partnership with Sustainable Intelligence, a local company led by Don Sweet, to help firms create an organizational strategy bringing company values into every aspect of the business. SI quantifies that system and turns it into decision-making software, "so the brand values a company wants to sell are the values that employees are systemically living," she says.
 
Areas of concern include employment, economics, education, health, ecosystem, public safety and sense of community.
 
SGB’s role is to work with employees on making it happen. It starts on the inside and works its way out, Brenna says. "The employee creates the customer experience."
 
Together the firms are helping clients find "a consistent way for an employee to make business decisions based on values the company has chosen," she says.
 
When Brenna, 26, was a sophomore at Ithaca College, Jeff Furman came to speak. Furman is known as the ampersand in Ben & Jerry’s and helped get the company off the ground. Something clicked for Brenna when she heard him speak.
 
"Before that, business to me was stodgy and corporate, and there was one way to do it. I really knew I didn’t want to be part of a (company) where business profits were the end-all and be-all," she says. "After hearing him speak, it was the first time I realized business doesn’t have to be run solely on profits. It kind of blew my mind."
 
Brenna earned a degree in communication management and design and toyed with the idea of finding work in Italy, where she spent a summer studying. But when her boyfriend chose Vermont for medical school, she leapt at the chance. Vermont is home to Ben & Jerry’s, whose unusual business model she had studied intensely during college. She landed an eight-month position coordinating international operations before switching to a public relations job that blended integrated marketing with the company’s social mission.
 
Four years later, her boyfriend was ready to choose a residency. Though Brenna enjoyed her work at Ben & Jerry’s, she was open to a move. She comes from a long line of business owners, and Brenna had long had a goal to open her own business. Fresh off her on-the-job education, she knew most of the business world didn’t operate like Ben & Jerry’s-and there were scant resources for companies interested in trying.
 
"Something was tugging at me to explore this," she says. When the couple decided to move to Rochester, Brenna’s hometown, she spent a couple of months pacing the floor and gathering the courage to hang out her own shingle. What sealed the deal was this thought: The time is now. Public outrage over how companies do business is at an all-time high-from the antics of Wall Street to the BP oil spill.
 
"Consumers are finally demanding it," she says, "especially through social media. This is the next generation of business; the movement is starting. It’s an evolution of society."
 
Still in its infancy, Socially Good Business has a few smaller clients. Brenna uses social media to connect to consumers and corporations. On Twitter, she is raising the profile of her work by flagging the cool things companies are doing. A recent call from Nestle’s director of sustainability showed her she’s on the right track.
 
Working with Sustainable Intelligence, the firm is going after national and global brands. Bigger companies tend to lead the way.
 
It turns out that being socially conscious has its fiscal perks as well. There is a big return on investment for companies that walk the talk when it comes to concern for the environment, community, health, education and other areas, she says.
 
"Right now it’s still new enough that you can gain a huge advantage," she says. "You can be ahead of the game. Not a lot of people are doing it, especially the right way, which is what I can help with."
 
2/24/12 (c) 2012 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or email [email protected].