MaineBusiness.com

Building a Sustainable Business in Maine

There was a great article on MEBSR (Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility) in the Maine Sunday Telegram. The article was called Doing Well While Doing Good and talked about the slight shift in focus of MEBSR and interviewed a few of its members.

Personally, I think MEBSR has a perception problem. The "social responsibility" in the name leads some business owners to think that MEBSR wants businesses to become some sort of charitable organization, or doing things that cost them money.

That's NOT the purpose or mission of MEBSR. I'm a member of MEBSR (and now vice-president) because I believe it's essential for businesses--big and small--to be sustainable. To be able to survive in a global economy. To reduce costs and improve profits by reducing waste. To have long-term vision.

MEBSR's not about scoring karma points. It's about networking with like-minded (and unlike-minded) people who have reduced turnover, lowered costs, and built a more sustainable business that they can grow, sell or handover to their children. It's a facilitator of great ideas that can help Maine businesses grow and prosper.

Pick up any business magazine--BusinessWeek, Business 2.0, Inc., Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Forbes--and you'll find article after article, sometimes even cover stories, on how companies are going green and making money at it. How consumers are demanding more accountability. And how talented employees are leaving for companies who "get it."

MEBSR's goal this year is to facilitate these conversations, these learning opportunities, through events both in the real world and online. Not to preach that social responsibility is important, but to help Maine businesses network and teach each other best practices to run a sustainable business over the long haul.

MEBSR members are going to learn how to run a business with less waste, less employee turnover and more and prolonged profitability.

Now tell me: are you in?

By the way, if you have any questions on MEBSR, or want to join up or renew, feel free to contact me direct: 207.523.5141.

Rich Brooks
MEBSR Vice-President

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