Good morning! Downtown Grand Rapids is starting to look and feel like spring. The trees are just starting to get their leaves – I can’t wait for West Michigan to become green once again.
Speaking of new life – the legislature has breathed new life in the possibility of benefit corporations (“Bcorps”) becoming a viable legal option to do business in the State of Michigan.
House Bills 5867, 5868 & 5869 were introduced last week, on April 24, 2018, that would allow BCorps to be formed under Michigan Law.
Back almost two years ago the legislature proposed similar legislation which died in committee. For a review of the Former BCorp Bills, the House Fiscal Agency issued a Fiscal Analysis, check it out here. The Analysis provides good background on what the legislation would do. This is helpful for those who are not overly familiar with BCorps in general.
The latest proposed Bcorp Legislation
The current Bcorp legislation has some different language than the 2016 proposed language. One difference is the definition of “general public benefit” to “specific public benefit” which would be defined under the new Bcorp law as:
“SPECIFIC PUBLIC BENEFIT” INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO,
ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
(i) PROVIDING LOW-INCOME OR UNDERSERVED INDIVIDUALS OR
COMMUNITIES WITH BENEFICIAL PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.
(ii) PROMOTING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIVIDUALS OR
COMMUNITIES BEYOND THE CREATION OF JOBS IN THE NORMAL COURSE OF
BUSINESS.
(iii) PRESERVING THE ENVIRONMENT.
(iv) IMPROVING HUMAN HEALTH.
(v) PROMOTING THE ARTS, SCIENCES, OR ADVANCEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE.
(vi) INCREASING THE FLOW OF CAPITAL TO ENTITIES THAT HAVE A
PUBLIC BENEFIT PURPOSE
I still need to perform a more detailed review of the legislation to see how it differs from the prior iteration; and also how it compares to what other states are doing.
Education on the “why” for BCorps.
Interested groups and local politicians have been educating the public on why BCorp laws would be a good thing for our state.
State Rep Hank Vaupe gave a discussion to a local chamber group on B-Corps two Septembers ago:
As Rep. Vaupe indicated “benefit corporations provide an opportunity for businesses to use the markets, rather than traditional charity giving, to advance their philanthropic missions.”
BCorp Certification is Trending in Michigan…
Over the last several years more and more local businesses have becoming Certified B Corps through BLabs. West Michigan has the most concentration of BCorp businesses in the State.
Check out a March article from Rapid Growth Media on the strong presence of Bcorps in West Michigan.
Headlines in Grand Rapids have brought attention to the need for businesses to ask the question: Am I working to build a better community?
B-Corp certification is one way (certainly not the only way) for businesses to hold themselves accountable to being a good community partner.
Why has it taken so long to get here?
Over the last several years Michigan legislators have introduced BCorp legislation – to no avail.
Check out this handout from Rep Barnett several years ago in support of the BCorp legislation he proposed in September 2010.
I found particularly interesting the very last section – it provides some comment on why some Michigan businesses may have been averse to the introduction of BCorp legislation. Feel free to read it and reach your own conclusions.
Trending Towards Social Entrepreneurship.
The trends all show that millennials and our up and coming workforce want to to be part of business as a force for good in our local community.
Questions? Comments?
Jeshua@dwlawpc.com
Connect with me on Twitter: @JeshuaTLauka
Purpose Driven General Counsel 
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