PA Leads B Corporations Push, But Will It Become Official?

Friends from college, Jay Coen Gilbert and Bart Houlahan founded the basketball shoe and apparel company, AND1, in Paoli, Pennsylvania, in 1993. They donated part of the company's profits to charity and created good conditions for employees and suppliers.

When they sold the company, however, they saw those practices change because most states' laws require corporate boards to act only in the monetary interest of shareholders–maximizing profit is legally protected but helping society in other ways is not.

Gilbert and Houlahan saw the same thing happen to other corporations that changed hands, so they recruited another former classmate and invented the non-profit B (for benefit) Lab in 2006. B Lab pushes for legal changes and also certifies companies as B Corporations if they meet criteria for corporate transparency and accountability and positive relationships with their employees, customers, local community, and the environment.