Social Entrepreneurship – Page 2

October 22, 2013

An Orientation to Social Welfare

Life reduced to its simplest equation is about relationships. Implicit in these relationships is contract. Most of the time the contracts are implied and at other times in they are complex legal agreements governing business transactions. Implicit in these transactions is an element of fear. Rarely discussed and even more rarely placated it is there nonetheless. We live at a time and in a culture that is desperately looking for a response to life that is grounded in principles that respect both the buyer and the seller. Principles that invite not only common property but value for what we can call the common good? Some might argue that such ideas are too idealistic and that nowhere is there any evidence that anyone has successfully applied such an approach.

There exists within the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition the principles of ethical business and community building. Eight hundred years ago Francis of Assisi offered the world a paradigmatic alternative to unbridled avarice. And his prescription included removing money and greed which are central to the elimination of discord from relationships. Add to that he and his followers lived this paradigm in a manner that fostered fraternity. Although nearly eight hundred years separate St. Francis from today’s world. The principles embodied in the Franciscan Rule of Life and its intellectual tradition offer a way out of the madness. Like the early Franciscans we live in a time of devalued currency, unprincipled trading practices, emerging markets and global forces that have turned our world upside down.

Pope Benedict XVI provides direction in “Caritas in Veritate” for such a model from Catholic Social Teaching.

In recent decades a broad intermediate area has emerged between the two types of enterprise. It is made up of traditional companies which nonetheless subscribe to social aid agreements in support of underdeveloped countries, charitable foundations associated with individual companies, groups of companies oriented towards social welfare, and the diversified world of the so-called “civil economy” and the “economy of communion”. (Caritas in Veritate, p. 46)

These groups of companies oriented toward social welfare are precisely the kinds of businesses which can provide a vision of a way forward for all. The following quote from B Corporation’s website provides an alternative to more traditional business models.

“People like you have the power to spread awareness, create good, and ignite worldwide change. We want you to join our global neighborhood. A movement is simply a community in action. Go ahead and throw a pebble in the pond, create a ripple, start a conversation — you never know where it may lead.” — BCorporation

Can business exist for the common good and still meet a bottom line? This post was taken in part from a paper I wrote this summer as a student at the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University.

October 4, 2013

Economic Development for the Southern Tier

I’m meeting on Wednesday with an attorney in Buffalo to help me setup a 501c3 entity whose purpose is to wed social enterprise with economic development and community empowerment in New York State’s southern tier. That’s my backyard and this idea sprang from a course that I took at St. Bonaventure University’s “Franciscan Institute” this past summer. The course taught by noted author Keith Warner, OFM inspired me to consider how we could help “at-risk” youth in the area, students at St. Bonaventure University, foster entrepreneurs, encourage sustainable business and provide an incubator for other entrepreneurs.The project which is currently called “mPath” is still in its infancy. We have one board member and some people who are interested in being involved.

As a 501c3 we will need to raise money. That’s something I know very little about. I’ve been in a partnership and now the CEO of DGW Enterprises LLC. Those businesses fit a more traditional model of providing service for a fee. This venture is much more ambitious and requires some skill sets that I have not employed yet. The southern tier of New York State which includes Cattaraugus, Allegany, Steuben, and Chautauqua counties are among the most spectacular tourist vistas in the Empire State. Nonetheless, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties are among the state’s poorest. An area that was once home to dairy farming, agriculture, oil and gas production and industrial development has been languishing for over thirty years. Communities and school systems are in decline. The area is home to Alfred University, Houghton College, State University at Alfred, Fredonia State College, Jamestown Community College and St. Bonaventure University. Graduates of these institution have not found local employment a lucrative market. Politicians continue to promise a chicken in every pot and a return to the prosperity of yesteryear. Until now the rhetoric has been hollow. How do we empower and mentor youth with realistic twenty-first century skills. How do we create a sustain an economy that keeps our youth and encourages the development of the area in a manner that respects the earth and blesses its inhabitants.

Contemporary society needs new models of engagement and practice which will result in healing the social fabric through the offer of hope to a beleaguered citizenry. Globalization is an economic reality which cannot be sidestepped or avoided. We need leaders who can embrace a world view that reflects not and either or proposition but one that is both and. The Franciscan Intellectual Tradition embodied in the writings of St. Francis of Assisi, John Duns Scotus, St. Bonaventure, and others indicate a way forward. We seek an ethic that looks for and appreciates the common good and invites fraternity among us. In recent decades a broad intermediate area has emerged between the two types of enterprise. It is made up of traditional companies which nonetheless subscribe to social aid agreements in support of underdeveloped countries, charitable foundations associated with individual companies, groups of companies oriented towards social welfare, and the diversified world of the so-called “civil economy” and the “economy of communion”.

One of the most important things is for every business to measure what matters — not just profits, but impact on our communities, employees, and the environment. I want to re-create my own LLC as a B-Corp, but more than that I see mPath as an incubator of social good that connects at risk youth, with aspiring college students and their institutions that form partnerships and provide a think tank for the creation and sustenance of vision and direction for the southern tier that is not wed to any particular politics other than empowerment for all.