New ‘Benefit Corporation’ Legislation Takes Effect in Maryland

San Francisco

This spring the state of Maryland created a new legal structure—a benefit corporation—for companies that blend business with social or environmental good. The legislation requires that benefit corporations consider how decisions will affect employees, local jurisdictions, and the environment rather than just looking at shareholders’ interest.

The new structure went into effect on October 1, this past Friday, and by Monday 11 benefit corporations had registered in the state, Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder of B Lab, the nonprofit group that has been pushing for the new corporate form, told the audience at the Social Capital Markets conferencehere.

“So you create the infrastructure—sort of the Field of Dreams strategy, ‘If you build it, they will come'—and there are 11 in one day,” he joked with the audience. “That’s only one state, so we figure it’s pretty close to world domination.”

To learn more about the group’s efforts to certify socially responsible businesses and push for the new legal structure, read The Chronicle’s profile of B Lab in our new issue.

See more coverage from the Social Capital Markets 2010 conference on our Conference Notebook blog.