Good for Business. Good for Communities. Good for Michigan

A Grand Rapids-based organization has taken a local program statewide to inspire, equip and celebrate companies that create high-quality jobs, stronger communities and a healthier Great Lakes region. 

Helping local businesses build thriving communities

What do a small engineering firm, a Hispanic supermarket chain, a doula practice, an automotive repair shop, a regional healthcare system, a gourmet ice cream shop and a neighborhood microbrewery have in common?

They’re among the many Good For Michigan businesses and institutions working to create high-quality jobs, stronger communities and a healthier Great Lakes environment.

Grand Rapids-based Local First launched the Good For Michigan program in 2017. It offers resources and best practices to help companies drive positive environmental, social and economic change in their communities.

Growing impact

Interested businesses and organizations take a free online SDG Baseline or B impact Assessment. The SDG Action Manager helps businesses set and achieve measurable, positive goals in comprehensive sustainability. The B impact Assessment measures and categorizes the impact of a business in five areas. This assessment can be used to guide sustainability efforts.

Following the assessment, they use Good For Michigan program resources to model best practices, set goals to improve impact and benchmark against industry peers.

Good for Michigan is Michigan's "B Local" -- one of a network of place-based communities across North America that is using business as a force for good. The program is aligned with principals of Benefit Corporations – or B Corps. Certified B Corps are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.

B Corp certification is an extremely rigorous process that can be both time and cost-prohibitive for smaller organizations. Good for Michigan serves as an intermediary step for businesses that are interested in measuring their environmental, social and community impacts, but are not yet equipped to take on B Corp certification.

“There are 23 B Corps in Michigan, and many businesses want to align themselves with their practices. But certification is an extremely rigorous process that can be both time and cost prohibitive for smaller organizations,” explained Hanna Schulze, development manager at Local First and Good for Michigan. “Good For Michigan serves as an intermediary step for businesses that are interested in measuring their environmental, social and community impacts, but are not yet equipped to take on B Corp certification."

Awarding performance

Since 2018, Good for Michigan has awarded top-performing organizations in each of four categories – environmental, social, community and governance -- and selected a yearly SDG Allstar. Past Grand Rapids-area winners include Array of Engineers, Bare All Clothing/ BAC Print, Celebration Cinema, Community Automotive Repair, Furniture City Creamery, Glamour and Grit Floral, Gun Lake Investments, Hire for Hope, Little Space Studio, Lindo Mexico, Malamiah Juice Bar, Mallowfields, Supermercado Mexico, United Bank, Urban Pharm and Wolverine Coil Spring.

Array of Engineers, a small, woman-owned engineering company located in northeast Grand Rapids, was a winner in the governance category the first year of awards.

“I had heard about Good For Michigan and really liked what it stood for,” said Array of Engineers CEO, Stacy Paul. “I’ve always felt that by respecting their employees, helping their communities and being environmentally conscious, Good For Michigan businesses set a standard for Array of Engineers to strive for.”

Mapping improvement and impact

The online assessments, awards program, mentorship and other educational resources are designed to assist program participants like Array of Engineers in meeting their impact goals.

The program convenes Michigan B Corp businesses to serve as mentors and provides resources on best practices. Good for Michigan has access to the aggregated data that comes from B Corp assessments and uses that date to help inform its educational programs.

Paul contends that participation in the program has created a roadmap for improvement in her business operation.

“Through Good For Michigan events and webinars, I have been able to speak with and learn from other companies who have been in business longer than we have,” she says. “We have thought more about our organizational setup and how we can create an environment to help each of our employees succeed. It’s been a very valuable experience.”

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