California, like many other states, has enacted legislation allowing for the formation of benefit corporations. Cal. Corp. Code § 16400 et seq.  Technically, a benefit corporation is a corporation formed under the General Corporation Law that has elected to be governed by the Benefit Corporation Law.  One requirement of the Benefit Corporation Law is that the corporation provide an annual report to each shareholder that, among other things, includes an “assessment of the overall social and environmental performance of the benefit corporation, prepared in accordance with a third-party standard applied consistently with any application of that standard in prior benefit reports or accompanied by an explanation of the reasons for any inconsistent application. The assessment does not need to be audited or certified by a third party.”  Cal. Corp. Code § 14630.  Several companies have posted their annual reports online, including 3Degrees and Amp Your Impact, Inc.

I was more intrigued by this annual report published by a New York benefit corporation.  Cape Commons Brewing Co. claims to be the first ever brewing company to incorporate as a benefit corporation.  What’s the benefit to society and the environment?  Here’s the company’s answer:

Considering the overall purpose of CCBC is to in fact brew beer, something we did so little of in 2013, it’s difficult to assess what general public benefit we created other than saying, “we benefited society simply by trying to exist as a company.”  Which is pretty lame way of putting it, but when your daily grind consists of starting up a company, this is the best you can do.