Small Businesses with Big Community Impact

“The solution lies in the principle of shared value, which involves creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges. Businesses must reconnect company success with social progress. Shared value is not social responsibility, philanthropy, or even sustainability, but a new way to achieve economic success. It is not on the margin of what companies do but at the center. We believe that it can give rise to the next major transformation of business thinking.” – Michael Porter in “Creating Shared Value”

Looking at the small businesses that participate in the Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) program, one cannot help but notice how deeply today’s companies seem to be incorporating the concept of “shared value” into their core business models. Whether out of conviction or economics, firms are incorporating standards of excellence above and beyond what is legally required and reaping the benefits of their benevolence on their balance sheets. FutureNet Group, a four time Inner City 100 honoree as well as three time participant in the ICCC program, has achieved success far beyond its modest urban accommodations by growing at an annual rate of more than 100% over the last five years. Located in Detroit, Michigan, a city devastated by manufacturing losses, FutureNet Group merits particular attention for its commitment to distressed communities at home and abroad.

“Our commitment to Detroit has never wavered,” said Perry Mehta, President and CEO. “We purchased a warehouse in the inner city, which is our base of operations, and hire locally as much as we possibly can.  We strategically manage the relationship between the company’s economic success and that of the city by providing jobs and opportunities for the people who live in this community. Our success is their success and vice versa.”

Some companies have their employees volunteer locally a few times a year and justifiably consider their societal obligations met. FutureNet Group, a general contractor on construction and IT environmental projects, offers computer education to over 20,000 disadvantaged students each day in founder Perry Mehta’s native India. Not to be outdone domestically, the company utilizes its construction expertise to buy and rehabilitate housing for low-income residents. Given Detroit’s recent manufacturing crisis, Mehta’s work contributes crucially to the viability of his community.

Yet, the company likely impacts society most through its commercial work. For example, FutureNet crucially took a lead in repairing infrastructure in post-earthquake Haiti. Additionally investing in technology to help the world cope with looming water scarcity, the firm plans to sell water desalinization products at 1/10 the price of its nearest competitors – all while prioritizing manufacturing jobs in Detroit. While most inner city companies garner only half the capital of their non-urban brethren, standouts like FutureNet beat the odds for growth and lift up their inner city communities in the process.

FutureNet Group provides an exceptional example of how today’s small businesses are anything but small with regards to their community impact. We are proud to work with deserving small businesses like FutureNet through ICCC.  By helping promising firms find the right investors, everyone truly wins. Investors get high returns, distressed communities find sources of pride, and companies realize the outer limits of their commercial aspirations. At a time when the primacy of financial markets is being questioned, FutureNet affirms the power of prudent capital and a responsible value proposition to effect positive change.

BY Sathya Vijayakumar on October 6th, 2011

TAGS: small business | shared value | iccc | detroit | community development | entrepreneur