Advocacy News – Dec. 9, 2022
To help address the growing expectations businesses face from multiple angles on “Environmental, Social and Governance” or ESG, the Michigan Chamber hosted a seminar this week entitled “Green Up Your Small and Medium Business by Setting a Successful ESG Strategy.”
The seminar, the final piece of the Chamber’s 2022 Sustainability Summit, featured a panel discussion of top Michigan-based and national experts in the ESG space. Each spoke about both the challenges and opportunities of a new economic landscape where private capital, shareholder and consumer trends and demands, coupled with regulatory pressures, increasingly view quality and business performance through the ESG lens. Here are the top takeaways from what they shared:
- A successful ESG strategy can improve the bottom line, but you need to make it work for your business. “Stakeholder capitalism and the digital age have really driven this new age of ESG consumerism,” said Brian Pageau of Foresight Management. All too often this falls on the lap of a small- or medium-sized business that may supply a global brand or manufacturer with some kind of a sustainability commitment or requirement.” Studies show that is a successful ESG plan can improve a business’ bottom line, it’s up to the business to understand how to make it work on their own terms. “It’s an opportunity to be a leader if you embrace it, but if not, the transition can be painful,” Pageau said.
- Start with your company’s core values, customer and business needs, and realistic assessments to achieve and maintain success. When asked about where a business should even start, understanding companies core values, the needs of the customers and materiality assessments were all important and fundamental components. “You can’t manage what you can’t measure,” said Thomas Permatteo, of the Green Business Bureau, “so developing a data-driven strategy and having full team and executive-level buy in are key to achieve and maintain success.”
- Business can harness ESG strategies to showcase how they support their communities. Another key driver in this discussion was how local governments and communities are looking for more too. “In this new era of social responsibility, it isn’t just large companies trying to translate engagement to their shareholders, it is also local communities trying to drive value-based services to their constituencies,” said Ann Erhardt of Public Sector Consultants. “This can be an opportunity for companies to show that they align with their community and region and can contribute to their success through public-private partnerships.”
To catch a recording of the event, visit here. For questions or more information, contact Mike Alaimo at malaimo@michamber.com