Governance and transparency: with Solar States founder Micah Gold-Markel and CFO Jael Blankenship

Join hosts Lauren Everett and Max Hayes on Getting Down to Business, as they chat with Solar States founder Micah Gold-Markel and CFO Jael Blankenship. Solar States is focused on using solar energy as a tool for sustainability, economic development, and workforce training, and the company has installed solar projects on homes, schools, and businesses across Philadelphia, while also training the next generation of green energy workers.

Micah and Jael join Lauren and Max to discuss governance, one of the key pillars of the B Corp impact assessment. “Good governance ensures that a company's mission and values aren't just words on a page, but are embedded into its decision-making structure,” Lauren explains. In this episode, she explores with her guests how transparency and accountability shape businesses for long-term success.

Solar States’ journey to B Corp

When Micah founded Solar States in 2008, he knew he wanted his business to have a connection to the community. He describes being attracted to the idea of becoming a certified B Corp, but knowing the cost would be challenging, he thought he might postpone the certification process.  He recalls being prodded by his colleague Akil March. “He said, of course we're living by the standards we set, but people have to be able to verify that,” Micah recalls. “How do they know you're telling the truth? Well, third party verification, that's it. That's when it started to make more sense.”

Solar States was certified officially in 2013, a process Micah describes as rightfully difficult. For the first few years, the company maintained the certification but wasn’t sure about the benefits, feeling that since they believed so strongly in those values, they would meet all the B Corp standards whether they paid for the certification or not. But once they landed a large contract on the strength of their mission and their B Corp status, the value became clear. “That was a real launch pad for us because we had consistent work, and it put us into a network where other folks were hearing about us and what we did, Micah says. “So it was a real game changer.”

Governance as a tool for transparency and accountability

Another big component of becoming a B Corp is that it’s a rigorous process, and governance plays a critical role. And as Max explains, B Corps need to expand their fiduciary duties to legally allow them to consider more than just profit when making business decisions.  For Solar States, Jael notes that this has been a beneficial but not overly burdensome part of the process.  We've done three recertifications and another one this year coming up. And so every single time we're putting in new policies, we're putting in new reports, we're tracking new metrics for the company.”

That exercise has been helpful, Jael notes. “Rather than just saying, this is what we do, or knowing that this is what we do, really proving that this is what we do,” he adds. “And it’s helped to professionalize us a little bit. In the beginning, when I started, we were very, very small. And since we've grown, it's really helped us to add structure and be organized about the whole thing.”

That rigorous governance has also helped Solar States to build in steps to ensure transparency and accountability in decision making. They’ve formalized policies and been transparent with employees and the public to bring them into the fold of the values and mission and what it means to be a B Corp. One way they’ve instituted transparency among employees is around transparent compensation structures, and another is by sharing both the good and the bad company-wide. As Micah sums up: “I think when people feel like they understand what's going on around them and there's transparency such that they feel like they're being treated the right way, then that sort of reflects into other areas of their lives.”

For more information about B Corp Certification and how to measure your company's impact, visit https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/programs-and-tools/b-impact-assessment/