Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good.
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In this episode of Next Economy Now, Shawn Berry, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews John Abrams, founder and CEO of the South Mountain Co, a Design Build construction firm operating for over 4 decades on Martha’s vineyard. They are a worker owned cooperative and boast the highest B Corp certification score in the world! His book Companies We Keep, is a seminal work for the growing movement of worker coop buyouts.
In this interview we discuss:
John’s background coming from the back to the land movement in the 60’s
The political climate following the recent election
Climate change and the need for solutions
Triple bottom line peer business support network
Their strong family centric culture
ROI on the best employee benefits package in the world including home ownership and renewable energy
Their limits on building big
Commitment to affordable housing & place
How they survived the great recession and their plan for the next one
Building a company culture that makes it safe to fail
Trust in people is paramount
What the company looks like after he is gone
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Shawn Berry is a Partner at LIFT Economy, where he works as an organizational strategist inspired to harness the power of business to create resilient local economies as patterns to be documented, open sourced, scaled globally and adapted regionally.
LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Shawn on Twitter @sd_berry or email him shawn@lifteconomy.com.