Corporate Responsibility and Community Involvement

Yesterday’s post about living a blended life was inspired by a few words from Drew McLellan on Twitter.  Drew added a comment, I added another comment and then decided to write a new article for today in about 10 minutes which is what you are reading now.

I’ve worked for big companies and tiny companies.

There are studies that show that Big Box Stores suck money out of a local community.

Often they use statistics that only tell 1/2 the story.  Such as the percentage of dollars spent at a local store that stays in a community is larger than the percentage of dollars that stays in the community at a Big Box Store.

I’ll address that issue in a moment.  But first I want to share with you something I discovered a few years ago.

Some of the Big Box stores are giving back in ways that a Mom & Pop store cannot afford to give.

For example Old Navy/Gap/Banana Republic actually encourages employees to serve non-profits in their community AND gives grants to those organizations based on those employees involvement.

According to their website:

In 2006, we launched our Field Team Grant program as a way to support our store employees in sharing their skills and abilities with the community. For every 25 hours that a group of at least three employees spends volunteering with a community organization focused on underserved youth or women, Gap Inc. provides that organization with a $250 grant. Since the program’s launch in 2006, $1.3 million has been contributed to local communities through Field Team Grants.

And:

• More than 15,000 employees from Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic, Gap Outlet, and Banana Republic Factory Store brands have participated in Field Team Grant since the program’s inception in 2006.
• Since 2006, 5,103 grants — equating to $1.3 Million in donations — have been given to local communities.
• Employees have volunteered over 125,000 hours through the program.

You can read more here: http://www.gapinc.com/content/csr/html/Goals/communityinvestment/our_program_in_action/creating_change_locally.html

I know other Big Box stores give back to their community too.  But what about the other argument, that when a Walmart comes to town, the smaller local stores go out of business?

That is both true and misleading.

Every Walmart shopping center that I have seen also spurs growth in the local business community.

Take a look at all the additional shops that are built next to or around Walmart.  You are bound to see one or more local non-franchise business taking advantage of the fact that Walmart is a shopping destination and they understand that they can also benefit from being close by.

One last point and it has to do with franchises.

Having had McDonalds as a client for a number of years and doing some background research on the McDonalds operation, I understand a little more than the average consumer about how they operate.

First off, they do have a combination of locally owned stores and corporate owned stores.  Their goal has always been to have store ownership be local and keep the corporate owned McDonalds to a minimum.

I know a few of the local owners and have seen how they have two “bosses” to serve:

• the community they serve
• the McDonalds corporation

This keeps them in check.  McDonalds has high standards, higher than a lot of local restaurants, believe it or not, and a local owner can lose their franchise if they are not meeting those standards.  McDonalds offers a health insurance program that part-time employees can buy into and other benefits.  When I worked for a locally owned firm recently, I didn’t have access to any of these programs.

And if you want to read the original discussion between Drew and myself, click here, and read the comments too.