History
VBSR
VBSR was started to pioneer a new focus for business: the multiple bottom line. The organization was founded in 1990 by a group of business-people who believed businesses have as much responsibility to workers, communities and the environment as they do to being financially successful.
Today, VBSR is active in influencing public policy on a statewide level in Vermont. We also provide educational programs and networking opportunities for our members through annual Conferences, Get-Togethers, Circles, and other events. We collaborate with many other organizations with similar goals.
Read on for a brief history of VBSR and its relationship to other state, regional, and national SR groups.
NEBSR, BSR, and VBSR
The VBSR Steering Committee began meeting in 1990. VBSR was founded in 1991 as a 501(c)(6) non-profit, an independent organization, affiliated with NEBSR (New England BSR). VBSR continued this relationship with NEBSR to help build strong state NEBSR chapters and regional networking. The other New England states had a different, less independent, relationship with NEBSR.
In 1993, the VBSR Board decided that, to fully focus on building VBSR's organization and programs, VBSR could not continue to divert resources to another organization, and it ended its NEBSR affiliation.
BSR
The national organization, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), was founded in 1992 by some of NEBSR's original founders. In 1994, the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island chapters of NEBSR merged with BSR, becoming chapters of BSR. Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility (MEBSR) and VBSR did not merge, as each organization's members preferred to remain as independent organizations. In June 2001, BSR discontinued the chapter structure. It emphasizes larger, multi-national companies and does not engage in public policy.
BALLE
In 2003 VBSR joined Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), a national organizations with chapters around the nation. BALLE places an emphasis on supporting local economies and small, locally owned businesses. In 2006 BALLE’s national conference was hosted by VBSR in Burlington.
