Big ideas help us make small choices. To a surprising extent, a business’ impact is the sum of its small choices, like banking, vendors, platforms, and partners. And the economy is the sum of its businesses. So we see these small choices as opportunities, however tiny, to proactively create a better system (our perspective was shaped by our work on the Economic Nutrition project with Shorefast).
Banking: The flows and pools of money in our economy have an extraordinary impact. A good bank makes smart investments – a great bank makes wise investments that are values-aligned. That’s why Field States uses Beneficial State Bank: a certified B Corp and whose financial strategies align with our values.
Products: We prioritize environmentally friendly products, and will pay a premium up to 20% over alternatives. We prioritize Fair Trade / Organic certified products, buying used, and purchasing from local and/or minority-owned businesses (see “Suppliers” below).
Software: For internal tools and solutions for clients, we seek to use and recommend software and platforms that are open source, or come from up-and-coming companies challenging big tech. Especially in the case of client recommendations, potential trade-offs must be made clear (e.g. reduced tech support), and may not always be appropriate or feasible.
Suppliers: As with our choice of software, we are intentional about our choice of suppliers. Field States is asset-light (we’re not manufacturing, after all) but every choice matters. From food catering for workshops to office space, we prioritize purchasing from suppliers that are Local, Minority-owned, Women-owned, or Emerging Small Businesses (MWESB’s, as defined here). We track our suppliers, and seek to have over 75% from the categories listed above. Our goal is to build personal relationships with them!