A round-up of the latest research on ethical businesses, innovative start-ups, and other positive signs for the American economy.
There’s far too much unique, inspiring, and positive news out there for us to cover in entirety, so we’ll be spotlighting some of our favorite finds from news sources and blogs around the web in a new themed feature, Gimundo’s Good News Brief. This gives us a chance to touch on deeper topics, and introduce you to great reporting from around the web. Here are some recent favorites about good news in the business world.
The Atlantic shares the grocery chain Wegman’s secret to success: investing in its people.
Cashiers are barred from interacting with customers until they have completed 40 hours of training. Hundreds of staffers are sent on trips around the U.S. and world to become experts in their products. The company has no mandatory retirement age and has never laid off workers. All profits are reinvested in the company or shared with employees.
Similarly, the New Yorker spotlights several retail companies—Trader Joe’s, Costco, QuikTrip, Mercadona, and the Japanese apparel chain Uniqlo—and finds that they each have far higher labor costs than many of their competitors, yet they are nonetheless more profitable. One main reason: “happy workers tend to stick around, which saves the costs associated with employee turnover, like hiring and training.” They’re also more likely to treat customers well: A study cited in the article found that every dollar spent on payroll led to between four and 28 dollars additional dollars in sales.
The Senate passed the Crowdfund Act last week, which will make it much easier for ordinary Americans to invest in start-up companies, helping foster innovation and small business growth. Currently, only people who make $200,000 a year or have assets over $1 million are permitted to invest significant amounts of money. GOOD has a great breakdown of the bill.
In other business innovation news, the business trend-spotting site Springwise features France’s Zéro Gâchis, an app that helps grocery stores alert shoppers to discounts on products that are reaching their expiration dates—a great way to help consumers save money while reducing food wastage.
And is Chipotle, the Mexican fresh-and-fast food chain, revolutionizing the fast-food industry the way that Apple did for tech gadgets? Slate thinks so and has some evidence to prove it.
Finally, while many Americans remain unemployed, the recent federal numbers show the lowest number of people seeking unemployment benefits in three years, at 8.3 percent. How does that mesh with your own community’s experience? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page. (We’ll finally be adding comment functionality to the site soon, along with a host of other new features.)
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