NOTE: THIS EVENT WILL BE VIRTUAL. YOU WILL RECEIVE A ZOOM LINK PRIOR TO EVENT!

Good Governance and Sustainable Investing: ESG for Small Businesses and Why it Matters!

Standing for environmental, social, and governance factors, ESG has become an important aspect of a business strategy. Businesses that have addressed ESG issues outperform their competitors and a recent study found a strong correlation between ESG performance and stock price. Many startups are not aware of the rising benefits of ESG implementation or the potential risks for not doing so. It is also important to ensure that your investments are aligned with your business culture. Startups and small business have a great opportunity to incorporate ESG thinking right from the start. Understanding how to set targets, track performance and the various reporting frameworks early will help you plan and scale-up. More importantly, this is now something your potential investors, customers, and partners expect of you.

Content

• What ESG factors are investors using when assessing your company’s future financial performance
• How does an effective ESG strategy help you mitigate risk
• Establish an early reputation as a socially responsible business
• How to track and report key ESG performance indicators
• How basic principles of ESG will help you create a value-oriented corporate culture that will attract and retain talent, investment and profits
• How tracking ESG factors can help you win business with big industry players and government contracts
• What is sustainable investing? Misconceptions vs. reality
• How to ensure that your investments are aligned with your culture

Guest Speakers

Janet Craig, Founding Partner and ESG Strategy Sherpa, Destination Better

Neil Beckingham, Senior Advisor – Water Strategy, The Mosaic Company

T.J. King, CFP, First Vice President – Wealth Management, Raymond James

This workshop is the fifth in a series of sustainable business workshops. Other topics such as marketing your green business, green business certifications and social entrepreneurship will be covered in the remaining workshops. Schedule below:

About the Program

Sustainability @Work is a series of workshops designed for start-ups and small businesses interested in learning more about how to become more sustainable and why it is not only important, but profitable. Each workshop will cover an important aspect of becoming a sustainable business.

The workshops are designed as stand-alone sessions and attendees may choose to attend one or all of them depending on their particular challenge or interest. The program is also designed to work as a cohesive series so a participant attending all sessions will be well prepared to create a comprehensive sustainability plan or work towards one of many certifications in the industry upon completion.

Attendees who are interested in pursuing a certification or getting a more formal assessment are eligible to apply for a free one-on-one consultation.

THIS PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY GOVERNMENT