When asked as a kid, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I intuited there were only two possible answers: Get rich or help people. It was assumed you couldn`t do both. Fast-forward four decades to last fall when my daughter started college. As she weighed her career options in earnest, I heard myself asking her, "How important to you is making money?"

The rise in socially conscious companies?—?particularly benefit corporations and Certified B Corporations, or B Corps?—?has me hoping we`ve evolved. 

Benefit corporations, legal in Wisconsin since 2018, are essentially for-profit businesses with do-good missions baked into their bylaws. B Corps, which predate the legislation, are different. They undergo a rigorous, third-party certification process?—?think organic or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, known as LEED?—?that`s open to all types of businesses. And while certified B Corps require a bigger time investment and annual fee, the return on investment may be worth the altruistic branding alone...