Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
It’s not just the big companies that give money and time to charitable causes, a first-of-its-kind study shows.
Of Minnesota businesses with 20 or more employees, 92 percent made charitable contributions of cash, products, services or employee time within their past fiscal year, and 86 percent of those say their charitable contributions will increase or stay the same in the next year. Since nearly 98 percent of all Minnesota businesses have fewer than 100 employees each, that means small business is giving big.
So says a study by Building Business Investment in Community (BBIC), which wanted to find out whether small companies were giving back — giving by the largest 2 percent of Minnesota companies is well documented. BBIC, a collaboration of 14 Minnesota organizations with business ties, surveyed 595 businesses last year, randomly drawn to equally represent metro, northern and southern Minnesota.
On average, Minnesota businesses gave 1 percent to 2 percent of their gross revenue last year, although companies with fewer than 20 employees gave proportionally more of their revenue. Most businesses gave cash, and most consider the importance of the project to their community when deciding to give, the study found.
Deb Larsen, co-owner of Morris Electronics in Morris, says her firm’s giving is “based upon the personal.” She was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago, as was a sister recently, so most donations go to cancer research. “It’s not based on who needs it more or what will give the business a leg up, but it’s decided on where our personal choices lie,” Larsen says.
They’ll also support local causes, like a kid going to the rodeo or the Miss Teen Minnesota pageant.
She’s co-owned the business, a Radio Shack dealer, for 12 years, and has given from the beginning. “As our business becomes more prosperous, we do give more,” Larsen says. “Both my husband and I, it’s just a part of us. We’re not the type of people who keep our money and just roll in the dough.”
Larsen doesn’t have a plan for the company’s giving, she says, unlike many business owners who peg giving as a percentage of profits or revenue. Some businesses use a committee of employees to decide which charities to choose, to align company giving with employee interests and to deal with the many requests. Larsen goes with the flow. “Our giving may have to change as business changes,” she says.
Deb Larsen, Morris Electronics: 320.589.1781. BBIC: BB******@*******er.com; www.minnesotabusinessgiving.org
