Local firm makes big impact turning profits into donations

Richmond-based Impact Makers is a company without an owner and in CEO Michael Pirron’s eyes that is just fine. Read more

Local firm nominated for Business Week award

Impact Makers, a local healthcare and IT consulting firm, is finalist for a Business Week Social Entrepreneurship Award.

The company is among 25 finalists out of more than 200 nominees. Business Week will announce five winners on May 2, which will be chosen by an online vote.

So what makes Impact Makers a social entrepreneur?

100% of their profits are donated to free clinic systems in Virginia. Their primary non-profit partner is RXpartnership.org which donates medicine to healthcare clinics that serve uninsured patients. In 2008, ImpactMakers made $300,000 in revenue of which they donated $9,000. This year they plan to double their revenue and donate close to $40,000.

With 30,000 firms earning $40 billion in annual revenue, social enterprises are gaining momentum, according to Business Week. They are companies that use business practices to solve societal problems, in many cases donating profits to community organizations.

You can read Business Week’s profile on Impact Makers here, and click here to vote.

Richmond PR professional on BusinessWeek.com

Casey Quinlan, a PR profession and ubiquitous member of the business networking circuit in Richmond, has a guest column on BusinessWeek.com arguing that health care costs should be driven down by a push for healthier living.

Writes Quinlan, “I firmly believe that the rising tide of medical costs, in the U.S. and other developed nations, can be laid at the door of our own individual unwillingness to take charge of our health by cutting back on drive-thru nutrition and doing what our TVs tell us to do: “Eat this! Drink this! Who cares if it’s loaded with sodium, saturated fat, and sugar? You deserve it!”