Starbucks Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz last fall urged corporate leaders to help accelerate job creation. To lend a hand, Starbucks began selling $5 wristbands with proceeds going to the Opportunity Finance Network, a group of community development financial institutions that lend to small businesses in disadvantaged communities. The company kicked off its “Create Jobs for USA” program with a $5 million contribution to the network. Within two weeks in November, more than $1 million in individual donations were collected.
“I reject the old approach that the role and responsibility of a corporation is only to make a profit,” Schultz told CNN. He said he feels a moral obligation to hire people now that Starbucks’ business is improving, adding that companies that balance profitability and social conscience will be rewarded with customer and employee loyalty.
The author is a senior writer for HR Magazine.
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