PIR/Ethos: Core Issues and Way Forward

[Sam Lanfranco]

	Colleagues,  

	As I see it, there are two issue in the pending Ethos purchase of PIR. The
first is the extent to which we should trust the integrity of the promises
being made by Ethos Capital (or any other buyer). The second is are their
ways that such promises could be embedded in the purchase.  

	The stakeholder community has expressed a strong interest for PIR to
continue as a non-profit corporation, or possibly as a formal Benefit
Corporation. This should be the bottom line to maximize the ability of PIR
to continue to honor the things it stands for and raise trust in the
ability of Ethos Capital (or any other buyer) to honor its promises. For
example, the Ethos promise to go for B Corp Certification by B Labs is only
a promise. The B Impact Assessment measures performance over the past
twelve months. Companies under one year old are only eligible for Pending B
Corp Status. Again, it is an issue of trust about promises made. Benefit
Corporation or non-profit incorporation would go a long way to dealing with
this trust issue.  

	Lastly, and here the lawyers need to chime in, I co-own an LLC registered
in Virginia. It appears to me that is a wide difference between
incorporating PIR as a non-profit or private company and incorporating PIR
as an LLC. I am of the impression (Hello lawyers?) that an LLC would impose
less constraint on the current or future owners of PIR to honor social
benefit and public interest promises. 

	Sam Lanfranco  
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