Business
Looking for positive and inspiring business stories? From green operations to employee rights, from innovative corporate structures to diversity and inclusion, the Business section at The Optimist Daily has got the latest innovative solutions from the corporate sector.
Innovative products make off-the-grid life a little easier
Access to power sources in developing countries is of growing concern, especially as households there depend more and more on phones and other technology for communication and livelihood. Each year, 77 billion liters of fuel is burned to light houses that have no power. Around 20% of the world’s Read More...
From gas to grass
Photo: ToadLickr Urban agriculture means more than planting a few fruits and vegetables – at least for Sole Food Street Farms. The organization produces 60 tons of food per year, and recently transformed an old gas station into what locals call “the largest urban orchard in North Read More...
San Francisco looks to startups to solve city’s problems
“We have the brightest minds to solve our biggest challenges,” said President Barack Obama in a White House address regarding the new management agenda on July 8, 2013. The city of San Francisco is now thinking about using the bright minds of tech-entrepreneurs to help solve the city’s Read More...
Empower Tools
Tradeworks Training Society is a non-profit that teaches carpentry and helps at-risk youth and inner city women develop useful skills for the growing trades industry in Vancouver, Canada. These marginalized populations often have several barriers to employment, like lack of training and emotional Read More...
Grass roots, grass bikes
The first step to making a Semester bike at Hero Bike is to walk down Main Street in Greensboro, AL to a bamboo stand and harvest a large section of the tall grass. Hero Bike is using an abundant local material, bamboo, to produce bicycles, create jobs, and spur economic growth. Hero Bike has been Read More...
Walking in the developing world
In 2006 Blake Mycoskie travelled to Argentina and found many children in the country walking around in bare feet. To fix this Mycoskie decided to start Toms, a buy 1 give 1 company that donates a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair they sell in retail. A fairly simple solution to a Read More...
5 green restaurants to know about
With green initiatives popping up all over the globe, restaurants and cafes are no exception. While green can be pricy for both consumers and manufacturers, affordable eco-friendly meals are not as uncommon as you might think. The Green Restaurant Association, based in Boston, helps restaurants Read More...
High tech farms
The American farmer is a dying breed. The average age of the American farmer is 58, and less than 1% of the U.S. population identifies farming as their occupation. Urban farming has gained some traction in recent years but with options being between a repurposed vacant lot and a vertical garden Read More...
More to life than profit
Profit margins have long reigned supreme as the benchmark of business success. More recently companies have been taking their corporate responsibility one step, sometimes two steps, beyond their economic bottom line and venturing into the realms of social and environmental consciousness. Those Read More...
Can bankruptcy spur growth?
Detroit’s name alone evokes images of hollowed- out houses, a desolate downtown, and fleeing residents, essentially a dying city. The once booming motor capital of the world has been crippled by the economic crisis; it’s lowest point coming last month in the form of a chapter 9-bankruptcy Read More...