I was pretty blown away when I heard him say “100k per week”.
In fact, I asked Aaron to repeat himself to make sure I heard him right.
And then he said it again…
“That’s right… every single week we donate 100k to Norm as a part of our way to give back to our community.”
But he wasn’t talking about MONEY.
He was talking about “spent grains,” which are a leftover byproduct from the process of brewing beer. I learned about all of this while I was on a brewery tour up in Portland, Maine this past Tuesday.
You see, a huge part of Allagash Brewing Company’s mission is to be “environmentally and community conscious”.
Certainly, the easier way would just be to dump the excess grains. (not good for the environment, and actually what MOST breweries do.)
And the more profitable way would be to:
1. SELL it to local farmers for a profit
2. Use the grains for baked dog treats, bread, or other baked goods
But instead, Rob (the owner of Allagash) built an incredible relationship with a local farmer named Norm.
Each and every week, they GIVE AWAY OVER 100k pounds of spent grain to Norm to help support his farm, the local community, and the environment.
Norm uses the spent grains for feed for his farm animals, and then he SELLS the leftover for a profit to other local farmers.
Allagash doesn’t make a dime from this…. never has and never will.
Giving back aligns with their core values and is a part of the way they do business.
It’s not a random “good deed” they do every once in a while. It’s engrained (pun intended!) in their daily operations.
This made me really think about my own core values in my business… how I integrate them in my own operations, how I engage and interact with my community, and how I contribute and give back.
Today, consider spending a little time thinking about the core values for YOUR business.
What’s important to you?
Why is it important to you?
What kind of impact do you really want to make?
Is there a way to be even more INTENTIONAL about your core values and integrate them at an even higher level in your business?
This is what I’ll be spending my Reflection time on today 🙂
Hopefully this story inspired you to see some of the amazing ways entrepreneurship can help contribute and give back…. no matter what the industry!
Make it an Amazing day,
Alicia
