Public benefit corporations sounds nice -- at least on paper. But ultimately, PBCs still tend to have a bunch of outside shareholders who are expecting to make

Public benefit corporations sounds nice -- at least on paper. But ultimately, PBCs still tend to have a bunch of outside shareholders who are expecting to make a profit eventually. What I'd really love to see is more organizations considering a cooperative structure. Cooperatives are 100% owned by their members (in the case of consumer cooperatives) or workers (in the case of worker-owned cooperatives). There are no outside shareholders, and so the pursuit of profit is not the ultimate goal; the happiness of the owners is. That certainly doesn't preclude making a healthy profit, but it does preclude short-sighted moves that eek out a temporary profit at the expense of the broader business. Most people don't realize how widespread cooperatives already are. Every single credit union in the United States is a cooperative. Many insurance companies are cooperatives. The ShopRite chain of grocery stores and REI outdoor stores use a cooperative structure. Of course, the downside is raising capital. But sometimes taking on debt is enough, and cooperatives can flourish in a variety of industries.