Few companies watch their bottom line with more anxiety than startup firms, but the ones who want to move into a new business accelerator in Columbia will need to think beyond revenue and expenses.
Howard County's Conscious Venture Lab is on the hunt for fledgling companies practicing a form of what's often called responsible or sustainable capitalism — businesses with aims that include but aren't limited to profits. The accelerator's organizers want firms that consider not just shareholders in their decisions but also a broad range of other "stakeholders" such as employees, suppliers and the environment.