With that in mind, I came across another way being experimented with to give socially-minded businesses some unique standing. B Corporations work a lot like the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED environmental standard program, with companies qualifying for certification based on their commitment to their communities, employees, planet, yadda. We're in the weeds here, but note the difference: CICs have benefiting society in some way at the very heart of what they do, but the B Corp designation can be awarded to the manufacturers of anything from dish soap to sports cars if they prove themselves to top a minimum bar of social responsibility.

Both B Corps and CICs point a hunger out there for new models for doing business that don't hew so closely to our old for-profit/not-for-profit way of thinking.