Values Added
Can you grow your socially responsible company while staying true to your values? Sure, just use your natural resourcefulness.
Doing business is about more than making money for Marci Zaroff, founder of Under the Canopy, an 11-year-old organic clothing company in Boca Raton, Florida. Her company's organically grown, pesticide-free line is made using eco-friendly dyes and manufacturing methods. The company audits its manufacturing facilities for fair working conditions and wages.
It's a business model that Zaroff, 39, believes benefits both the planet and people. "A conventional cotton T-shirt has a third of a pound of pesticides," she says. "[We're asking], 'How can we create a better product that is comparable to the conventional product, and also something that can protect life and future generations?'"
Fusing fashion with environmental sustainability and social responsibility has paid off: Zaroff projects sales of well over $10 million this year, and the 17-employee company's baby line will debut in Nordstrom this fall. "We're on the launch pad to go to another level," she says. "We believe we're on our way to being a $100 million company."
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