Melinda Moulton: Innovation comes from new ways of thinking
Main Street Landing
Burlington Free Press
Innovation to me means developing and implementing new ideas, policies and procedures that change our way of thinking, our products, our communities and our world. Focusing your vision toward a goal that strongly references your values and ethics can create a truly inspirational and innovative business.
Main Street Landing for the past 30 years has focused the redevelopment of Burlington’s waterfront on ecology and social justice. Our commitment to localism and community, public transit, economic empowerment, the arts, green development, healthy and energy efficient buildings, and public access grew out of our deep and profound connection to the earth and the human condition. Companies that landed here decades ago were founded by a generation steeped in environmentalism and social justice, and they are rocking our economic world. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield created an empire with an idea that ice cream should be made with pure local products, housed in bright Holstein packaging, with funny and cool (no pun intended) names and recipes that touch the child within us.
Jeffrey Hollander and Alan Newman, co-founders of Seventh Generation, decided in 1988 that cleaning products should be made of ingredients that won’t harm the environment, and that everyone should honor the American Native belief that we should protect the environment for the next seven generations.
Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, founded by Beth Sachs and Blair Hamilton in 1986, is dedicated to reducing the economic, social and environmental costs of energy consumption through cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable technologies.
NRG, founded by Jan and Dave Blittersdorf in 1982, manufactures products that measure and understand the wind.
Jake Burton, founder of Burton Snowboard, was so innovative that he created a whole new snow sport that has taken the world by storm.
Bob Stiller founded Green Mountain Coffee in 1981, and they have transformed the way the world understands business because they believe that financial success goes hand-in-hand with their ability to make a difference in the world.
Then we have Will Raap, who in 1983 founded Gardener’s Supply, an employee-owned company that provides gardeners with innovative products. Raap went on to create the Intervale Center, a nonprofit in downtown Burlington that hosts a variety of farms growing organic food. All but one of these businesses are members of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, the largest business organization of its type in the country with 1,500 members.
These types of Vermont businesses usually operate under a different business model. They treat and manage their personnel differently; they use unique and creative marketing and public relations methods; and they usually focus their goals and resources on protecting the environment and raising the human condition. They are also the companies that are receiving the awards and earning accolades as the fastest growing and most successful businesses in Vermont.
It’s thinking out of the box and the coloring outside of the lines that usually defines the business model that makes the world a better place, sustains the economy, serves local citizens and enjoys a high profit margin. These companies are bold, unique, inspirational and magnificent, and they are economic engines that have brought Vermont international attention and gratitude. Today, more of these businesses are being created by a younger generation whose lives have been affected by climate change, 9/11, economic hardships and the global marketplace.
As Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, said: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Melinda Moulton is the chief executive officer of Main Street Landing in Burlington.
View this article in the Burlington Free Press