When a Sonoma State economics professor set out to identify and profile examples of honorable and successful businesses, he first had to assess the qualities necessary to be a “good company.”

  While size  and growth do not disqualify a company from being "good,"  SSU business professor Robert Girling notes that some laudable businesses do choose, quite consciously, not to grow beyond a certain point.

Professor Robert Girling is also a co-founder of the yearly Sustainable Enterprise Conference in Rohnert Park, which is holding its 9th annual event on April 30th. 

Time spent in the great outdoors is good for us. That’s been confirmed by a recent study out of the University of Wisconsin, that says the benefits of living or spending time near greenery are measurable—and it doesn’t much matter what kind of greenery it is. Bruce Robinson talks with the study’s lead author in today’s Exchange segment.

Read more about Dr. Kirsten Beyer's study here. The full paper can be found here.

  ALSO: Governor Jerry Brown is urging California lawmakers to adopt his “rainy day fund” proposal. It would ask voters to create a reserve that could help reduce the state’s boom-and-bust budget cycles.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Today's reporting by Ben Adler.

  Can profit sharing with a worthy cause be an effective way to establish a new brand?  The man behind Terra Fossil wines is betting it is.

  Terra Fossil Wines founder Greg Leib readily admits he is a marketer, not a wine maker. But he’s looking to partner with California vintners to expand his impact—and his profit-sharing.

The current availability of Terra Fossil Wines, combined with their “Stomp Out Student Loans” campaign, can help local college students finance their educations. But even more important, suggests Micheal Houlihan, will be the message that its success would convey to other markets.