On August 07, 2012, Governor Deval Patrick approved (in part) Chapter 238 of the Acts of 2012 ("An Act Relative to Infrastructure Investment, Enhanced Competitiveness and Economic Growth in the Commonwealth"). Section 52 of the Act inserted Chapter 156E, "Benefit Corporations", into the General Laws, with an effective date of December 1st, 2012.
The concept of "benefit corporations", a form of social enterprise, was covered in an informative article by Ben Schreckinger in the Boston Globe on November 25th, 2012 ("Virtue Inc.: Can a New Kind of Charter Give Corporations a Conscience?").
For those interested in researching the use of corporate power to solve social and environmental problems, a 2012 article by Cassady V. ("Cass") Brewer in the William Mitchell Law Review, "A Novel Approach to Using LLCS for Quasi-Charitable Endeavors (A/K/A "Social Enterprise")", 38 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 678, can be accessed from HeinOnline, a database available to holders of a library card from one of the Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries.
