New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility’s (NHBSR) Spring Conference, “Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility into Your Core Business Strategy,” will take place on Monday, June 13, 2011 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Grappone Conference Center at the Courtyard Marriott in Concord, NH.

“Corporate social responsibility isn’t just a good business practice, it also adds to your company’s bottom line,” said NHBSR Interim Executive Director Kate Luczko. “This conference will not only help your business to better meet the needs of your clients and employees, it will also provide you with information you need to grow your business in a sustainable way.”

The conference features a lively morning networking session, the presentation of the NHBSR Cornerstone Award, four educational breakout sessions, and an afternoon CEO panel.
These educational sessions, which will offer real world suggestions that are appropriate and applicable to any size company, include “New Hampshire’s Changing Workforce: The Growing Need for Flexibility,” “Successfully Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility into Your Core Strategy and Culture,” “Current Trends in Managing Corporate Citizenship,” and “Managing Sustainability Performance with the Balanced Scorecard.”

At noon, Lisa Hardin Berghaus, Marketing Specialist, Monadnock Paper Mills, NHBSR Board Member and Spring Conference Co-Chair, will introduce Governor John Lynch who will present NHBSR’s annual Cornerstone Award to a company that exemplifies the principles of corporate social responsibility and promotes the concepts of CSR to the greater business community within the state of New Hampshire. The finalists for this year’s Cornerstone Award are: Antioch University, Sequoya Technologies Group, and Northeast Delta Dental.

“NHBSR is delighted to recognize one of our members with this award. It’s a fantastic way to highlight outstanding work in the field of social responsibility and sustainability and provides a important example to our New Hampshire community,” Luczko said.

C&S Wholesale Grocers was the proud recipient of the 2010 NHBSR Cornerstone Award for their efforts in feeding the hungry, promoting environmental awareness and encouraging employee volunteerism.

Here’s a brief overview of this year’s nominees:

Northeast Delta Dental
Northeast Delta Dental specializes in the administration of dental programs. It is their mission to be the leading force in the dental prepayment marketplace by offering quality, versatile and affordable dental programs to benefit their purchasers, subscribers, and participating member dentists. They have created a corporate environment built upon high trust and mutual respect. They are a values-driven company that successfully balances profitability and socially-responsible initiatives. Their leadership team follows the principles of servant leadership, enabling all employees, customers, and stockholders to be free from bureaucratic red tape, to self-actualize, and to have a delightful experience with Northeast Delta Dental.

Antioch University New England
Since its founding in 1964, Antioch University New England (ANE) has supported the tenets of Corporate Social Responsibility, and as its mission, provides transformative graduate study education through scholarship, innovation, and community action for a just and sustainable society. Antioch University New England supports CSR in three ways. Antioch operate the business of running a university using CSR principles, they educate their students in CSR principles, and through many of their student practices and internships, they help businesses and organizations locally and throughout New England recognize and begin to adopt CSR principles.

Sequoya Technologies Group
Sequoya is a managed IT services and software design firm specializing in meeting the needs of small businesses in southern New Hampshire. They’re located in Peterborough and provide IT support throughout the greater Monadnock region, including Keene, Concord, Manchester, and Nashua. They’ve also performedsoftware development projects for clients in New York, Denver, and beyond. They have a dedicated team of technicians, network engineers, and software developers. Sequoya truly believes in the values of a supportive and enjoyable work environment, with many benefits that are unusual for a company of only seven people, including flexible work schedules, paid vacation and sick leave, health insurance for both full-time and part-time staff, and more.

Following the Cornerstone Award Presentation there will be a CEO Panel Discussion, a new feature for the conference. The moderator is Jon Greenberg, Executive Editor at NH Public Radio, and panelists include Gerardine Ferlins, President/CEO of Cirtronics Corporation, Nannu Nobis, founder and CEO of Nobis Engineering, Inc., Doug Vincent, President and CEO of Design Mentor, Inc, Walter Chapin, Co-founder and CEO of Company C, Inc., and John Hamilton, Vice President of Economic Opportunity at the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund. Following the CEO Panel Discussion there will be a short break and the Educational Breakout Sessions from the morning will repeat.

Over twenty-five socially responsible exhibitors will be showcasing their products and services throughout the conference, as well as the Silent Auction and Sustainability Book Store.

This event is made possible by the generosity of many sponsors.  Conference Leaders: FairPoint Communications, Normandeau Associates, the New Hampshire Community and Development Finance Authority, Monadnock Paper Mill and Hannaford. Conference Partners; Public Service of New Hampshire, and PAX World. AM Networking sponsor is Nixon Peabody LLP. CEO Panel sponsor is NH Community Loan Fund. Carbon Offset for this event was sponsored by C&S Wholesale Grocers. The Tote-bag sponsors are Northeast Delta Dental and Hypertherm. Design, paper and printing were provided by Baker Salmon Design, Monadnock Paper Mill and RAM Printing. NHBSR web marketing is sponsored by SilverTech.

The cost is $125 for any NHBSR member, $150 for non-members, $50 for non-profits and $30 for students.

For more detailed information about the Spring Conference, please visit http://www.nhbsrconference.org/ or contact Interim Executive Director, Kate Luczko at kate@nhbsr.org, (603) 391-7437. For more information about NHBSR, visit our website at www.nhbsr.org