Kowalski’s Companies has successfully produced a civic business model and is moving forward to ensure sustainability in the next generation. Over the 15 years that they have been a member of MACI, they have grown tremendously. They have identified these keys to their success as a sustainable civic institution: having a strong and focused internal organizing agency and key leaders that will not waiver on the core foundation of what it means to be a civic business.
According to Kowalski’s:
“Besides creating active citizens, who are policy makers that help to renew democracy in the state of Minnesota alongside the other MACI demonstrations and members, the civic organizing approach has helped us achieve our company goals and solve systemic business issues within our company. It has given us a process to approach issues that arise in our industry and our community that puts the governing role on all stakeholders. We reach many stakeholders on a daily basis with the civic organizing approach: employees, vendors, customers and the community. It has helped to strengthen our internal base as well as reaching an external base. Keeping the integrity of the civic organizing process is critical to us as well as the other MACI members doing this work in their institutions.”
“Part of our role every day is to be educators to our civic leaders and active citizens, creating and sustaining the climate and infrastructure to govern and set policy for the common good using a civic organizing process. As active citizens may come and go, having them be able to be part of this process and experience that governance is so important, and our hope is that they will carry the experience with them wherever they spend their time and fulfill their role as an active citizen.
“As we were all reflecting back on the years that have gotten us to this point, we know this is who we are and how we do our work, and we cannot see ourselves doing it differently. This is the mindset we have as lead organizers, and our role is to carry this into the next generation of active citizens.”
Read the case study documents:
Civic Business Framing Document and 2016 Update
Civic Business Policy Agenda
