The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 11A : Vermont Business Corporations

Chapter 021 : Benefit Corporations

• § 21.14. Annual benefit report

  (a) A benefit corporation shall deliver to each shareholder, in a format approved by the directors, an annual benefit report, which shall include:

  (1)(A) a statement of the specific goals or outcomes identified by the benefit corporation for creating general public benefit and any specific public benefit for the period of the benefit report;

  (B) a description of the actions taken by the benefit corporation to attain the identified goals or outcomes and the extent to which the goals or outcomes were attained;

  (C) a description of any circumstances that hindered the attainment of the identified goals or outcomes and the creation of general public benefit or any specific public benefit; and

  (D) specific actions the benefit corporation can take to improve its social and environmental performance and attain the goals or outcomes identified for creating general public benefit and any specific public benefit;

  (2) an assessment of the social and environmental performance of the benefit corporation prepared in accordance with a third-party standard that has been applied consistently with prior benefit reports or accompanied by an explanation of the reasons for any inconsistent application;

  (3) a statement of specific goals or outcomes identified by the benefit corporation and approved by the shareholders for creating general public benefit and any specific public benefit for the period of the next benefit report;

  (4) the name of each benefit director and the benefit officer, if any, and the address to which correspondence to each of them may be directed;

  (5) the compensation paid by the benefit corporation during the year to each director in that capacity;

  (6) the name of each person that owns beneficially or of record five percent or more of the shares of the benefit corporation; and

  (7) the statement of a benefit director described in subsection 21.10(c) of this title.

  (b) A benefit corporation shall annually deliver the benefit report to each shareholder within 120 days following the end of the fiscal year of the benefit corporation or at the same time that the benefit corporation delivers any other annual report to its shareholders.

  (c) After reasonable opportunity for review, the shareholders of the benefit corporation shall approve or reject the annual benefit report by majority vote at the annual meeting of shareholders or at a special meeting held for that purpose.

  (d) A benefit corporation shall post its most recent benefit report endorsed by its shareholders on the public portion of its website, if any, except that the compensation paid to directors and any financial or proprietary information included in the benefit report may be omitted from the benefit report as posted. If a benefit corporation does not have a public website, it shall deliver a copy of its most recent benefit report on demand and without charge to any person who requests a copy.

  (e) If a benefit corporation is a close corporation that has dispensed with or restricted the discretion or powers of the board of directors, the annual benefit report shall describe the person or persons who exercise the powers, duties, and rights and have the immunities of the board of directors and the benefit director. (Added 2009, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2011; amended 2011, No. 146 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)