Building for
Public Benefit

A public benefit corporation (PBC) is a type of corporate entity whose charter purpose includes one or more specific "public benefits," in addition to the traditional for-profit goal of maximizing shareholder value. PBC status holds the company legally accountable to its mission and offers a guiding framework through which the company can navigate critical business decisions.

Incorporating as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) codified our strategy to focus on the long-term sustainability of our business and the impact we have on our employees and the publishers, governments, law firms, businesses, and citizens we serve.

Column is a certified B Corp! Read our 2022 Social Impact Report.

We are proud to be amongst a small subset of public benefit corporations officially certified by the B-Lab, a global nonprofit network committed to making all businesses a force for good.
Our status as a B Corp reaffirms our commitment to serve all our stakeholders and elevate our standard of business practices and governance.
Download Impact Report

How We Serve Our Stakeholders

Column’s public benefit status is our binding commitment to do right by our stakeholders.

Advisory Boards
for Publishers

We convene regional Advisory Boards to help guide the company toward our charter purpose and ensure that what and how we are building will serve their interests most effectively. These boards include representatives from media companies of all shapes and sizes as well as their counterparts in the government and legal sectors that are key stakeholders in the public notice process.

Interested? Let's Chat

Partner Program for Press Associations

Organizations advocating for the protection of public notice, like state press associations, can participate in our free Partner Program. We provide the technological muscle to power initiatives like the hosting and design of statewide public notice databases, data-driven insights for advocacy campaigns, and even fiscal sponsorship donation tools.

Join Our Program

Events for Everyone

Column hosts periodic events, from dinners at industry conferences, to in-person retreats in exotic destinations, to the user conference we dream of hosting to bring together stakeholders from all sides of our ecosystem. These events will be open to any and all folks interested in joining the conversation.

Events

Case Study: Powering Public Notice for Our Partners

One of the best examples of our public benefit charter is the free statewide databases of public notices we provide for state press associations advocating on the front lines of public notice policy.

 

Click on a State to Search Public Notices
south dakota pennsylvania wyoming kansas ohio california colorado arizona new mexico idaho maryland texas delaware district of columbia arkansas maine florida
Public Notice Database Powered by Column
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Trusted by Public Notice Advocates

"With Column, our association and members will deliver innovative technology to support public notice now and into the future — starting with an exciting upgrade to www.publicnoticepa.com, making our website more user-friendly. We are delighted to join Column's Partner Program, alongside many of our association colleagues."

Brad Simpson, President of Pennsylvania News Media Association

“The Column team has shown its innovation and forward-thinking in this space. We are happy to be able to tap into that energy and collaboration as we seek to preserve and make public notices even more accessible to citizens and in the format where they look for them—in their local newspapers in print and/or online.”

Jim Fogler, CEO of Florida Press Association

"Our new partnership with Column will provide a more robust site while also bringing a cost savings to the association. It’s important that we maximize our limited resources for the benefit of both our members and their advertisers.”

Monica Nieporte, Executive Director of Ohio News Media Association

"As we work to preserve public notice in Arkansas, it's imperative we have a strong tech partner to make them even more accessible to our state's citizens. Our association found that in Column. While we remain steadfast in our belief public notices should remain in printed newspapers, adding a cutting-edge website that aggregates all of the notices in one location allows Arkansans to easily search for any notice published.”

Ashley Wimberley, Executive Director of Arkansas Press Association

“We are intent on finding ways to help CNPA members adapt to and benefit from modern technology. Column adheres to that strategy. It is the most cost-efficient and customer-centric public notice platform on the market. It transforms notice operations for publications of any format and distribution. It’s the perfect fit for our diverse membership population.”

Charles Champion, President & CEO of California News Publishers Association

"Having an innovative partner in the public notice space who has remained steadfast in supporting this crucial part of our industry will prove invaluable. We're looking forward to utilizing Column's technology to prove once again that public notice remains irreplaceable for members of our communities."

Darcie Hoffland, Executive Director of Wyoming Press Association

"We are excited to be working with Column to modernize public notice in New Mexico. We trust that Column will deliver the technology we need to make a compelling argument for the future of public notice, which will help NMPA protect the interests of our member newspapers."

Sammy Lopez, Executive Director of New Mexico Press Association

"Column has demonstrated their dedication to supporting newspapers and press associations across the country. MDDC feels confident that Column's technology will enable us to better serve our member newspapers, and we look forward to working with the Column team."

Rebecca Snyder, Executive Director of Maryland-DC-Delaware Press Association

Our Public Benefit Director: Nancy Gibbs

To hold the company accountable to our mission, we were honored to appoint Nancy Gibbs to Column’s board as our Public Benefit Director. Nancy was formerly the editor-in-chief of TIME, and she currently serves as the Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

“Everyone who cares about the media, and about democracy itself, recognizes how vital it is to save local news. The Column team doesn’t just have a passion for that mission, we actually have a strategy to achieve it.”

– Nancy Gibbs, Director of Harvard Shorenstein Center & Public Benefit Director of Column

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