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Millennia Media, SPC is a California "Social Purpose Corporation" (FPC/SPC) which allows us greater flexibility in supporting social causes we believe in. The non-profit Compathos Foundation (501.c.3) is Millennia's non-profit counterpart, and reflects a new way of doing business. We believe that being profitable provides an invaluable opportunity for helping others. This means doing business more responsibly, investing in communities least able to help themselves, and extending generosity in ways that promote empathy and well-being. We partner with organizations committed to principles we care about, such as humanitarian assistance, resource sustainability, and the inspiration of heart and spirit. We have donated over $100,000 in Millennia audio gear to non-profit music and audio education organizations. Please take some time to learn more about Compathos and Films for the Planet.


Making profits is not a purpose of business. It’s a derivative. Its purpose is solving problems for customers and communities. 

 

Millennia Media, FPC/SPC Annual Management Discussion and Analysis MD&A (California C3545523)

 

Millennia Media incorporated in December 1994 after three years as a sole proprietorship. Millennia converted to a California Flexible Purpose Corporation shortly after the FPC became law. We were among the first 50 charter FPCs created in California. Millennia, we’re told, was the first “foreign” C-corporation (Nevada) to change domiciles to become an FPC. Sometime earlier, MM, Inc. had been accepted as a charter B-Corporation but opted later to embrace the legal California State FPC structure.

 

The Flexible Purpose Corporation entity was established by California Senate Bill 201, which was signed into law on October 9, 2011. The FPC law was enacted by California so that a for-profit corporation could legally engage in one or more public purpose activities that a non-profit public benefit corporation is authorized to carry out, while promoting positive short-term or long-term effects for FPC’s employees, suppliers, customers, and creditors; the community and society; and/or the environment.

 

The Flexible Purpose Corporation (FPC) was given the name Social Purpose Corporation (SPC) on January 1, 2015 to better reflect the intended purpose of this corporate form. In September 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law an amendment (S.B. 1301) to the Corporate Flexibility Act of 2011. In California, the amendment, S.B. 1301, changes existing law (found under Corporations Code Sections 2500-3503)[3] to emphasize the social-purpose nature of the FPC, most notably by changing its name to the “Social Purpose Corporation.” S.B. 1301 took effect on January 1, 2015. On that date, existing FPCs will automatically continue their existence as SPCs though are not required to change their articles of FPC incorporation.

 

Millennia Media, SPC’s articles of incorporation require that a Director shall consider such factors as the Director deems relevant, including, but not limited to, the long-term prospects and interests of the Company and its shareholders, and the social, economic, legal, or other effects of any action on current and retired employees, suppliers and customers of the Company or its subsidiaries, and the communities and society in which the Company or its subsidiaries operate, (collectively, with the shareholders, the "Stakeholders"), together with the short-term, as well as long-term, interests of its shareholders and the effect of the Company's operations (and its subsidiaries' operations) on the environment and the economy of the state, the region, and the nation.

 

Profit of the company can be earned in one of two ways. It can be earned through creating benefits for us as customers and societies in the natural world, or it can be done through wealth transfer, at the expense of others. Environmental degradation, for instance, is profiting at the expense of others and not accounting for the true costs of cleaning up the mess.

 

In 2015, we purchased and refurbished an older industrial building on 1/3 acre in Diamond Springs, California (USA). We gutted the existing interiors and rebuilt to LEED Silver construction standards. We did exhaustive testing for ground pollutants and found the site to be clear of all soil toxins (report available). We created new insulation barriers (R25 roll-up doors, etc.) and passed fenestration tests to LEED Silver level. We installed a large array of 19.2%-efficient rooftop solar panels (LG Neon 2) to supply 100% of our power needs. We removed all incandescent and florescent lighting, replacing it with 100% LED lighting throughout the building – inside and out. We removed the old inefficient propane ceiling heaters and replaced them with an ultra-high-efficiency Mitsubishi City “variable compression” distributed HVAC system. The old toilets were replaced with low-flow types and old inefficient central water heaters were replaced with on-demand electric at-faucet heaters (bath, kitchen). New Energy Star-approved appliances were also installed. Room light switches were replaced with motion-sensor types, including warehouse whole-area sensors.  Millennia’s local – and global – environmental footprint is exceptionally low, by design.

 

Approximately 90% of all our component materials (resistors, capacitors, ICs, etc.) are sourced from two vendors. Both vendors have a written environmental policy and protocol that assures proper identification, traceability, and certification of all components to strict global environmental standards, including EU Directives 2002/96/EC (WEEE) and 2011/65/EU (RoHS). These vendors have further developed environmentally friendly packaging (biodegradable, compostable, recyclable) and techniques for reducing the size and amount of packing material used, gaining SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) certification.

 

Increasingly standard setters are recognizing that we must include metrics against which companies can measure their contribution to environmental and social standards. It is beginning to happen. But we’ve got a long way to go.

 

Millennia products are in compliance to European directives RoHS and REACH. Millennia products are marked with the WEEE symbol; this indicates that a product must not be disposed of with other waste. Instead, it is the user's responsibility to dispose of their waste electrical and electronic equipment by handing it over to an approved re-processor, or by returning it to Millennia Media for circular reprocessing.

 

We believe our internal manufacturing processes emit zero toxic emissions. Our manufacturing processes (soldering, etc.) are free of lead and other heavy-metals. Localized filter hoods are used to collect residual fumes. We abide by a strict 100% recycling policy to the extent that our local waste company (WMI) provides recycling services (plastic, paper, glass, etc.). Our finished-product packing materials are virtually 100% recyclable. Facility paper towels (bathrooms) are 100% recycled using at least 50% post-consumer fibers and certified by Ecologo and Green Seal.

 

All Millennia hardware products are designed via cradle-to-cradle protocols. This assures that all products should remain viable for an indefinite period of time, typically 50 years or more.  Of course, certain normal “wear parts” should be replaced earlier (electrolytic capacitors, push-button switches, high-use connectors, etc.), but the core product (frame, panels, power, wiring, PCB laminates, etc.) will remain serviceable for many decades.1 This is especially true for our ultra-high-end analog products (HV-3, STT, NSEQ, TCL, etc.) which should remain professionally contemporary for many decades (vs. pure digital-audio hardware products which can tend towards functional obsolescence relatively fast).

 

Such cradle-to-cradle attributes are the reason Millennia pre-owned products enjoy among the highest resale value in professional audio. In the rare case where a Millennia product is no longer wanted, or damaged beyond repair, please return to Millennia where we can decommission it via our product recycling protocol.

 

Political, social, environmental, biological, human, ethical and moral issues that were once considered tangential to the business agenda are now considered inescapably at the center of the business agenda. I think it’s fair to say that the pandemic has only accelerated the fusion of all the things that we kept apart from business in our personal lives.  Everything has come together.   (all quotes from Colin Meyers' book Prosperity)

 

The corporation offers 90-day maternity leave with no loss of benefits or position, a paid family health care plan, paid vacation leave, equity stock options, paid personal leave, flexible working hours and easy-going working environment, profit sharing bonuses, retirement plan, and other perks and benefits. Employees are stakeholders and partners in the success of the company. Frequent “core member” lunches are held to better integrate each key employee into the overall operating management of the company.

 

The corporation strictly abides by international safety and environmental standards, including international recycling standards, zero use of heavy and/or toxic metals, CE European safety standards, UL and CSA North American safety standards, FCC and CE radio frequency emissions standards, and many others.  

 

In summary, Millennia is guided by generative principles set forth by leadership organizations focused on redefining the culture of accountability in business, for our companies, communities, and future generations. These guiding organizations include The B Team (bteam.org), B Corp (bcorporation.net), and UNIDO (unido.org).

          Our core principles, summarized:

 

          • Support inclusive economic opportunity
          • Protect fundamental rights
          • Commit to a sustainable future
          • Earn trust

 

John La Grou, Founder, CEO

January 2024  (original draft 2016)

 

1 due to uncertain availability of specific components (etc.) we cannot guarantee full support for a Millennia product beyond its discontinuation.

 

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Contact Info

Millennia Media, SPC
6411 Capitol Avenue
Diamond Springs, CA 95619
T (+1) 530-647-0750
sales@mil-media.com

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