Washington Business Spring 2019 | Washington Business | Page 31

washington business young girls, promote gender equality and ensure women’s health is a priority. The company uses the fair-trade of sustainable resources, such as shea nut butter and coconut oil, to provide jobs gathering and processing the raw materials in Alaffia’s mostly-female cooperative in Togo. The goal is to end the cycle of poverty and open doors to opportunity in the developing nation. “Private enterprise alleviates poverty,” said Olowo-n’djo Tchala, founder and CEO of Alaffia. “In the country where I come from, Togo, the people simply need to have a job. And if they have a job, they can help themselves.” And, competitiveness matters when it comes to ensuring companies can meet their values-driven and philanthropic goals. Policy makers — at every level — often craft new or complex regulations that have unintended consequences. Those policies may end up hurting some of the underlying work a business is doing, work that’s not about the bottom line but about doing good. Lampson’s success, and their ability to support working families and their community, is heavily impacted by the regulatory environment in Washington state. “There is so much red tape, it takes a long time to get anything permitted,” says Kate Lampson, director of public relations and communications at Lampson International. “And, when you’re in our industry, you Kate Lampson, director of public relations and communications, Lampson International “There is so much red tape, it takes a long time to get anything permitted. And, when you’re in our industry, you need to be able to react quickly to your customers to stay competitive and create jobs.” – Kate Lampson, director of public relations and communications, Lampson International Leen Kawas, CEO, M3 Biotechnology Olowo-n’djo Tchala, CEO, Alaffia spring 2019 31