Rep. Greg Leding: An Inclusive Climate Is Good For Business

Editor’s note: This guest commentary, written by State Rep. Greg Leding (D-Fayetteville) is part of a point-counterpoint series regarding the business impact of same-sex marriage laws. It appeared in the most recent issue of Talk Business Arkansas magazine, which you can access here.

That an inclusive climate is good for business should be as self-evident as the idea that we’re all created equal.

Yet when Grant Tennille, Executive Director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, suggested at a July 8 press conference that to attract and keep the best jobs and talent, Arkansas should repeal its 2004 ban on marriage equality, skeptics were quick to question how allowing LGBT couples to marry could play any role in our state’s economic development. Why, they wondered, would any company care about inclusivity? In March 2007, as Indiana debated a ban on marriage equality, Mark Osowick, the recruiting director for FORTUNE 500 firm Cummins, Inc., said, “Anything that makes Indiana less inclusive and less welcoming for our current employees and for our future employees makes it more difficult for Cummins to compete.”

Headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, Cummins was concerned that such a ban would make it more difficult for the big engine manufacturer to attract the best employees to the Hoosier State, noting the ban would send “a message that Indiana is not tolerant of diversity.”

The company weighed in again in 2010. As the Indiana Senate took up the issue of a constitutional ban on marriage equality, Tim Solso, then Chairman and CEO of Cummins, sent a letter to senators stating that the company believed the ban would “make Indiana less competitive by creating additional barriers to our ability to recruit and retain talented employees,” adding that as “a major employer in our state, Cummins seeks the best and most diverse talent pool to keep us competitive in a global marketplace.”

Cummins isn’t the only company to champion inclusivity as being good for business. When Minnesota mulled its own ban on marriage equality in 2012, General Mills CEO Ken Powell announced the FORTUNE 500 firm’s opposition to the ballot measure and even personally contributed to the group that led the successful effort to defeat it.

In a statement to the press, General Mills spokesman Tom Forsythe wrote, “As a Minnesota-based company, we believe it is important for Minnesota to be viewed as inclusive and welcoming as well.”

Companies know the competition for talent is increasingly fierce. As such, successful firms like Cummins and General Mills believe any potential barrier to recruiting and keeping the best talent is best avoided. As support for marriage equality continues to grow, those places that continue to resist only put themselves at a disadvantage—and support will continue to grow.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll this past March pegged support among Americans at 58 percent, a new high. In May, Minnesota and Rhode Island become the twelfth and thirteenth states, respectively, to allow LGBT couples to marry, and in June, the Supreme Court issued a pair of major victories for supporters of equal rights. While it’s true that a majority of Arkansans still opposes marriage equality, the number — 55 percent, according to a recent poll by the Human Rights Campaign — is considerably lower than the 75 percent of Arkansans that approved our state’s ban in 2004. Even more notable: 61 percent of Arkansans under the age of 30 support marriage equality.

Think about that: nearly two-thirds of Arkansans born since 1983 support allowing LGBT couples to marry. We want our graduates and young professionals to stay in Arkansas. We want entrepreneurs and innovators to continue found and build startups like Acumen Brands and Collective Bias here. We want companies like Cummins and General Mills to consider our state when they look to relocate or expand. We want our own firms like Walmart, a leading participant in this year’s NWA Pride Parade, to continue to be able to compete for the best talent and to invest in the state they call home.

Marriage equality is good for business, but it’s not just about economics.

According to the 2010 Census, our state is home to 4,226 LGBT couples, 21 percent of which are raising their own children. These families live all across Arkansas and work in every sector of our economy. They pay taxes, volunteer in their churches, serve as members of their schools’ associations, and many work hard to earn a living and put food on the table, just like so many other Arkansan families do every single day. They’re a meaningful part of both our economy and the fabric of our everyday lives, and yet we treat them unequally under the law.

When choosing a place to set roots, raise families, and build a career, there are many things to question. Whether or not you and your loved ones will be welcomed and treated equally shouldn’t have to be one of them.