Even in the digital era, land holds value, and businesses have to make use of the land that they own if they want to get the full worth of it. However, too many businesses allow for dead space, and they are often highly limited by time – parking lots are just empty wastelands when no one is out shopping, and offices are ghost towns after 5pm. A long term answer would be mixed use properties, but for the business owner that wants to act today, a complete development overhaul is implausible. There are some obvious uses, such as rentals, that I won’t cover here today. Instead, I will be exploring how businesses can create systemic value using their already existing resource: land.

Let’s start outside. If there is open, permeable space, such as a lawn, then you likely don’t want to interfere with that permeability by paving it over, but you also want to get more out of it than the view of grass. Company lawns are prime opportunities to reestablish habitats big and small. This can range from a pollinator garden to full rewilding. Your decision will be impacted by how large the space is, the safety of the workers and other visitors in the area as well as product quality, and the proximity of non-developed areas (you could create a wildlife corridor). The value here comes from the increased health of the environment in your operating area, as well as the social benefits of seeing accessible wild areas thriving. There is opportunity for small nature walks and other recreational uses, which can provide physical and mental benefits to employees and other community members. If you decide to devote land to non-human benefit, please make sure to keep the people with access to that land aware of any dangers. I love that people in my town have embraced No-Mow May, but I am still doing regular tick checks whenever I go in the long grass.

If habitat support is not of interest, then community gardens might be. This can capture similar physical and mental benefits for employees by providing them access to fresh food, the satisfaction of gardening, and the team bonding opportunities of working together on a physical, non-work project. Gardens can be easy and cheap to set up and run by an internal team. There are also companies like Green City Growers who can be hired to manage the garden as an employee benefit. Depending on safety standards and interest, the food produced can be donated, given to employees, used in the company cafeteria, or sold.

Moving inside can be complicated. There are security and confidentiality concerns. You also don’t want to raise expenses by keeping utilities running even when everyone has gone home. However, if you are able to offer a community makerspace or working place, you can bring stakeholders into the fold, becoming more than just a constant closed door that only is noticed with a scandal or philanthropy. Offer use of meeting rooms and event spaces for nonprofits. Schedule times where students can use your machinery, safely and under supervision. Have stakeholders come to you instead of having to go to them and give them the chance to build investment in your company’s success.

Emergency preparedness is a major opportunity for businesses to make a difference, and it requires less ongoing maintenance than something like a community garden. If your company building has AC, then perhaps arrange for it to be available as an emergency station during extreme heat waves. If your building or land is above flood lands, then coordinate with response teams to set it up as a triage center. Dual use infrastructure is key. All capital investments that you make can be done with disaster preparedness in mind.

These are not the only options. There could be opportunity in historic preservation. Perhaps your building was the site of another important business or event. There could be something unique about your building’s architecture or a nearby rock formation. You won’t know until you ask. There is also opportunity in long term development of the land into affordable or workforce housing, allowing you to ensure there is a place for your talent to set down roots. You could participate in a land trust or commons-sharing plan. Get creative and find or make the value.

These suggestions all create system value, creating a social and environmental context where your business can continue to thrive in its operating area. Long-term, you will need to ensure you are running your company where there is a trained and available workforce, where the environmental conditions are stable, and where the system has resilience to disturbance. Businesses thrive when the world around them has a base level of predictability, so there is an incentive to stabilizing the system as much as possible by creating supportive networks for all stakeholders. As a company, your land resources are more than something to be taxed, sold off, or ignored. They represent opportunity for systemic value creation.