As someone in the data center industry, I never imagined that planting trees and tending orchards would be part of the job description.

But this Earth Day, my company launched one PARTNERSHIP with a non-profit organization to restore areas damaged by wildfires near our campuses. We are also working with a foundation to plant orchards in many of our US markets in order to provide fruit to local food banks.

Does this all feel good? Of course. But it also does good business meaning.

In my industry, being a good neighbor is not an aspirational, precise exercise. It's a must — not only to gain access to the communities where we do business, but also to ensure we retain local employees and protect INVESTING. This is essential for data center providers, who typically build facilities to last 30 to 40 years.

This physical presence and long horizon make our sector somewhat unique. But no matter what your company does, the benefits of building strong relationships with local stakeholders add up, often far outweighing the costs. In fact, businesses that practice corporate social responsibility can increase their market value by up to 6% and their income by up to 20%.

Here's why being a good neighbor matters and how it can set a company up for long-term success.

What makes a good neighbor?

Think about the neighbors you want to live next door to. They guard their property and are considerate and community-minded. When it comes to being a corporate neighbor, the same principles apply.

Over the past decade, my company has opened stores in almost 20 communities. We don't just bring good, well-paying jobs, using local labor whenever possible. We also try to bring a respectful attitude.

One way is to make sure the campuses we build enhance the community rather than harm it. Many are built on long-abandoned sites, which we remediate and bring back to life in line with our commitment to ENDURANCE. Designed to operate quietly and cleanly, our campuses are attractive buildings with limited appeal.

A new facility is not being built? Factors like noise and aesthetics still affect your neighbors, whether you're renovating a new office space or moving into a shared one.

Listen – and deliver value where it matters

One of the most impactful ways to build a positive relationship? Listen. Instead of pretending you have all the answers, go out and ask the community what's important to them. Companies like ours will assign special stakeholder engagement teams to find out what's most useful.

Next issues here. In our experience, people don't look for the moon. For example, if a community tells us it lacks green space, we can adjust our landscape to double as a park.

Look for local organizations to join

Another way to be a good neighbor: Find partners in the nonprofit sector who align with your corporate values. Research shows that consumers and workers want community engagement. Almost nine out of 10 Americans think that companies should address social and environmental issues, while the same part of the employees believe that businesses that sponsor volunteer activities provide a better work environment.

Encouraging team members to support initiatives of their choice can be a powerful motivator. Take software giant Atlassian, which gives its employees five days off with pay every year to volunteer for the causes they care about. Or Nike, which runs a global Community Impact Fund which allows local groups to apply for grants, with volunteer staff doing the vetting.

In each of our data centers, everyone aims to pay back once a quarter, whether it's planning gardens to improve bee populations in Virginia or working with a school in an underserved area of ​​Phoenix to fund a day teacher and to collect donations for families in need.

While large organizations may seem to have more capital and resources to do their part, smaller businesses can also have a big impact.About three quarters of them say they give their employees chances to volunteer or perform community service.

Don't neglect educational partnerships

Finally, education partnerships can have a tremendous impact, creating a crucial hiring pipeline for organizations facing a talent crisis, while also broadening the horizons of local students.

We recently saw the impact of this first hand, working with staff at a high school in one of our markets to support their vocational program, then teaming up with a foundation for an introduction to careers in the data center industry and beyond.

Be a good neighbor

When you show a community that you are serious about partnering with them to meet their needs, amazing things happen.

For one, it's easier to hire and retain employees. Most people want to work for a company that cares about the community. When employees are proud to be a part of that business—and when other members of the community applaud its efforts—they tend to stick around. Six out of 10 workers say their employer's purpose is one of the main reasons they stay, and staff are 12 times more likely to recommend a purpose-driven company to others.

The result is a virtuous circle. Happy employees and higher retention mean better results for clients, which increases shareholder returns and increases the tax base for the host jurisdiction. In our case, it also opens the door to continued expansion and innovation in that market.

For businesses with an anchor presence, there can also be a land-swell effect. Think of a Starbucks or a Whole Foods coming to town. We've discovered how a campus revitalizes the surrounding region, it attracts local businesses who want to be nearby. More jobs and tax revenue follow.

In fact, the economic spinoff from our sector is huge. For any direct jobs in the US, data centers support more than six others. Much of that work is in places like Virginia, where the total impact of data centers on employment grew 32% from 2017-21, to about 86,000 jobs.

A halo effect with customers is another benefit. Many of our customers are socially conscious and want to know that we are going the extra mile doing good in the community. They are not alone: Almost eight out of 10 consumers prefer to buy from companies that aim to make the world a better place.

At first glance, it may seem like being a good neighbor has no immediate impact on a company's balance sheet. But failing to respect and listen to the local community will cost a business time, money, employees or customers, versus the value of the incentive by investing in things that lay the foundation for long-term success.

After all, everyone wants to feel good about the place they work. But the real payoff for being a good neighbor? Building a business that will live as long as the trees we are planting.