BELFAST – Small businesses are being invited to a conference next week sponsored by Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility, a statewide association of 360 companies and organizations representing 40,000 employees.

The association says it aims to create a new business climate in which long-term profitability is directly linked to acting in a socially responsible and ethical manner.

The conference, titled “Practical Tools for Profitability with Values,” will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center on Route 3 in Belfast.

The conference is sponsored by Moss Inc., The Green Store, The Jackson Laboratory, Richard E. Dyke Center for Family Business at Husson College, Patriot Mutual Insurance Co., Cadillac Mountain Sports, Mainebiz, and the Bangor Daily News.

This is MBSR’s first fall conference north of Portland. It is designed to give business owners and leaders from across the state strategies and information to further incorporate social responsibility into their businesses.

The conference was organized with small businesses in mind, and to encourage multiple employees from a business to attend. The goal is that those attending the sessions and workshops will take the ideas back to the workplace.

Workshops at the conference will cover practical tools in management, marketing, wellness, leadership, networking and problem-solving opportunities with peers and other experts.

Those attending will receive a national perspective on marketing sustainable businesses, the latest strategies about the role businesses can play in supporting local child care, and an overview of what it takes to start a new business.

For information, call 761-4300.

Candidates in the Nov. 5 gubernatorial race have been invited to participate in a question-and-answer session at the conclusion of the conference.