B Corp Certification for Business

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B Corp Certification

B Corp Certification for Business

Certified B Corporation

Certified B Corporation

In April HBS became a Certified B Corporation and joined an elite club of businesses throughout the world. B Corp business assessments and third-party B Corp Certification are administered through B Lab, a non-profit. There are myriad of third-party rating systems for sustainable businesses… but only two in our region seem to carry any weight.

The following information about B Corp certification was mostly provided B Lab:

B Corp 101 – How to Toot the Horn!

B Corporations are a new kind of company which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. There are currently over 750 Certified B Corporations from more than 60 industries in 27 countries with 1 unifying goal – to redefine success in business.

B Corps are important because they inspire all businesses to compete not only to be the best in the world, but to be the best for the world. Certified B Corporations meet higher standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.

B Corp is like Fair-Trade, Organic, or FSC-Certified Wood

Healthy Building Science B Impact Report

Healthy Building Science B Impact Report

It’s like Fair Trade certification but for the whole business, not just a bag of coffee (or USDA Organic certification, but not just for a carton of milk; or LEED certification, but not just for a building).

The performance standards are comprehensive and transparent. B-Lab measures a company’s impact on all its stakeholders (e.g. workers, suppliers, community, and the environment). Unlike traditional corporations, Certified B Corporations are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions not only on their shareholders, but also on their stakeholders (e.g., workers, suppliers, community, consumers, and the environment).

B Corp Lexicon

Use This:                                                       Not That:                                                                                                   
Certified B Corporation                            B Company,B corporation, benefit corporations, B Lab Companies

B Corp                                                            B Corp., B-Corp, B. Corp, B Corp Member

Certified B Corps                                        Members of B Corp, green businesses, responsible businesses

B stands for ‘Benefit’                                 for-benefit

B Lab                                                             B Labs, B-Lab, B. Lab

Excerpt About B Lab

B Lab is a nonprofit organization that serves a global movement to redefine success in business so that all companies compete not only to be the best in the world, but the best for the world. B Lab drives this systemic change through a number of interrelated initiative: 1) building a community of Certified B Corporations to make it easier for all of us to tell the difference between “good companies” and good marketing; 2) passing legislation to accelerate growth of social entrepreneurship and impact investing (12 states have already passed benefit corporation legislation); 3) driving capital to high impact investments through the use of GIIRS Ratings and Analytics (more than 60 investors with over $3B in impact assets under management use GIIRS); and 4) providing free, powerful tools for businesses to measure, compare and improve their social and environmental performance (more than 7,000 businesses use B Lab’s free B Impact Assessment).

We’re proud to be a Certified B Corporation! 

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