B there (or be square)

Brian J. Back

Sustainable Industries spends a lot of time talking about the groundbreaking things companies are doing to be more sustainable—not how vaguely defined “green eco-innovations” are allegedly saving the world, but how real businesses can be really good. This includes lessons learned from their struggles, and long-term economic, social and environmental profitability as the ideal end result. With our mission to serve other businesses, we haven’t spent much time talking about what we do. While we gain from occasional awards for the sustainability of our product and operations, we lack in the formality of official sustainability policies or corporate bylaws. This is not unusual for many small- and medium-sized businesses focusing the bulk of their efforts on growth and refinement.

But that’s changing, thanks to Sustainable Industries’ certification this month as a B Corporation. B Corporations (www.bcorporation.net) are billed as “a new type of corporation that use the power of business to create public benefit.” They must meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards; legally expand the responsibilities of the corporation to include stakeholder interests; and build collective voice though the power of a unifying brand. There are currently 135 B Corporations and counting—and we’re proud to report several are clients and subscribers of Sustainable Industries. Given the sea of confusing “green” and “eco-” certifications to sift through these days, B Corporation has emerged as a comprehensive and rigorous standard that carries weight, momentum and authenticity.

I’m humbled by this feat, and of how well we as a company performed in the comprehensive eligibility survey score. B Corporation status allows us to celebrate all that we are accomplishing, while also pointing, in some cases glaringly, to areas where we can benchmark improvement. Sustainable Industries will be announcing our B Corporation status, as well as saluting others in the room who have achieved it, at our Dec. 2 Sustainable Industries Economic Forum in San Francisco, featuring Van Jones. (See www.sustainableindustries.com/forums for info.) We hope to see you there!