April 2010
FT Achieves B Corporation Certification!
Fifth Town is pleased to announce certification as one of eight of the Founding Canadian B Corporations on Monday, April 20th, 2010.
Currently, there are over 290 companies across 50 industries certified across North America including Seventh Generation, Numi Organic Tea, Monitor Institute (a division of Monitor Group), and Method Products.
B Lab of Pennsylvania, the non-profit that certifies B Corporations, expects that number will exceed 350 before the end of 2010. Certified B Corporations represent $1 billion in collective revenues and $6.5 billion in capital under management.
Fifth Town’s certification score was higher than the average Certified B Corp. The current qualifying bar is 80pts with the average being 105pts. Fifth Town scored 124.6pts with high impact categories being Accountability, Environment, and Community.
What is a B Corporation?
B Corporations (B stands for ‘benefit’) are a new type of company that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental issues. B Corp Certification is offered by B Lab of Pennsylvania, designating a business as socially responsible. Essentially, B Corporation certification is similar to the LEED certification system for green buildings or TransFair’s certification of fair-trade businesses. However, B Corporation focuses on certifying the whole business-not just the building or product.
Companies gain points for a number of practices, including democratic decision making, having good benefits, donating profits to charity, and being energy efficient. “We want to help consumers separate good companies from good marketing,” says Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder of the apparel company AND 1, who launched B Lab with Bart Houlahan, AND 1’s former president, and Andrew Kassoy, a principal at private equity firm MSD Capital.
In addition to providing an independent assessment of a business’s level of social responsibility, the certification process requires a business to legally expand the company’s corporate accountability to include the interests of stakeholders. B Corporations amend their articles of incorporation to make it clear to investors that the business’s managers are required to also consider the interests of societal: such as employees, communities, and the environment.[1
To be certified as a B Corporation, the corporation must achieve a minimum score of 80 (out of 200) on the B Ratings System, a tool to assess a company’s social and environmental performance. In addition, the company must agree to make legal changes to its articles of incorporation to expand the responsibilities of the company to include consideration of stakeholder interests.
Recertification is required every two years. 10% of companies are randomly audited every year to ensure continued accuracy of the business’s B Rating score.[6]
Why did Fifth Town Become Certified?
Fifth Town first heard of the B Corporations at an introductory seminar at MARS in Toronto, Ontario. “I was very impressed with the approach, the existing roster, and the comprehensiveness of the certification program”, says Petra Cooper, owner/founder and President of Fifth Town. It was the very thing we needed to communicate to our stakeholders the comprehensiveness of our approach to “doing well by doing good”. You see, it’s not just about a green building for us. It’ about a mindset that governs all your business decisions: From environmental, to employee and farm welfare, to what we do for our community, both spacial communities and non-spacial communities of aligned interests.
“In the end, it’s our customers who buy the cheese that make our sustainability and social benefits programs possible. If they did not buy our cheese, we could not do the things we do. So for their sake, I felt it was important to convey and have a 3rd party demonstrate to our customers that when they purchase a FT cheese, their dollar does so much more than just pay for a cheese. I also felt that the audit process helped us identify some areas we also need to improve. Yes, you can learn about best practices by subjecting yourself to 3rd party audits! Doing well by doing good requires a continuous improvement mindset. We are not perfect yet, but aim to get close!”
Fifth Town is already Platinum LEED certified and LFP Certified. This means the facility and its supply chain has under gone a 3rd party audit to ensure it meets the highest environmental and social responsibility best practices standards in these areas. But in Fifth Town’s view, companies have to do more than just have a green facility, recycling programs, and good waste management to have the level of positive impact that progressive business practices can have on a community and its stakeholders. A spotty approach is not enough”, says Petra Cooper. “For example, a company may promote its responsible approach to waste management but at the same time, pay non-living wages. Also, sometimes the lofty social goals can be set aside if other investors get involved. B Corporations work to have its aims included and protected in its corporate bylaws.
Petra is pleased with FT’s latest achievement. “Overall we are thrilled to be in the company of other great B-Corporations. And we are happy to be one of the leaders of this movement in Canada .”
About B Corp
Certified B Corporations 1) meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance; 2) legally expand their corporate responsibilities to include consideration of stakeholder interests; and 3) build collective voice through the power of the unifying B Corporation brand. As of April 2010, there are over 290 certified B Corporations from over 50 industries, representing a diverse multi-billion marketplace. Long term this will lead to a legally recognized new corporate form (like a C corp or an S corp) and tax incentives, procurement preferences, and a social stock exchange for sustainable businesses.
About B Lab
B Lab is a nonprofit organization dedicated to using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Lab’s primary initiatives are: 1) building a community of Certified B Corporations to make it easier for all of us to tell the difference between “good companies” and just good marketing; 2) increasing adoption of the GIIRS impact rating system to drive institutional investment to high impact global private equity investments; and 3) advancing supportive public policies, including creation of a new corporate form—like the recently introduced Benefit Corp legislation in Vermont—and incentives for sustainable business—like the recently passed B Corp tax break in Philadelphia.
Other Canadian B Corporations:
BetterTheWorld, Toronto: http://bcorporation.net/bettertheworld
Renewal2, Vancouver: http://renewal2.ca/ This company was recently featured in the Globe and Mail, Wednesday, April 20th
Article
Salt Spring Coffee, Salt Spring, http://www.saltspringcoffee.com
InCourage, Toronto, http://bcorporation.net/incourage
Arris Design, Vancouver: http://www.arrisdesign.ca/
DreamBank, Vancouver: http://bcorporation.net/dreambank
Big Room, Vancouver: http://www.bigroom.ca/
Conscious Brands: Calgary: http://www.consciousbrands.com/
Habitat Enterprises, Vancouver: http://habitatenterprises.ca/
