Do you know what a B Corporation is? I didn’t either, until this past fall. B Corps are businesses that excel in social and environmental performance, are transparent, and balance profit and purpose. The B Corp movement started in 2006 by three friends who wanted to make it easier for companies to improve their positive impact over time. They created the B Lab, and B Corp Certification is one of their initiatives. The B Impact Assessment evaluates how companies impact their environment, community, workers, and customers to obtain a score between 0 and 200. According to the B Corp website, the average score for businesses is 50.9, and to become B Corp Certified, a business has to score 80 or above. It’s easy to navigate the website, and you can even search for B Corps in your area and view their impact score report!
Currently, there are over 2,500 B Corporations in 60 countries, including well-known brands such as Patagonia, Kickstarter, Ben & Jerry’s, and Etsy. Rochester alone has 8 certified B Corporations, one of which is Headwater Foods: a partner of the University of Rochester Dining Services focused on the distribution of fresh local foods. Sounds good already, right? Headwater Foods’ overall B impact score was 83.4 in 2018. The company received high scores for transparency, compensation and wages, sustainability-related topics, and received extremely high scores all across the community category. It also received a Best for Community award in 2015. Of course, the University of Rochester is incredibly proud to be partners with Headwater Foods. It’s awesome that this good business, which benefits local farmers and gives us our tasty fresh food, can be recognized for its positive impact.
B Lab’s goal is to drive businesses, big and small, to address the challenges of today’s society, such as wealth inequality and climate change, and use their business as a force of good. Best stated on their website, B Lab’s vision is that one day, all companies will compete to be “not just best in the world but also best for the world.” Every corp should be a B Corp.
Information was taken from the B Corporation website. Visit it to learn more and explore what other businesses are leaders for change: https://bcorporation.net/
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Guest Post Written by Elissa Moy, Class of 2021, Dining Team Green Marketing Intern