Becoming a Certified B Corporation

This has been an exciting week at Greenerprinter: we received official approval as a Certified B Corporation! Greenerprinter is the first commercial printer in the country to receive this certification. A few other printers are also undergoing this certification process, which could help to set new standards within the printing industry.

What’s a B Corporation?

B Corps are a new type of corporation that use the power of business to address social and environmental problems. Certified B Corporations meet transparent and comprehensive standards of social and environmental performance and legally expand their corporate responsibilities to include consideration of stakeholder interests. In addition, by uniting together as B Corporations, they amplify the voice of sustainable business and for-profit social enterprise. There are currently over 200 certified B Corporations from over 30 industries, representing $1 billion in collective revenues and $6.5 billion in capital under management.

Unfortunately, California is one of 19 states that do not yet allow corporations to consider stakeholder interests. As a B Corp in California, we have committed to amending our corporate governing documents to include stakeholder interests once the law permits us to do so. According to Deborah Hirsh from B Labs (the non-profit that coordinates the certification), changes in state legislation in 2010 may facilitate this process, and additional efforts are underway to create a new corporate form for companies in California that have met high and transparent social and environmental standards.

Why did Greenerprinter become a B Corp?

We went through the certification process to become a B Corp because the B Corp certification represents one of the highest standards for responsible businesses. An important part of the B Corp certification is that the social and environmental performance standards are comprehensive and transparent. Our B Corp report will soon be available on the B Corp website, and we will be subject to random audits. This will be in addition to the other audits that we’re subject to as a Certified Green Business in Berkeley (such as water and energy use audits) and our Forest Stewardship Council audit. We believe that it is important that our social and environmental initiatives can be verified by third parties that you can trust.

Is B Corp another green certification?

No, B Corp goes beyond green certification. It does evaluate environmental efforts, but it also includes considerations for governance, employees, community, and suppliers. In this regard, it’s a much more comprehensive certification that looks at not just environmental impact, but at how the company does business as a whole.

You can learn more about B Corporations on their website. The Katovich Law Group, another B Corp, also provides a good explanation about stakeholder interests and B Corps on their blog.