Just in time for our tenth anniversary, we’re thrilled to announce that Smith & Connors has officially become a B Corp, with an exciting new sub-classification known as Purpose Driven Enterprise! We’re excited to join the community of the 6,471 B Corps (as of this writing) all around the world who are looking to, as B Lab says, “transform the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet.” If you’re not familiar with B Corp (my mother wasn’t), the way they describe it online is that “B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.” Some large B Corps that operate in the U.S. that you might have heard of are Aveda, Aesop, Tillamook, Athleta, and Patagonia.

But why become a B Corp?

This was a question we always asked ourselves. Many of our fellow purpose-driven agencies are B Corps, and it’s always felt a little conspicuous not to be one. We have always hesitated to go after the certification because we didn’t want the decision to be performative. There was always criticism of the B Corp movement. People called it a box to check, like LEED certification for a building. Just make these few simple changes and you can become a B Corp. Something about this discourse put us off, so we waited for several years. 

To be honest, once we went through the process, we didn’t have to make many changes to qualify for certification. We have little or no negative environmental impact. We’re now a fully remote company. We have almost no suppliers. We don’t manufacture anything. We are a client services business that from the start has worked almost exclusively with purpose-driven companies, agencies, and organizations. So it wasn’t a question of if, but why.

There are two main reasons why we decided to finally pursue B Corp status. 

Changes to B Corp

The first is B Lab itself. They have made some big and positive changes. One of those changes that we liked is that they recently rolled out Impact Business Models (IBMs), which provide a bit more information about where a B Corp stands. We’ve qualified for the Purpose-Driven Enterprise IBM, which “Recognizes products/services that enable the financial or operational success of businesses that are purpose-driven or underserved.” We’re proud to serve almost all purpose-driven organizations and businesses.  

It’s an Act of Optimism

The second reason has been a dawning realization that has come from our experiences over the past few years. We became founding members of Zebras Unite Co-Op because we believe in a movement that aims to explore new business models that center people and planet in their core purpose. We became members of Business for a Better Portland, an alternative progressive chamber of commerce that aims to advocate for policies that help our communities, not just pad the pockets of large corporations. We started working closely with Jason Ingle’s new company, Third Nature Investments. Jason is an impact investor with a stellar track record who realized that we need to do more than think and work in silos, so he’s moving toward a more systems-based approach. Each of these movements exists in reaction to the realization that we have to do better.

We believe that it’s important to be part of movements aimed at exploring new business models and changing how business is being done in the world.

These are all parallel movements that we believe in, and that tie into our core purpose of being – to make the world safer and more just and equitable for all. We believe that being a part of these nascent movements will have an outsized impact in the long term. Becoming a B Corp now, to us, means that we get to be in communion with a growing movement of businesses that are leading the world forward.