|
|
 When I saw an $8.95 per lb price tag on the locally raised all natural heirloom Thanksgiving turkey from the farmer’s market, I knew I was close to my limit.
I knew the ‘free’ turkey at Big Shop Markets was a hook to get me in for all the fixings. I knew the 99 cents per pound frozen factory farm bird was not for me.
I did finally decide to sign up for that natural turkey, but mainly because I was too distracted to hammer out the math. When my wife and I drove out to the family’s farm to pick-up our freshly slaughtered, formerly pampered bird, however, reality struck.
We pulled into the yard, the chickens scattered, the dogs barked, the pigs grunted and everyone was smiling and friendly heading into the farmhouse. I took the bag from our friendly local turkey maven’s hands…”$215.00 please,” she said. I’d refused to do arithmetic for fear of the number. My wife’s jaw dropped.
It was a long quiet ride home, I swear I heard the turkey gobble with laughter.
I know I wanted to pay attention to what my money ends up supporting but I also have to be responsible to my family. College tuition payment or $6 for a half dozen free range organic mozart-listening-to eggs, never shaken or exposed to harsh words.
Over the next few years we found healthy, natural birds at a local co-op priced at $2.99-$3.99 per pound. More expensive than a free Butterball, but tastier and more ethical by far. In this case, a few dollars more on an occasional purchase pales in comparison to the benefits to myself and my community.
With almost any purchase we measure value, cost, convenience, and vendor reputation. As a founding member and supporter of B Corp, Social Venture Network, and a member of Certified Green Business and 1% For The Planet I pay close attention to where I spend my money. Who I support is usually more important than the cost of the product and service, within reason. When I have gone for cost as sole concern I usually find I get less value. When I shop outside my community do not enjoy the transaction as much. When I need to resolve an issue with a vendor, knowing that person or organization more intimately always makes for a better experience and a swifter resolution. By sticking to the community where we value reputation and common dreams as a shared goal I find I am far wealthier at the end of the transaction.
Still, I find it’s best not to bring up the turkey story with my wife.
Rob Thomas
The 32nd annual Natural Products Expo, the largest on record with more than 60,000 industry members and over 2,000 exhibiting companies, filled more than 1 million square feet at the Anaheim Convention Center March 8 – 11, 2012.
 The Yellow 108 hat booth was a popular stop My first Expo West was 1999. Freshly licensed as financial advisor I set out to establish my value. Shared interests and habits brought me to this community, and I’ve been here since. These businesses offer a simple but monumental improvement over the traditional offering of a single bottom line for-profit. Instead of gearing revenue toward the benefit of shareholders, they make sure it benefits all stakeholders. That means shareholders, employees, and the community at large.
Organic, Natural, and Fair Trade, these widely adopted terms express the values of the community I set out to do business with. I was looking for clients who agreed that screens for social responsibility on their long term investments was what their stakeholders wanted. More than a decade ago, at Expo West, I knew I had found my tribe.
Honest Tea, Numi Tea, Sambazon, Guayaki, Organic Trade Association, Tierra Farm and Oregon Tilth are a few of the companies that I met early on and began long standing relationships. Every year I returned since 1999 I found new, like-minded clients. This year I came back again, and thrilled to see how hugely the community had grown.
For all the wrong reasons I missed the last five years of Expo West. A few visits to Expo East, the smaller version of the show, and a full travel calendar kept me away. Those days are over. Expo West 2012 was the largest Natural Products Expo to date and every person I spoke with said business was booming. Attendance was up 13% from 2011 with over 58,000 industry-related people and 3,000 exhibitors. The show is the second largest at The Anaheim Convention Center.
That larger show, held by The National Association of Music Merchants, has been around three times longer than ours, for 110 years. Unlike the Natural Products Expo, NAMM represents an industry composed of almost 100% discretionary spending. Seems to me like we’ll be #1 in no time.
Organic, Natural, and Fair-Trade products are now consumer staples. Every time people go to the store they realize that they do not want products or services rendered at the expense of others. A healthier profit can be made by taking care of every stakeholder affected by your business–employees, communities, and shareholders.
Being able to provide for this particular community at Expo West makes me smile everyday. Thanks everyone.
Rob Thomas
President & Founder
Social(k)
PHILADELPHIA, Mar. 07 /CSRwire/ – Today B Lab released the first ‘Best for the World’ lists recognizing companies creating the most positive overall social and environmental impact. The ‘Best for the World’ companies score 50% higher than nearly 2,000 other sustainable businesses, and in the top 10% among more than 500 Certified B Corporations, in the most comprehensive and independent assessment of overall corporate impact. B Lab also released separate lists of the ‘Best for the Environment’, ‘Best for the Community’, and ‘Best for Workers’. blab bcorp
“These companies are leading a global movement to redefine success in business,” said Jay Coen Gilbert, co founder of B Lab, the nonprofit organization that certifies B Corporations and governs the independent third party standard used to generate the comparable assessment of corporate impact. “These companies are the best in the world at being the best for the world,” Coen Gilbert added.
The ‘Best for the World’ lists are featured in the just released 2012 B Corp Annual Report. Businesses recognized for their extraordinary performance include:
- For Overall Impact: Better World Books, Global Green Energy Corp, Green Building Services, Larry’s Beans, Method Home Products, Moving Forward Education, Namaste Solar, New Resource Bank, Next Street, Partnership Capital Growth, Piedmont Biofuels, PREM Group, Re:Vision Architecture, RecycleBank, South Mountain Company, Southern Energy Management, SQA Pharmacy Services, The Redwoods Group, and Virginia Community Capital.
- For the Environment: Brightworks, Bullfrog Power, Ecovations, gDiapers, Global Green Energy Corp., GoLite, Green Building Services, Guayaki Sustainable Rainforest Products, IceStone, Larry’s Beans, Method Products, Namaste Solar, New Leaf Paper, Patagonia, Piedmont Biofuels, Preserve, Re:Vision Architecture, Salt Spring Coffee, Southern Energy Management, and Sustainable Solutions Unlimited.
- For the Community: Agora Management Corporation, Cap Global, Care2.com, Change.org, Ecovations, FMYI, Hershey Cause, Ideal Network, Mal Warwick Associates, Moving Forward Education, New Resource Bank, Next Street, PeaceWorks Technology Solutions, Prem Group, SQA Pharmacy Services, thedatabank, The Redwoods Group, and Virginia Community Capital.
- For Workers: Change.org, Exponent Partners, First Affirmative Financial Network, First Rate, Inc., Heller Consulting, King Arthur Flour Company, Namaste Solar, Partnership Capital Growth, PeaceWorks Technology Solutions, Rally Software, Re:Vision Architecture, Relevance, South Mountain Company, Sungevity, The Caprock Group, and thedatabank, inc.
Six companies were recognized as ‘Best for the World’ in multiple impact areas: Namaste Solar (Environment and Workers); Re:Vision Architecture (Environment and Workers); Change.org (Community and Workers); PeaceWorks Technology Solutions (Community and Workers); thedatabank (Community and Workers); and Ecovations (Environment and Community).
B Lab is a nonprofit organization dedicated to using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Lab drives systemic change through three interrelated initiatives: 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) accelerating the growth of the impact investing asset class through use of B Lab’s GIIRS impact rating system by institutional investors; and 3) promoting legislation creating a new corporate form that meets higher standards of purpose, accountability and transparency. To earn certification, B Corporations must achieve a minimum score on the B Impact Assessment, which measures a company’s impact on its workforce, suppliers, consumers, community, and the environment, and are legally required to consider the interests of these stakeholders, not just shareholders, when making decisions. Learn more at bcorporation.net, benefitcorp.net, and giirs.org.
via B Lab Releases First ‘Best for the World’ List of Businesses Creating Most Overall Positive Social and Environmental Impact – Press Releases on CSRwire.com.
 Social(k).com Social(k) Recognized in First ‘Best for the World’ List of Businesses With Less Than 10 Employees Creating Most Overall Positive Social and Environmental Impact
‘Best for the World’ Businesses Score 50% Higher Than Nearly 2,000 Other Sustainable Businesses in Most Comprehensive Assessment of Overall Corporate Impact
Top Ten Percent Among Certified B Corps With Under 10 Employees
Social(k)has been recognized as ‘Best for the World’ in a list of businesses with less than 10 employees creating the most overall positive social and environmental impact. Social(k) and the other ‘Best for the World’ businesses earned a score in the top 10% of all Certified B Corporations with 10 employees or less, and, on average, 50% higher than the average score of nearly 2,000 other sustainable businesses that have completed the B Impact Assessment.
The B Impact Assessment, governed by the nonprofit B Lab, is the most rigorous, comprehensive, and comparable independent assessment of overall corporate impact and shows the relative value businesses create for society by comparing nearly 200 individual metrics on corporate impact on workers, consumers, suppliers, community and the environment.
Social(k) is a leader in the global movement to redefine success in business,” said Jay Coen Gilbert, co founder of B Lab, the organization that certifies B Corporations. Social(k) is among the best in the world at being the best for the world.”
“B Lab, Social Venture Network and Green America are three tightly connected organizations working toward a common vision. All three choose Social(k) for their retirement plans, as have over a hundred member organizations from these groups. It is wonderful to succeed in business. Even more so with a client list that represents leaders in the Progressive Movement,” says Thomas.
The ‘Best for the World’ list appears in the 2012 B Corp Annual Report published today by B Lab.
‘Best for the World’ businesses with less than 10 employees include: Autonomie Project, Inc., Big City Farms LLC, Co-op Power / Northeast Biodiesel, davistudio, EduCare Education, Enviro-Stewards, Fair Trade Sports, Inc., GreenLight Apparel, Hives for Lives, InVenture Fund, JustNeem, KINeSYS Inc., LEAP Organics, Little Pickle Press, mindful investors, Natural Investments LLC, New Avenue, Palmetto Ventures, Pivotal Production, SABEResPODER, Social Enterprise Associates, Social(k), Sustainability Television, The Inclusive & Sustainable Group, LLC, The Sustainability Advantage, Veterans Ink
Social(k) Social(k) offers over 500 Environmental, Social and Governance – ESG, screened funds and Exchange Traded Funds – ETFs, from dozens of fund companies. Pax World, Portfolio 21, Appleseed, Green Century, Parnassus, Community Capital Management, Everence and Calvert are a few.
If you operate a mission driven organization, for profit or non-profit, we are the only mission aligned option when it comes time for a retirement plan that matches your organizations philosophy. Social(k) is low cost, open architecture, fully bundled paperless platform. We can be reached at 866-929-2525 or socialk.com
Learn more about how Social(k) creates positive social and environmental impact at bcorporation.net/socialk.com.
* * *
Social(k) is a Founding B Corporation with offices in San Francisco, New York City and Springfield MA. We work with organizations to bring ESG screened, and traditional investment opportunities to employees. A company sponsored retirement plan is an important benefit to consider when building an employee benefits package. Exposure to long term systematic investing helps individuals to be better prepared for their future.
B Lab is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a new sector of the economy that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Lab drives systemic change through three interrelated initiatives: 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) driving capital to impact investments through use of GIIRS Ratings and Analytics; and 3) advancing supportive public policies to accelerate growth of social entrepreneurship and impact investing. To earn certification, B Corps must achieve a verified minimum score (80 out of 200) on the B Impact Assessment and amend their bylaws to legally require their directors to consider the interests of stakeholders, not just shareholders, when making decisions. For more information, check www.bcorporation.net or contact Jay Coen Gilbert at jay@bcorporation.net.
|
Latest Online Reviews 3121company3380side_bardirectorieshttp://reputationdatabase.com/625544 |
Recent Comments