Earlier this week, a few KSV staffers were fortunate enough to attend BLD New England, a day-long conference that brought together B Corps from all over the New England region to connect, collaborate and inspire one another to expand the practice of using business as a force for good. In the lead up to this year’s event, we were honored to be able to put together BLD New England’s promotional video.
KSV is proud to be a certified B Corp. It is a fundamental part of our identity as a business externally and our growth as a team internally. Learning from other B Corps helps guide our team in ways that allow us to do better work for our clients and for the community. It’s part of walking the walk – we not only know energy and sustainability, and the energy and sustainability customer, we care about them too.
In keeping with that theme, here are a few recent and inspiring stories from B Corps around the country that we feel can provide immediate, positive food-for-thought for any business looking to do better, more often, for more people:
Taking Action for Environmental Good When the News Is the Opposite: MegaFood recently petitioned the EPA to restrict certain uses of glyphosphate after a growing number of concerning stories, lawsuits and studies surrounding the popular herbicide were made public. For MegaFood, the responsibility to uphold their mission (“to change the world, starting with food”) outweighed the daunting the task of taking on industry giants.
The Hardest Thing to Change is What Most Needs to Change: A profound essay from Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder of B Lab and the B Corp movement. One standout thought (of many): “Businesses must continue to be profitable—after all, without income, a business can’t generate positive impact over time. But, by ‘working well,’ by supporting worker health, caring for the planet, the business is also ensuring a positive future for all, including itself.”
Making it in Vermont: Trying to Make a Cookie Dough Factory a Sweet Place: Rhino Foods (the company behind the delicious cookie dough in your pint of Ben & Jerry’s) aims to bring about positive change in the company and the community through innovative business practices such as open book management and an employee exchange program that, through partnerships with other local manufacturing businesses, helps ensure that workers stay employed through seasonal fluctuations.
Going Underground and Looking Up: Asking the question, “What can engineers do to create places that are safe, comfortable and healthy to live in long into the future?,” engineering firm WSP is focused on designing for the future of urban living, a future that includes billions of people living in cities that are well-equipped to deal with the hotter, windier, wetter, more extreme weather that climate change will bring (and has already brought) on a day-to-day basis.
We’re always looking for inspiration. Drop us a note and let us know – what’s captured your attention this week?