Localize is dedicated to empowering people with information about where their food is coming from. We believe in using our business to do good, working to support other businesses and helping create sustainable and fair practices. Our dedication to upholding these beliefs is what inspired and enabled us to become a B Corp certified company.
What does it mean to be a B Corp? To quote the B Lab, ‘B Corp is to business as Fairtrade is to coffee’ – B Corp certification measures the social and environmental impact of a business through its entire operations. For us here at Localize, this means that success is not only measured by financial indicators, but also by our social impact. B Corp certification is a framework that assesses our impact on all of our stakeholders: employees, customers, shareholders, and the communities in which we operate.
Each B Corp follows a different path to certification. For Localize, our fundamental principles and values already aligned with many of the aspects considered under the B Impact Assessment. Finding out about B Corp certification was a realization that, hey, there are other people who care about the same things we do! Certification gives us a tool to evaluate how we fare against other socially conscious organizations, and provided validation of what we already felt: we are filling a need in a way that improves communities and benefits society. It has helped us to build our fundamental values into every aspect of the way our company operates, and causes us to return to these values regularly.
While no sane business owner would purposely add an extra layer of complexity, maintaining B Corp Certification provides a health-check on many aspects of a business that may be overlooked if only considering balance sheets, sales numbers, and employee satisfaction. In many ways, the B Impact Assessment goes straight to the source of internal issues and can provide important insight into how your company is running. For example, if you change policies to check ten extra boxes in the Worker Impact Assessment, you can be sure to improve employee morale. Likewise, if you undertake to improve your score on environmental impact, you are also bound to save money, run more efficiently, and strengthen supplier relationships.
As consumers, investors, and businesses demand more transparency, the B Corp movement is picking up speed and becoming a powerful force to address social and environmental issues. There are now over 1,800 certified organizations in 30 countries! You can find out more about the movement at bcorporation.net.
We are proud to be part of the growing number of Certified B Corporations and will continue to endeavor every day to make the world a better place through business!
Do you know of an Edmonton area company that should be a B Corp too? Give us a shout and help us get in touch with them.
