(We kicked off 2011 with a visit from B Corp's Deborah Hirsh, who provided us with an overview of the growing movement and inspiration to work to make the model a choice for Texas sustainability minded entrepreneurs. Progress has been made toward that goal during the past year, and it is very exciting to know that there now are 12 Texas-based businesses operating with the B Corp model, including several right here in DFW! Lori Darley is our INFORM+ENGAGE+EMPOWER B Corp Community Liaison, and you can learn more about how the movement is growing in Texas from her update below!)

What do  Dolphin Blue, Inc., First Rate, Satori Capital,  and Taylor Made Press have in common? They have all met third party standards for social and environmental integrity, as certified B Corporations in Texas, along with over 488 B Corps across North America.

Like fair trade certification is for coffee or LEED certification is for green buildings, B Corp is a certification for sustainable business.   To earn certification, B Corps must meet higher legal accountability standards by doing two things:  1) amend their articles of incorporation to require consideration of stakeholder interests; (Texas is an exception here, in that Texas B Corps cannot change their articles at the moment.  However, they will be required to commit to adopting the benefit corporation structure once the legislation is passed in Texas) and, 2) meet rigorous social and environmental performance standards.  The performance standards require B Corps to earn a minimum score (80 out of 200) on the B Impact Rating System (BIRS) that assesses a company’s impact on all its stakeholders – workers, suppliers, consumers, community, and the environment. BIRS is a free, on-line resource for benchmarking your corporation’s impacts and supporting your reporting needs.  Anyone can view the rating system online.

Meeting these legal and performance standards, enables B Corps to differentiate themselves in a marketplace where everyone claims to be green, responsible, or sustainable.  As a result, B Corps are preferred by consumers, sought after by investors, and receive significant discounts on dozens of business products and services that are saving them more than $2 million each year.

B Corporations are legally structured to do more than just make money. The B Corp legal language can help protect a company's social or environmental mission as it raises outside capital, plans management succession or defends against an unwanted acquisition offer.

While B Corps themselves benefit from certification, their collective impact is even greater.  One example is how the community of B Corps has become a powerful political constituency for public policies supporting sustainable business.  In the last two years, the B Corp community has passed legislation in seven states (MD, VT, NJ, VA , HI, CA and NY) creating legal recognition for the B Corp model as a distinct corporate entity -- called a Benefit Corporation. Four other states have legislation pending and another ten are lining up for 2012.

At time of posting there are now officially twelve certified B Corporations in Texas and more coming on line soon. A grass roots committee called B Corps for Texas formed last year and continues their work  in supporting the vision of B Lab, the founding organization of the movement.  If you are interested in helping to spread the word in any way in Texas, please contact Lori Darley at lori@thetransitionscoach.com. 

To learn more, B Lab's 2011 Annual Report, "If Not Now, When?" is also available on-line.