Building a Background About a B Corp

So I know we’ve been making a bid deal about KINeSYS becoming a certified B Corporation, and I also know (thanks to your most lovely emails) a lot of you have been asking “what the heck IS a certified B Corporation?” Well, here I am to answer that question and any others you may have…

In an increasingly “green” world where greater emphasis is being placed on sustainability, rather than convenience or ease, the B Corporation has been established (by B Labs) to rate businesses on their commitment to improving the environment and the overall human condition. Becoming a B Corporation means that a company is making a commitment to enrich the world around it, rather than merely enriching its bottom line. According to the B Corp’s website, companies officially certified as “B Corporations” distinguish themselves from their competition for 3 reasons:

1. “[They] meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards.”
2. “[They] institutionalize stakeholder interests.”
3. “[They] build a collective voice through the power of a unifying brand.”

Keeping a Green Conscience

At this time there are over 200 B Corporations, stretching across 31 industries and grossing almost $1 billion dollars annually. Now you’re probably saying “so KINeSYS is one of 200 companies, so what?—WHAT’S SO SPECIAL?” Well consider this fun fact; nearly 43,000 companies have taken the B Corp survey!!! That means KINeSYS is in the 99.5% percentile of companies who have been surveyed. We’re in the TOP HALF OF THE TOP 1%!!!! Not too shabby if you ask me. Too good to be true you say?—Here check it out for yourself: http://solveclimate.com/blog/20090713/b-corporation-new-way-doing-business

Companies are judged and scored in five categories when they take the B Corporation survey, at the conclusion of the scoring, if their composite score is high enough, they earn B Corp certification. The five categories used are environment, employees, community, consumers and leadership. Any company that gets 80 points or more (out of 200) overall earns the right of being listed as a B Corporation. KINeSYS scored a 151.6 out of 200, so not only were we good enough we were GOOD ENOUGH BY A MILE!!!! But if you want to know how we scored in each category here are the results:

Environment: KINeSYS earned 97% of the points available

Employees: KINeSYS earned 77% of the points available

Community: KINeSYS earned 61% of the points available

Consumer: KINeSYS earned 79% of the points available

Leadership: KINeSYS earned 94% of the points available

Obviously we did well in Environment and Leadership, but what about the other 3 categories, Employees, Community and Consumer?—scores of 77%, 61% and 79% don’t exactly look great. But guess what?—The B Corp considers a score of 60% or higher to be an AREA OF EXCELLENCE!!! So ALL FIVE CATEGORIES are areas of EXCELLENCE for KINeSYS!!! Now that’s just downright impressive.

If you want to check out KINeSYS’ actual certification on the B Corp’s website here’s the link: http://www.bcorporation.net/kinesys

All the best, The KINeSYS team!