Nonprofit organization B Lab announced its 2018 Best for the World list of companies, and three of four Rhode Island-based, B Corp-certified businesses have made the cut.
Packaging 2.0 Inc., Tuckerman & Co. and Worldways Social Marketing received honors in the "governance" category.
What is a B Corp? A B Corp.-certified company is one that "meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability and aspire to use the power of markets to solve social and environmental problems," the B Lab website states.
B Corp-certified companies are apart of a global community of entrepreneurs and their enterprises who are using "business as a force for good." Ultimately, B Lab hopes that via "the power of their collective voice," other corporations will strive against each other to be "best for the world," making a more "durable prosperity for all."
There are only 2,249 companies with this certification throughout the world, and interested companies participate in a rigorous application process.
What is the "Best for the World" List? The List examines certified companies and awards them honors in six categories: overall, community, environment, workers, governance and customers. These winners will have scored in their impact areas' top tenth percentile the B Impact Assessment, an examination that "evaluates a company’s overall mission, ethics, accountability and transparency," the website states. "It measures whether the company has adopted a social or environmental mission, and how it engages its employees, board members and the community to achieve that mission."
Meet the Honorees
Location: Portsmouth Certified Since: 2014 Company Mission: "Packaging 2.0 Inc. sells and markets thermoformed plastic packaging made from post-consumer recycled materials," its website states. "The company seeks to bridge the worlds of plastics packaging design, manufacturing, reuse, recycling, and sustainability. Packaging 2.0's goal is to raise levels of awareness about plastic packaging pollution and increase recycling rates to levels far beyond where they are today."
Location: Providence Certified Since: 2015 Company Type: "Tuckerman & Co. is a mission-driven clothing company that makes stylish workwear using less environmentally harmful materials," its website states. "Their first product is an organic cotton dress shirt made from Italian fabric and cut and sewn in New England. Each shirt they sell saves nearly a full pound of pesticides from being used. Simply put, we believe that business has a role to play in making the world a better place."
Location: Newport Certified Since: 2015 Company Type: "One of the first agencies of its kind, Worldways specializes in social marketing," its website states. "Named before the advent of social media, social marketing accelerates the adoption of behaviors that improve the well-being of individuals and communities throughout the world. Worldways has helped more than 150 clients on five continents change the way people behave when it comes to health, environmental, economic and social behavior."
