For the last 10 years, Bethesda Green has helped many businesses achieve B Corp Certification. But recently, we’ve wanted to do more to expand the number of businesses in our region that recognize the impact they have on their community, their employees, their customers, and the environment. For the past 2 years, Bethesda Green, in partnership with Council Fire, Impact Hub Baltimore, and Think Local First DC has piloted the Best for DMV Campaign; a program designed to have businesses recognize the breadth of their impact and take steps to incorporate impact into their business models.
Over the course of the campaign, participating businesses will compete to be the most socially responsible by taking the B Impact Assessment, recognizing and implementing improvements to their sustainable business models. Companies who score highly on the assessment and make critical improvements to their existing practices will be recognized and awarded prizes.
The B Impact Assessment from B Lab is a measurement tool for businesses to become B Corp certified. The assessment measures five categories; environmental impact, workers impact, customer’s impact, community impact, and transparency in governance. In order to become B Corp certified, a business needs a score of at least 80 points on the assessment. A B Corp certification for businesses is similar to that of a USDA Organic certification for food products. The certification signals to consumers that they are supporting an environmentally and socially conscious business.
The multi-jurisdictional aspect of the Best for DMV campaign is the first of its kind. There have been other “Best For” campaigns, such as Best for New York City or Best for Philadelphia, but they remained in only one jurisdiction. The Best for DMV campaign will be a collaboration of multiple separate competitions, that are then judged together. At this time, the jurisdictions will be Montgomery County, Baltimore County, and DC. We are in the process of recruiting a Northern Virginia organization to partner with us and host a jurisdictional lead in Virginia. Our vision of the program is for each jurisdiction to personalize the competition as needed, focusing on specific improvement areas that have the most benefit for the businesses in their region. The jurisdictions will then come together to have an overall regional competition.
This summer, the Core Committee has been working to update and create necessary marketing materials for the campaign. We are also dedicating our time to building relationships and holding meetings with potential investors. If you are interested in learning more about the ways you could participate in the Best for DMV Campaign visit our webpage: https://bethesdagreen.org/be-impact/best-for-dmv/
