We’ve joined a global movement: We are officially a B Corporation!

We’ve reached a milestone and are proud to announce that Viridian Energy Co-operative is officially a certified B Corporation.

With this designation, we’re joining a community of 3,522 companies—including  Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, WeTransfer, Tony’s Chocoloney and many more that use business as a force for good. This status complements our worker’s cooperative values and is a way to define, measure and excel at key objectives that keep us moving in the right direction.  

Based in the Cowichan Valley, Viridian Energy Co-operative has installed over 10,000 solar panels and provides solar energy solutions, assessments, design, installation and consulting by Renewable Energy Technicians and Red Seal Electricians. This new status complements VEC’s worker co-operative values where the aim is to balance people, planet, and profit. As a worker’s co-operative, we aim to balance people, planet, and profit. Viridian Energy Co-operative was built with a community at its core. Since 2012, we’ve proudly supported our local communities, giving away 1% of our net income to support community projects.

What is a B Corporation?

Certified B Corporations are a new kind of business. They are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. Check out B Corp’s mission here.

Who decides what organizations are considered B Corporations?

 B Corps are social enterprises verified by B Lab, a nonprofit organization. They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. This is a community of leaders, driving a global movement of people using business as a force for good.

What does it mean to be B Corp Certified?

B Corp Certification is one of the only certifications that isn’t for a product or service but for the whole business behind the product of service. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

How do businesses get certified?

One of the main steps to becoming a B Corp is taking the B Impact Assessment. Over the past few months, we made the first steps by completing an in-depth Impact Assessment covering five key areas: governance, customers, workers, environment, and community.

Based on this, we have been given an overall score based on a range of things, from our high-level vision, mission, and business ambitions to employee diversity and energy use.

Companies who score more than 80 points (out of 200) are officially certified and, to ensure we all maintain our commitment, must be recertified every three years. This recertification process makes it essential that members are engaged throughout that timeframe and requires that we continue to strive for excellence and stay focused on our goals. For understanding the ranking, Patagonia, the flagship B Corp, has 151.5 points, while Toms comes in at 96.3, and Alpro has 87. With our score of 84.4, we’re confident we’re on the right track, but we also see a lot of room for growth and development.

Our assessment report is open for anyone to read, which offers more transparency into how we are running our business.

Going through this whole process has been extremely valuable. We need to learn more about our impact, and how we can measure and implement new ideas. This process will take dedication, focus and hard work. Being a B Corp is not a destination but a rewarding and continual journey. Thank you to everyone who helped us achieve this goal!