Acorn Sign is built around the ideals of ethical business practices. In every aspect of our company, we focus on three goals: people, planet and profit. Because of our dedication to these ideals, we became a certified B Corporation in 2013 to ensure that we always hold our company to higher standards of business practices. When Acorn began the process to become a B Corporation, our CEO, Beth Gillispie recognized that Acorn’s long-term vision was not about growing the company quickly, but about growing the business as a force for good in the world.
When a company undergoes the process of B Corporation certification, full transparency is required to analyze every aspect of the business’s operations. The B Impact Assessment “evaluates how your company’s operations and business model impact your workers, community, environment, and customers. From your supply chain and input materials to your charitable giving and employee benefits, B Corp Certification proves your business is meeting the highest standards of verified performance.”
3,469 companies across 150 industries are currently certified as B Corporations, and we appreciate the accountability required in order to maintain certification. Because of the accountability components, Acorn monitors and evaluates our business practices in order to measure ourselves against the highest standards for the best impact possible.
Ethical Business Practices
In order to achieve B Corp certification, an independent 3rd party assessment is used to validate the claims that the business owners make about their company. This accountability is crucial to ensure that companies are honest about their business practices and operations, and helps to preserve the integrity of the B Corporation certification.
Social Responsibility
Social responsibility is critical in building a better society for all individuals. The B Corporation community states, “The B Corp community works toward reduced inequality, lower levels of poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of more high quality jobs with dignity and purpose. By harnessing the power of business, B Corps use profits and growth as a means to a greater end: positive impact for their employees, communities, and the environment.”
Here at Acorn, we are dedicated to using our work to improve our community as a whole. Not only do we actively seek out ways we can serve communities in need, we center our work around providing accessibility and inclusion to all individuals through signage. We use the products we create as a method to promote accessibility in every built environment. During the pandemic, we have donated appreciation signage for health care and essential workers, safety signage for distancing and conducted food drives for school programs and the community at large.
Environmental Consciousness
Acorn is passionate about being an environmentally conscious company. When we began the process of becoming a B Corporation in 2013, we were already working diligently to find suppliers, products and manufacturing practices that were as environmentally-friendly as possible. Once we took the B Impact Assessment, we could verify that we were already one of the most “green” companies in the signage industry. To date, Acorn is the only sign company to achieve B Corp Certification. As Acorn continues to grow, we are dedicated to continually improving and searching for new ways to reduce our carbon footprint and benefit the environment.
Legal Accountability
In addition to being a certified B Corp, Acorn also holds legal status as a Benefit Corporation. This corporate legal structure also holds us to a higher level of purpose, transparency and accountability. It protects the mission while considering the impact on all stakeholders, not just shareholders. Benefit Corporations have greater freedom to protect the legacy of their social and environmental purpose, with legal protection to balance financial and non-financial interests when making decisions even if it does not yield the highest profit for the shareholders.
Recertification Process
In order to maintain our B Corp certification, we must recertify every three years. This ensures that we are conducting our business with an ongoing focus on sustainability. In order to qualify for recertification, we must retake the B Impact Assessment to ensure that our score still meets the requirements for certification. You can visit https://bcorporation.net/directory/acorn-sign-graphics to see our assessment scores.
If you would like to learn more about Acorn and B Corps, we would love to talk with you. Contact us today at https://acornsign.com/contact/.
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