Signature Cycles’ business model is guided by a commitment to sustainability, but sustainability is just a word. Without choices and actions, it’s a buzzword without the desired result. Companies like Chris King help us put our values into action.
Chris King was the first certified B-corporation in the cycling industry. B-corps are required to meet stringent requirements and submit to annual auditing. B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials. In order to achieve certification, a company must:
• Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above and passing our risk review. Multinational corporations must also meet baseline requirement standards.
• Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction.
• Exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp profile on B Lab’s website.