For some businesses, a mission statement isn’t enough.

Carleton Hart Architecture is set to become Oregon’s latest design firm to earn status as a certified B Corporation, tying its values to a third-party auditing process.

Principals with Carleton Hart Architecture and Waterleaf Architecture, which in 2016 became Oregon’s first architecture firm to earn B Corporation certification, said its advantages include marketing and client relations, employee recruitment and retention, and social accountability.

Carleton Hart, which has 37 employees, often works with public-sector and nonprofit clients on affordable housing projects and others that aim for a social good.

“It’s very important to demonstrate that we have a mission, that we have a set of beliefs that are in line with what our clients do,” Carleton Hart founding principal Brian Carleton said.

B Corporations are more common in other industries such as food and beverage. Well-known local B Corporations include New Seasons Market, Grand Central Bakery and Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Green Hammer, a Portland design-build firm, also became a certified B Corporation in 2017.

The B Corporation certification process uses a ratings system that awards points in categories such as governance, workers, community, environment and customers. In some ways, it’s not unlike Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for a company instead of a building.

“What we do architecturally and as citizens matters to us,” said Michelle Black, a Carleton Hart principal. “There’s something about making it formal, if you will.”

Carleton Hart is engaged in a variety of mission-driven projects, including the Multnomah County Behavioral Health Center – a downtown facility that will offer drop-in day services, shelter beds and transitional housing for the homeless. Another is the Cedar Grove Apartments affordable housing project in Beaverton.

Such projects require a workplace culture that lends itself to cohesive solutions driven by shared values, Carleton Hart’s principals said.

“We are often brought into projects and part of conversations that extend past just the physical architecture,” Black said. “It’s more than just how long is the design drawing set going to take, or what is the permit process. We are asking so much of each other. We’re looking at problem solving on a much greater scale often.”

Particularly with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, professional services firms are expected to communicate their values to potential clients.

“This is an era where we need to lead with our values and market with our values first,” said Abigail Bokman, marketing manager for Waterleaf.

Becoming a B Corporation does not change a company’s legal organization. Waterleaf, for example, is a limited liability company, while Carleton Hart is organized as a professional corporation. In other words, B Corporation certification does not change a company’s for-profit status.

“They definitely aren’t shy with being profitable, but they have an emphasis on doing something good at the same time,” said Karen Lange, a Waterleaf associate partner.

For companies accustomed to privacy in their business operations, becoming a B Corporation requires a turn toward transparency. Among the scores that are posted publicly in the B Corporation directory are tallies for workers’ financial security and engagement and satisfaction.

“That’s one of the biggest differences, is you become more transparent as a private company,” Carleton said.

That may have benefits for recruitment and retention. At Waterleaf, which has 17 employees, the company’s B Corporation certification comes up in job interviews regularly. Prospective employees often ask about the firm’s social mission, Lange said.

B Lab, the organization that oversees B Corporation certifications, requires a minimum of 80 points to achieve certification. Carleton Hart .

Certification also links firms to a network of similar companies. There’s an online forum, B Hive, where executives can ask questions of their peers. There are also monthly lunch sessions, panel discussions, an annual regional conference and networking events. Portland has more than 100 certified B Corporations.

In the pandemic era, the B Hive has filled with helpful information on topics such as obtaining federal Paycheck Protection Program loans. Social and racial equity have also been at the forefront of the conversations.

“It’s become a very safe community to share and discuss some of these issues, which we’ve found very valuable,” Lange said.

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A Tualatin HVAC contractor is the first such company in the world to become a certified B Corporation.

What is a certified B Corporation? The designation was created by B Lab, a global nonprofit with offices in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. B Lab certification is granted to for-profit companies that meet a minimum score on an online assessment for “social and environmental performance.” Qualifying firms must also incorporate B Lab commitments to documentation.

Reitmeier, a commercial HVAC company, serves the Portland-metro area. It achieved B Corporation certification, the company stated, through its efforts to promote sustainability, reduce waste and recycle as much leftover material as possible.

“Becoming a certified B Corporation solidifies the company’s mission and values,” Reitmeier President Jeff Nusz stated in a press release. “But our company embraced sustainable practices long before that. This certification validates what we already believe and have practiced for years.”

Reitmeier is already close to reducing its waste stream to zero. Currently, the firm: occupies a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design silver-rated office building; uses a water filtration system that eliminates the use of plastic water bottles; employs an all-digital dispatch board that saves around 10 reams of paper per month; recycles its K-Cups; composts all leftover food; reclaims and recovers refrigerants and all parts removed from HVAC units; uses high-efficiency vehicles; recycles used air filters removed from HVAC units; and practices on-the-job-site reuse and reclamation of all materials.

As of April 2017, there were more than 2,000 certified B Corporations across 140 industries in 50 countries.

Reitmeier’s full B Corporation Impact Report is available at: .

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