LAKE FOREST, CA – June 17, 2014 – Clearinghouse CDFI announced today its status as a newly Certified B Corporation (B Corp). Certified B Corps are socially and environmentally sustainable companies that practice high levels of performance, accountability, and transparency and have been certified by B Lab, a nonprofit company. These companies are entities that strive to construct positive values in their communities. Becoming a part of this social movement was natural for Clearinghouse CDFI, who works to provide economic opportunities and improve the quality of life for lower-income individuals and communities.
In order to become certified as a B Corp, companies must undergo extensive assessment of their business model through B Lab’s “B Impact Assessment.” Social/environmental impact, treatment of employees, and diversity in the workplace are taken into account when companies are positioned to be certified. Only companies that receive a qualifying score on the B Impact Assessment can be certified as a B Corp.
Clearinghouse CDFI finances projects that encourage job creation and bring aid to distressed communities. As one of only three CDFIs in the nation to attain Certified B Corporation status, Clearinghouse CDFI’s decision to pursue the certification follows its primary continued mission to bring positive, financially sustainable benefits to the community, stakeholders, and its employees.
“Clearinghouse CDFI is proud to become a Certified B Corporation,” said Douglas Bystry, President and CEO of Clearinghouse CDFI. “We hope that this step further encourages positive social impact throughout the community.”
With this new certification, Clearinghouse CDFI hopes to reach new socially minded investors and generate additional opportunities for mission-driven lending in California and Nevada.
Clearinghouse CDFI’s mission is to provide economic opportunities and improve the quality of life for lower-income individuals and communities through innovative financing that is unavailable in the conventional market. To date, the company has funded a total of $1.1 billion in loans for 1,537 projects in distressed communities, benefiting over 813,000 individuals. Clearinghouse CDFI loans have created or retained over 10,800 permanent and construction jobs and developed or rehabilitated 9.4 million square feet. Clearinghouse CDFI hopes to continue in this upward trajectory with the Certified B Corporation status.
ABOUT CLEARINGHOUSE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTION (CDFI)
Clearinghouse CDFI is a for-profit CDFI that addresses unmet credit needs in California and Nevada by bridging the financing gap between conventional lending standards and the needs of low-income families and communities. More information is available at: www.clearinghousecdfi.com.
View Clearinghouse CDFI’s B Corporation profile at http://www.bcorporation.net/community/clearinghouse-cdfi.
ABOUT B CORP
Certified B Corporations meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, legally expand their corporate responsibilities to include consideration of stakeholder interests, and build collective voice through the power of the unifying B Corporation brand. As of September 2013, there are more than 800 Certified B Corporations from over 60 industries and 28 countries, representing a diverse multi-billion dollar marketplace.
ABOUT B LAB
B Lab is a nonprofit organization that serves a global movement to redefine success in business so that all companies compete not only to be the best in the world, but the best for the world. B Lab drives this systemic change through a number of interrelated initiatives: 1) building a community of Certified B Corporations to make it easier for all of us to tell the difference between “good companies” and good marketing; 2) passing legislation to accelerate growth of social entrepreneurship and impact investing (23 states have already passed benefit corporation legislation); 3) developing B Analytics, a customizable platform for investors to benchmark and report the impact of their global private equity portfolios; and 4) providing free, powerful tools for businesses to measure, compare and improve their social and environmental performance (more than 16,000 businesses use B Lab’s free B Impact Assessment).
For more information, visit www.bcorporation.net.
Download the media release: Clearinghouse CDFI Achieves B Corp Certification.
