Dedicated to using Business as a Force for Good, Clearinghouse CDFI’s honors include Best for Customers, Best for the World: Changemakers, and Best for the World: Overall
LAKE FOREST, Calif., November 2, 2017: Today, Clearinghouse CDFI was recognized for creating extraordinary positive impact as a business based on an independent, comprehensive assessment administered by the nonprofit B Lab. Honorees are featured on B the Change, the digital Medium publication produced by B Lab, at www.bthechange.com. A Certified B Corp since 2014, Clearinghouse CDFI is thrilled to share this accomplishment with its investors and staff, whose ongoing commitment helps create positive change in the community.
Annual recognition is based on the B Impact Assessment scores of more than 2,100 Certified B Corporations. The B Impact Assessment measures a company’s positive impact on its workers, governance, community, customers, and the environment. Clearinghouse CDFI’s 2017 awards include:
- Best for Customers — includes businesses with a Customer score in the top 10 percent
- Best for the World: Changemakers — honors the improvements made by B Corporations from one certification to the next
- Best for the World: Overall — includes businesses that earned scores in the top 10 percent across all categories
The full B Impact Assessment evaluates a company’s environmental performance, employee relationships, diversity, involvement in the local community, the impact a company’s product or service has on those it serves, and more. Honorees scoring in the top 10 percent of all B Corporations set a gold standard for companies using business as a force for good. Clearinghouse CDFI made the list thanks to exceptional practices such as: creating economic opportunities for low-income and underserved communities, offering paid time off for company-wide volunteer days, and measuring water and energy usage.
“The shared commitment of our investors and staff drives our vision as a B Corp,” said Douglas J. Bystry, Clearinghouse CDFI President/CEO. “Every single person contributes in a meaningful way—whether it’s recycling k-cups, improving culture and communication, or developing innovative loan products to serve more people. I am thrilled to work alongside such motivated and commited individuals.”
Clearinghouse CDFI has financed $1.5 billion in total loans for over 1,820 community projects over the past 20 years. These projects have created or retained more than 16,500 jobs and benefit over 1.5 million individuals. This includes the rehabilitation of more than 15.1 million square feet of blighted properties. These projects have benefited over 610 separate underserved communities throughout California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Native American Reservations.
“Companies like Clearinghouse CDFI exemplify what it means for a business to be a good citizen,” says Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder of B Lab. “We’re proud to recognize their achievement. Best for the World is the only list of businesses making the greatest positive impact that uses comprehensive, comparable, third-party-validated data about a company’s social and environmental performance.”
A total of 846 Certified B Corporations were named 2017 Best for the World Honorees. Full selection criteria is available at http://bit.ly/29ZYRSp. All honorees can be found at: www.bthechange.com.
Today there are more than 2,100 Certified B Corporations across more than 130 industries and 50 countries, unified by one common goal: to redefine success in business. Any company can measure and manage social and environmental performance at http://bimpactassessment.net.
About Clearinghouse CDFI:
Clearinghouse Community Development Financial Institution (Clearinghouse CDFI) addresses unmet credit needs in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Sovereign Nations in the Western United States. The first CDFI in the nation to be rated by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (AA-), Clearinghouse CDFI is an industry leader helping to bridge the gap between conventional lending standards and the needs of low-income and distressed communities. Clearinghouse CDFI is also a B Corp–a certification received from the nonprofit B Lab. B Corps are companies who meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability, and use business as a force for good.
More information is available at: www.ccdfi.com
About B Lab:
B Lab is a nonprofit organization that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good. Its vision is that one day all companies will compete not only to be the best in the world, but the best for the world and society will enjoy prosperity for all for the long term. B Lab drives this systemic change by: 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 benefit corporation legislation to give business leaders the freedom to create value for society as well as shareholders; 3) helping businesses measure, compare and improve their social and environmental performance with the free B Impact Assessment; 4) driving capital to impact investments through use of its B Analytics and GIIRS Ratings platform. For more information, visit www.bcorporation.net.
About B the Change:
B the Change is a Medium publication, produced by B Lab in collaboration with the community of Certified B Corps and the movement of people using business as a force for good.
B the Change exists to inform and inspire people who have a passion for using business as a force for good in the world. Because we believe that storytelling is an essential element in the transformation of business and society, we commit ourselves to telling the most compelling stories possible to the largest audiences possible to propel the movement of business toward its destiny as a powerful force for good. We want to dramatically broaden and deepen engagement with entrepreneurs, managers, employees, investors and citizens in one of the most important discussions of our time. Read all B the Change stories at www.bthechange.com.
Clearinghouse CDFI Media Contact:
Ron Demeter, Partner – Vectis Strategies on behalf of Clearinghouse CDFI
Phone: 310-614-1059
Email: rdemeter@vectisstrategies.com
B Lab Media Contact:
Callie Rojewski – B Lab
Phone: 610-293-0299 ext. 218
Email: crojewski@bcorporation.net
Download the full release here: Clearinghouse CDFI Honored as Best for the World by B Lab
