We will select our 2020 honorees following two main areas:

• Companies measuring what matters and managing their impact through the Business Impact Assessment, a tool brought to you by our partner B Lab. This assessment helps our participants to measure what matters: their impact on their community and their environment. Our Best for Colorado Awards will recognize the B Corp companies leading the way for Colorado.
• The 2020 awards will also share inspiring stories from our participants in our Commit to Action Campaign. The nomination process will be open March to April of 2020 to identify and celebrate trailblazers in that are demonstrating strong, inspiring leadership. Stay tuned to participate!

The winners will be honored during our Best for Colorado Award Ceremony in June 2020.

We will no longer be using the Quick Impact Assessment (QIA). The companies can still choose to take the full Business Impact Assessment to measure and improve their impact. In fact, we encourage you to do so! The BIA will provide you a more in-depth overview of your company’s impact.

The Best for Colorado campaign (participation in the Commit to Action Campaign and the social and environmental impact assessment we use, called the BIA) is free. Only additional support may require fees, such as some of our workshops.

The Commit to Action Campaign is a list of suggested actions that can apply to all businesses, regardless of your business size or sector. You can commit to implement as many changes that are right for your business at the time and grow your impact at your own pace.

Each of the suggested actions we’re developed by The Alliance Center experts with input from stakeholders and partner organizations leading business for good efforts. Both the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the B Impact Assessment were used as guidelines to frame the Best for Colorado commit to action campaign. Commitments include a range of industry approved actions catalyzing the transition towards a sustainable economy.

The campaign includes a number of commitments in the following topic areas: Environment, Democracy, and Community/Equity and Measure What Matters. Companies can also choose to measure and improve their impact using the BIA. Commitment actions vary in level of complexity.

Anyone that is interested! There’s no minimum title or tenure to take a stand.

We recommend convening a team to review the commitments and decide what action(s) is right for your company. Appoint one team member as a lead; this individual is typically responsible for guiding strategy and staying on track. The team should assist with implementing changes and tracking results.  CEOs, CFOs, HR Managers, COOs, Associates, and Interns have all taken companies through the Challenge with success. Greater company buy-in from employees leads to greater success!

Do you think the list of commitments is too easy? Congratulations! We encourage you to take the full BIA assessment to identify more opportunities to improve.

The campaign offers many different commitments in the areas of Environmental Impact, Democracy and Corporate Citizenship, and Community/Equity Involvement, in addition to the option of taking the full BIA. Start thinking about the type of commitment(s) you might like to focus on. The following may be helpful to consider when making this decision:

• Water, waste, and energy management system, GHG emissions, facility energy efficiency, and supplier/vendor information.
• Civic engagement efforts and political advocacy work
• Community service hours and pro-bono work, hiring practices, and company financials (banking services and salaries)

Best for Colorado works alongside a network of business service organizations that can help you consider ways to take action based on your business assessment and access other tools to support your business and workforce. To utilize these resources, contact our team at bestforcolorado@thealliancecenter.org.

Yes and no! Best for Colorado exists to support businesses in making positive changes to their employee, community and environmental practices. Our collaborative campaign builds a community of out of people using business as a force for good in Colorado. But to create excitement and recognize great companies, we do annually recognize the best scoring companies that have completed the full BIA and inspiring stories related to our commit to action campaign.

Certified B Corporations (B Corps) are businesses that are leading the way in using business as a force for good. B Corp is to business what Fair Trade certification is to coffee or USDA Organic certification is to milk. Unlike traditional businesses, B Corps meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. To achieve B Corp Certification, a company must receive a verified score of 80 points or more on the B Impact Assessment. Today there is a growing community of more than 2,000 Certified B Corps from 50 countries and over 140 industries working together toward one unifying goal: to redefine success in business.

Best for Colorado encourages all businesses to begin measuring their impact, and thus does not have any minimum performance requirements; the program is also free to participate in. Certified B Corps meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency and  therefore go through a more in-depth process. B Corp requirements include meeting a minimum level of performance on the B Impact Assessment and making a legal commitment to consider shareholders in decision making. B Corps also receive additional benefits as a result, and there is a fee associated with the Certification. There are more than 2,500 Certified B Corps around the world – click here to learn more

Yes! We would love to have a touch base point with you. Our goal is to support you along this journey.

Best for Colorado is brought to you by The Alliance Center, in partnership with B Lab, the nonprofit behind the B Corp movement. Best for Colorado is specifically designed to engage all businesses on the path to positive impact, regardless of whether B Corp Certification is a goal for their organization. By being Best for Colorado you can choose to utilize the same impact measurement tools (the B Impact Assessment) that Certified B Corps use, and thus participating in Best for Colorado can be a good on-ramp for any company interested in B Corp (as well as those that are not!).

Businesses who are already using the B Impact Assessment, including all Colorado B Corps are automatically eligible for Best for Colorado. Simply bestforcolorado@thealliancecenter.org to opt in, access resources and receive recognition.

We are working closely with B Lab and B Local Colorado (the nonprofit gathering the B Corps in Colorado) and our team are experts in the BIA.  A large faction of our participants are also B Corps. If you just want to learn more or if you are interested in a tailored improvement impact plan for your company, this is the right place!

Best for Colorado encourages all businesses to begin measuring their impact whether or not they decide to dive into the B Impact Assessment. Certified B Corps meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency and therefore go through a more in-depth process. B Corp requirements include meeting a minimum level of performance on the B Impact Assessment and making a legal commitment to consider shareholders in decision making. B Corps also receive additional benefits as a result, and there is a fee associated with the Certification. There are more than 2,500 Certified B Corps around the world – click here to learn more.