July 15, 2013
Landscape Ontario member Smart Watering Systems of Milton is a member of another exclusive group, comprised of 760 members from 27 countries.

A concept introduced five years ago by a group of entrepreneurs, B Corps certification has been compared to the fair trade label, but for a whole company, not just a bag of coffee. B Corps companies are certified to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

A recent article by U.S.-based magazine Landscape Management interviewed Smart Watering Systems owner Chris Le Conte CIC. The magazine asked him, what things do you do as a B Corps that others don’t do? Le Conte said that the process ensures you modify your corporate documents saying you’ll allocate a certain percentage of profits to employees. “We were already doing that with our profit-sharing plan. Another thing we do is give people two paid days off a year to work for a charity of their choice.”

The former chair of the LO Irrigation Sector Group is quoted, “Many of our clients work with us because they’re trying to reduce their water use as part of a corporate sustainability process. When people pre-qualify us as a vendor, they ask us to see our sustainability policy to see if we’re the right fit. They value those sorts of things, so we thought this would be a good challenge for us, and it’s also good for staff and how we run the business.”

The article is available online at http://bit.ly/19we08x.