Better Together

Social Justice Alley at Oliver Russell: a concrete reminder to GIVE BACK.

Idaho B Corps and Certified Companies Partner for GOOD

BY SAMANTHA STETZER

Russ Stoddard was a river guide, journalist, published poet, and corporate employee before merging his professional expertise with a personal calling more than 30 years ago.

“I just always had it in me [that] I wanted to create a company that was more meaningful than just making financial profits and figure out how I could use my limited time on the planet and the resources I have,” Stoddard says.

That “more meaningful” agenda led to the founding of Oliver Russell, a Boise-based “social impact” marketing agency. It soon became the second certified B Corp in Idaho and the first Public Benefit Corporation in the state.

Since then, numerous Idaho and Treasure Valley businesses employing the B Corp model have obtained the rigorously-earned third-party certification. By doing so, these businesses commit to give back through profits, actions, and in-house policies.

Stoddard and other local B Corp business leaders consider the certification a promise to their employees, consumers, community, and the world that business can manifest as much global good as profit.

CREATING GOOD

When Cherie Hoeger formed Saalt, a sustainable period care and menstruation cup company in 2018, obtaining a B Corp certification was an inherent part of the plan.

Cherie Hoeger displays the SAALT sustainable menstrual cup.

Photo courtesy of Saalt

Today, as a certified B Corp, Saalt donates 2% of all its revenue to period programs across the globe, including in Venezuela, where her husband’s aunt outlined deplorable conditions for women and girls in need of period products, a conversation that inspired Hoeger to form the company. Today, Saalt has donated nearly 30,000 cups in 35 countries.

“The combination of the for-profit and not-for-profit models allowed us to bring our personal dream of philanthropy and use it within a business structure,” Hoeger says.

The company’s practical function, which is manufacturing period care products, mirrors its purpose. Profit has followed. “Menstrual health, education, and sustainability” is the job and the mission, Hoeger explains. The company’s B Corp ethics are also reflected internally, providing flexible hours and in-house daycare to help their employees offset the costs of childcare. Clean-up efforts for environmental protection, social-good media campaigns, and menstrual educational programs in Kenya and Nepal reflect the company’s global impact.

Photo courtesy of Saalt

Likewise, Oliver Russell uses its B Corp status to give back.

“Holy smokes, what are the ways that we aren’t giving back?” Stoddard says with a wry chuckle.

The first B Corp to operate in Idaho, Oliver Russell has prospered for years while doing pro bono public relations work, donating 1% of its profits to environmental groups, supporting the Land Trust of the Treasure Valley for local conservation efforts, playing a sizeable role in creating the Hulls Gulch hiking area, and donating about $3 million since its inception. And Oliver Russell’s success continues to serve as a replicable role model that inspires more companies to walk the “good” walk.

LOVEVERY Co-Founders, Jessica Rolph, CEO, and Rod Morris, President.

Photo courtesy of Lovevery

Lovevery, a Boise-based startup that produces stage-based learning and play tools to promote childhood development, recently became Idaho’s newest certified B Corp. “Giveback” categories endeavor to support three categories: climate change, equity and inclusion, and education access as explained by co-founder Jessica Rolph, CEO, co-founder of the Climate Collaborative, and a mother of three. Notably, local actions of Lovevery include co-creating a children’s book highlighting the Schitsu’umsh people’s language and culture with an Idaho family.

The goal, says co-founder Rod Morris, is to empower employees to shape community change with Lovevery’s support and opportunities.

Play tools by LOVEVERY are good for kids and the community.

Photo courtesy of Lovevery

“Our employees recognize that we’re doing more than paying lip service or greenwashing,” Morris says. “They are well-supported as individuals and have the opportunity to enact meaningful change…”

In other words, working at a B Corp pays the bills and makes a difference in the world.

CREATING COMMUNITY

These leaders all agree that the B Corp model helps build value for the communities where they are headquartered.

...we try to create [a business] that differentiates itself by having benefits that many established companies don’t have.

“You look at the workplace, we try to create [a business] that differentiates itself by having benefits that many established companies don’t have,” Stoddard says. “The way that translates into the community is happy workers, happy families, happy communities.”

And if one B Corp acting on its own proved beneficial, the potential power of multiple B Corps banding together inspired the inception of Idaho for Good, a collective of Idaho B Corps and other businesses with third-party certifications, such as fair trade and 1% for the Planet companies. This organization provides networking, mentorship, and connection. Lovevery, Oliver Russell, and Saalt all played a part in founding Idaho for Good, which hosted its first event this summer.

“We just want a platform of like-minded business people,” says Social Responsibility Coordinator for Saalt, Hillary Xoumanivong. “The B Corp model works great for a lot of people, and for others, it does not. But that doesn’t mean they’re not doing good. That’s why we named it Idaho for Good.”

Oliver Russell’s Social Impact Specialist, Sienna George, explains how their company continues to expand efforts to support established B Corps and guide more new companies aspiring to certification with three versions of an online workshop called “B Corp Basics.”

The online primer provides an understanding and examples of how these corporations operate successfully, and is available in both Spanish and English versions.

Moving forward, Idaho for Good and its founders plan to host events and continue to provide resources and mentoring. Xoumanivong sees it as the collective connection many B Corps struggle to find, especially in a profit-driven world.

“Sometimes you just feel like you’re working in a silo and you’re just spinning your wheels doing what you can,” Xoumanivong says. “Idaho for Good’s most recent event was very exciting, and it makes us look forward to the future and be hopeful about what’s to come.”

If the actionable results of these companies are a signal of what’s to come, Idahoans will continue to be the lucky beneficiaries of their vision, generosity, and hard work. No doubt, Idaho’s B Corps offer a good role model in business and in life for us all.