Independent Banker - March 2019 - 75

have thought about doing this if
we hadn't been looking at B Corp
criteria, " Adams says. " The B Impact
Assessment is giving us ideas about
other things we can do so that we
continue to score well. "
The value to the bottom line
For most bankers, the value of B Corp
certifi cation is that it communicates
who they are as institutions. " There
is a diff erentiation piece, " Adams
explains. " It sometimes feels like
community banks are put in the same
category as large national banks, and
this is a nice way to diff erentiate who
we are relative to them. We're taking a
greater-good approach. "
" It's not just a label but a true
intention of how you run your
business, " adds Argrett. " That can be
diffi cult to convey, and the public may
see you as just the same as any bank
down the street. "
In some ways, the B Corp
certifi cation operates as a kind of
specialized networking group in which
membership may lead to increased
business opportunities. " We've had
prepaid business card partners as
well as fi ntech partners that, when
they found out we're a B Corp, that's
a diff erentiating point that gets us the
business, " Reiling says.
Bankers report that the designation
is helping to attract talented
employees to their banks. Mascoma
Bank recently hired an MBA graduate
who confi ded that working for a bank
Spring Bank: Best for customers
Spring Bank, located in South Bronx, N.Y., was founded in 2007 to
serve underserved consumers and small businesses in the New York
City area. The community bank became a certified B Corp in 2016.
" We've always been a double-lined institution, " says CEO Demetris
Giannoulias. " We exist to make a profit but also to accomplish a
social objective. "
One of the areas where Spring Bank performed most strongly on
the B Impact Assessment was in the " Best for the World: Customers "
category. This was based on its mission-based small-dollar loan
program, which is designed to give people borrowing options to
payday lending.
As an alternative, Spring Bank partners with businesses in an
employee opportunity loan program, which provides loans of
up to $2,500 with no minimum credit score for employees of
participating companies.
To date, 26 companies have enrolled in the program, three of them
certified B Corps in the area. The high rate of participation has caught
the notice of B Lab, which is incorporating the employee opportunity
loan program in its eff orts to help low- and moderate-income workers.
" B Lab is advancing the off ering as part of an initiative to help
B Corps address income insecurity in a program they call Income
Advance, " says Melanie Stern, Community Reinvestment Act off icer.
had not even been on her radar when
she began job hunting. The values
that the certifi cation communicated,
however, made her take a closer
look. " People want to work for an
employer that has a purpose, " Adams
says. " That has been a huge help,
particularly in a tight labor market. "
" We've had ... fintech partners that, when they found
out we're a B Corp, that's a differentiating point that
gets us the business. "
-David Reiling, Sunrise Banks
Sunrise Banks has had similar
experiences. Recently, when the
bank was interviewing for a new
CFO, one candidate explained that
his daughter had spotted the electric
chargers in the bank's parking lot and
enthusiastically urged her father to go
to work for Sunrise. " She was selling
her dad on us before he even got to
the interview, " Reiling laughs.
Getting the board on board
with B Corps
One wrinkle in the B Corp
certifi cation process is that B Corp has
a cousin called a benefi t corporation.
Both share a commitment to socially
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