Independent Banker - August 2021 - 85

A force for good
Brattleboro Savings & Loan is the ninth bank in the country to become an
official B Corporation, a designation that certifies the community bank's
commitment to its community, the environment and strong corporate
values. By Roshan McArthur
n 2018, Brattleboro Savings & Loan
in Brattleboro, Vt., signed up to be
a Certified B Corporation. One of only
a few banks in the country to do so,
the $277 million-asset community
bank has joined the ranks of outdoor
apparel company Patagonia and
ice cream makers Ben & Jerry's in
putting social and environmental
responsibility before profit.
According to president and CEO
Dan Yates, the decision was about
living up to the bank's core values-or,
better still, exceeding them.
In 2006, B Lab, the Berwyn,
Pa.-based nonprofit that created
the B Corp status, began awarding
it to for-profit organizations that
voluntarily meet high standards
of transparency, accountability,
sustainability and performance. The
B stands for beneficial, and B Corps
are required to consider the impact
their decisions have on workers,
customers, suppliers, the community
and the environment. To date, there
are nearly 4,000 B Corps in more than
150 industries and 77 countries.
I
The idea of becoming certified was
suggested by Joe Little, senior advisor
to the community bank's wealth
management division. He recognized
that the community the bank serves
is exceptionally conscientious about
its social and environmental impact
and that Brattleboro Savings & Loan
had already achieved many of the
required goals.
For example, more than 80% of
the electricity needed to power the
community bank's offices is offset by a
field of solar panels about a mile from
its headquarters.
" [The solar array] was really our
first big step toward saying, 'Look,
everybody can contribute to reducing
our carbon footprint, and here are the
steps that we as a bank have taken,' "
Yates says. " Not only did we like the
idea because of what it meant for our
commitment to the environment,
but there was also a lot of financial
incentives for putting in a solar array.
So, we got to do something that we
felt very strongly about while at the
same time ensuring that it was a
responsible investment. "
Name:
Brattleboro Savings & Loan
Location:
Brattleboro, Vt.
Assets:
$277 million
Committed to doing better
As Brattleboro Savings & Loan
completed the B Corp certification-a
rigorous nearly year-long process
that involves completing an 80-point
assessment-the team found they
had revisited their core values,
expanded on them and updated the
bank's mission statement. While
the community bank was already
hitting many of the requirements, the
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Independent Banker - August 2021

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