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
independentbanker.org Q 75
http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - March 2019
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - March 2019
Table of Contents
Independent Banker - March 2019 - Intro
Independent Banker - March 2019 - Cover1
Independent Banker - March 2019 - Cover2
Independent Banker - March 2019 - Table of Contents
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 2
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 3
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 4
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 5
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 6
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 7
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 8
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 9
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 10
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 11
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 12
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 13
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 14
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 15
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 16
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 17
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 18
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 19
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 20
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 21
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 22
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 23
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 24
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 25
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 26
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 27
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 28
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 29
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 30
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 31
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 32
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 33
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 34
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 35
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 36
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 37
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 38
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 39
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 40
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 41
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 42
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 43
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 44
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 45
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 46
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 47
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 48
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 49
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 50
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 51
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 52
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 53
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 54
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 55
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 56
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 57
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 58
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 59
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 60
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 61
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 62
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 63
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 64
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 65
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 66
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 67
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 68
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 69
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 70
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 71
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 72
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 73
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 74
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 75
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 76
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 77
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 78
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 79
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 80
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 81
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 82
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 83
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 84
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 85
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 86
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 87
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 88
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 89
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 90
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 91
Independent Banker - March 2019 - 92
Independent Banker - March 2019 - Cover3
Independent Banker - March 2019 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/october2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/september2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/august2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/july2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/june2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/may2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/april2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/march2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/february2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/january2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/december2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/november2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/october2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/september2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/august2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/july2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/june2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/may2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/april2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/march2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/february2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/january2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/december2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/november2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/october2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/september2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/august2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/july2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/june2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/may2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/april2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/march2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/february2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/january2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/december2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/november2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/october2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/september2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/august2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/july2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/june2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/may2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/april2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/march2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/february2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/january2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/december2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/november2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/october2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/september2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/august2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/july2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/june2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/may2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/april2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/march2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/february2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/january2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/december2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/november2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/october2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/september2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/august2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/july2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/june2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/may2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/april2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/march2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/february2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/january2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/december2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/november2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/october2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/september2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/august2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/july2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/june2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/may2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/april2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/march2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/february2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/january2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/december2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/november2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/october2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/september2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/august2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/july2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/june2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/may2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/mspc/independentbanker/april2017
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com