Steamboat Climbing Collective, located in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was recently certified as a B Corporation. The designation—often referred to as B Corp—is overseen by B Lab, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit. “To become a Certified B Corporation,” a press release stated, “companies undergo a rigorous review of the impact of their operations and business model on their workers, customers, communities and environment, and must meet a minimum verified score on the B Impact Assessment.” (A company’s “pathway to [B Corp] certification” can be viewed here, and the B Impact Assessment process is detailed here.)
Other companies that are certified B Corp, particularly in the broad sphere of the outdoor industry, include Patagonia and Cotopaxi. The total number of global B Corp-certified businesses is more than 8,000. However, Steamboat Climbing Collective is currently the sole climbing gym in the world that’s B Corp-certified, according to the listings in B Lab’s directory, and may very well be the first ever to have received the certification.
“This achievement shows our ongoing efforts to integrate sustainability and social responsibility into every part of our operations,” said Steamboat Climbing Collective’s owner, Karla Lankford, in the press release, adding, “We hope to inspire others in the climbing industry to embrace similar practices and collectively work towards a more sustainable future.”
Lankford told CBJ that reporting to stakeholders, as a matter of full business transparency, was a big mental and logistical step in the gym’s journey toward its eventual B Corp status: “It’s one thing when you say you are giving to charities and write a check occasionally, but it’s another when you say you will be donating 1.1 percent of your gross and showing that is what you did.”
Some of the specific things Steamboat Climbing Collective did to receive the B Corp certification included creating an alternate transportation program that rewards members who bike or carpool, purchasing merchandise made from organic materials, offering benefits such as paid time off and professional development opportunities, giving employees 6-12 weeks of fully-paid primary parental leave, offering pay-what-you-can programs, prioritizing local vendors, and opening all the financial books to anyone who wanted to see them.
An Evolving Movement
Beyond the climbing industry, it should be noted that the B Corp certification has received some pushback in recent years. Earlier this year, for instance, the BBC published an article titled, “As greenwashing soars, some people are questioning B Corp,” and last year the Financial Times ran an article on “The struggle for the soul of the B Corp movement,” citing a “growing focus on multinational corporations.” Nestlé subsidiary Nespresso’s earning of the B Corp certification a couple years ago, in particular, garnered criticism, some of which was aimed at the B Corp designation.
On the other side, proponents of the B Corp designation point out that, while there’s always room for improvement, it does represent a widely recognized effort to set ethical standards in business based on measurable criteria—somewhat similar to the USDA Organic and MSC labels in the food industry—and those performance requirements have been evolving over time. And according to the B Lab website, “The majority of the 4000+ B Corps are small- to medium-sized businesses,” like Steamboat Climbing Collective, although “more large enterprises are engaging with [the] movement.” Lankford understands the concerns about businesses claiming to be more environmentally friendly or socially responsible than they are, and she told CBJ, “No certification is without its challenges, but the B Corp’s strength lies in its dedication to transparency and genuine impact.”
Lankford added, “No system is perfect, and there can be missteps along the way. Issues are addressed, and steps are taken to correct them, strengthening the certification.”
Steamboat Climbing Collective isn’t the only climbing gym in the industry to be pursuing more ethical practices, of course, and other climbing gyms have even used the B Corp certification as a guiding light while doing so. “I also use the B Corp Certification guide to steer our business practices, though I’m not sure we’ll ever get that certification (even though we qualify) because we’d have to do some reclassification that I can’t justify the time and finances on. The paperwork isn’t important, it’s the practices that are,” wrote Kristin Horowitz, CEO and founder of The Pad, in a 2021 article.
“B Corp’s strength lies in its dedication to transparency and genuine impact,” Lankford concluded, while also challenging other climbing gyms to take the B Corp assessment and see where they can improve…or apply for the certification themselves. “The certification process is challenging and requires companies to meet high social and environmental performance standards, accountability, and transparency. Most importantly, it involves an in-depth assessment that a third party verifies.”
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