We’re proud to join the community of almost 4,000 B Corps in 150 industries and 74 countries around the world.
As we near our fifth-year anniversary at the end of this month, it feels fitting to be ushered into our sixth year as a B Corp.
It’s been a lengthy, rigorous process and we’re excited to share with you what it’s taken to get here. So let’s get into it.
Okay, but… what’s a B Corp?
B Corps, or B Corporations, are for-profit companies that use the power of business to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
We became certified by meeting the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability — and we’re now one of almost 4,000 B Corps in 150 industries and 74 countries around the world! Needless to say, we’re overjoyed to be joining this community of change-makers.
Over the certification process, we had to demonstrate excellence and integrity in five performance categories: governance, workers, customers, community, and the environment. B Corp HQ has created what they call the B Impact Assessment, which evaluates companies based on their impact according to standards set by the Standards Advisory Council (SAC), a group of independent experts in business and academia. (And they review these standards every two years!)
Any business can take this free assessment, and B Lab (the nonprofit business assessment branch of the B Corp family) turns all this data into a point score (the B Impact Score).
Once you take the assessment, B Lab sends you an impact report and provides tools and resources for you to strategize around areas of improvement. Companies must score an 80 or higher in order to become a Certified B Corp. (Spoiler: we passed!)
But how does Bridge City Media fit into all of this?
For starters, let’s talk about who we are. We’re a Portland-based video production company founded by a pair of local videographers in 2016. Now, nearly six years later, we’re telling stories of the businesses, organizations, and people that make our city run. We follow a co-creative process with our clients that brings together your vision and bottom line to create stunning videos, photos, and content that make your voice not just heard but known.
We work across a variety of digital media. This means no one day looks the same as the next. Plus, we get to have a lot of fun. Our team brings a creative dynamism and a passion for good that means your stories will always be told with care and integrity. And we keep this commitment throughout our process. We’ve got the production chops to make a simple “about” video blend seamlessly into your website to hit all the right beats, and we can always turn it up and go totally outside the box.
Sometimes we’re spending our days on set, shooting videos of your businesses in action —whether you’re interfacing with customers or overseeing the careful behind-the-scenes stuff that makes everything run. Other days we’re just working with our computers and notebooks, strategizing the shots and storylines that become your photo, video, and social content. Finally, you can always find us in the editing room, weaving together the sounds and scenes that bring your brand to life.
Let’s talk details. What makes Bridge City Media a Certified B Corp?
We’ve got some stats for that!
For starters, we received an overall B Impact Assessment score of 89. That’s 9 points above the qualifying mark to become a B Corp, which made us pretty proud. B Corp breaks that score down into their five pillars of impact (we already mentioned them, but just as a review: governance, workers, customers, community, and the environment.)
We’ve created our 2020 Annual Benefit Report to follow this very same framework and we thought we’d share a few tidbits below:
Governance
As a company that focuses primarily in advertising, we hold ourselves accountable not only to our own standards of impact, but also those that we work with. We prioritize working with local businesses, social enterprises, and nonprofits, and we’ve got the numbers to prove it. Here’s a breakdown of the businesses or organizations we received income from in 2020:
- 63.96% Portland-owned
- 34.04% Women-owned
- 30.69% BIPOC-owned
- 24.04% Nonprofit organizations
- 23.34% Serving underserved communities
Workers: Environment and Compensation
While a lot of admin work happens at our office, most work is done remotely. Independent contractors are encouraged to telecommute whenever possible to respect a better work-life balance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our team is encouraged to stay home and only come to shoots if they feel 100% comfortable with conditions. Here are a few of our compensation commitments:
- We pay a minimum of $16/ hr for anyone we’re working with.
- All regular team members received a raise every quarter of 2020 and we commit to doing the same for 2021.
- For video production shoots, we also compensate at an additional higher hourly rate.
- For standard projects and weekly tasks, no team member (including the owner) makes more than $10 more per hour than another team member.
Community: Buying Local, Giving Back, and Inspiring
We commit to giving at least 50% purchasing preference to small, local businesses within 15 miles of our workspace at Hatch Innovation. For 2020, our suppliers were individuals or businesses owned by:
- 73.51% Local to Portland
- 29.56% Owned by women, trans, and/or nonbinary people
- 23.81% BIPOC-owned
In 2020, Bridge City Media donated videos to 8 Portland-based organizations and nonprofits, totaling an estimated cumulative value of $16,000+. We also provide a regular 25% discount to any nonprofit and 15% discount for “environmentally-driven companies.” Organizations we donated to in 2020 included:
We hosted nine events through Bridge City Entrepreneurs and LinkedIn Local PDX in 2020, creating space for small businesses to come together to network and learn from industry experts about the tips, tricks, and techniques of growing a business. We operated these meetings at-cost and gave out more than 100 free tickets throughout the year.
Environment: Transportation
In 2020, over 80% of our contractor and employee hours were telecommuted. We avoid flying as much as possible and hire contractors locally if producing videos in other cities.
All in all, we’re pretty proud to call ourselves a Certified B Corporation.
And we couldn’t have made it here without the support of our amazing clients and local small business community. Here’s to you!
