Last month Greenerprinter announced that they had been certified by B Labs as the first commercial printer to become a B Corporation. Well, actually, in the 2009 B Corporation Annual Report, published as a supplement to Sustainable Industries magazine, there are four companies listed under Paper & Printing: Green Solutions Printing, Eugene OR; Greenerprinter, Berkley CA; New Leaf Paper, San Francisco CA; and Print Net, Pittsburgh PA. So what exactly is as "B Corporation?" The "B" stands for "beneficial" and B corporations are a new type of corporation that use the power of business to address social and environmental problems. The founders of the B Corporation developed a legal recognition that:

• Expands corporate accountability to include consideration of employee, community, and environmental interests when making decisions and protects directors when taking these into consideration in a sale.
• Enables consumers to support "good companies" (not just good marketing), investors to drive capital to higher impact investments, and governments to implement sustainable procurement policies.

There are now 205 B Corporations in 54 industries located in 28 states, generating revenues of $1.1 billion. The total savings by B Corporations from a variety of discounts on products and services through 23 service partners is about $600,000. Is this just one more certification or do you think the designation really adds value? Download the B Corporation Annual Report and learn more.