OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- One PacificCoast Bank, FSB is proud to be the latest financial institution certified as a B Corporation. B Corps are sustainably minded companies that care about doing good, as much as earning a profit. Joining this community of innovative companies was an effortless decision for One PacificCoast Bank, FSB. Since its inception, the bank has combined economic justice, environmental stability, and profitability-- threading a triple bottom-line approach through every facet of the organization. OPCB is the fifth financial institution to become B Corp certified, following New Resource Bank, Virginia Community Capital, GreenChoice Bank and Sunrise Community Banks.
To become a B Corp, companies must take the B Impact Assessment, score a minimum of 80 out of 200 points and amend their governing documents to “bake” their mission into their corporate DNA. Unlike traditional corporations, certified B Corporations are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their employees, suppliers, community, consumers and environment. There are currently over 630 Certified B Corporations from sixty industries.
For OPCB, becoming a B Corp underscores the long-standing commitment to encourage stakeholders, clients, supporters and employees to shift how they do business, the way they interact with businesses and the type of businesses they support. One recent commitment to this “shift” was the decision to support and promote the premiere of One PacificCoast Bank client, Moving Images’ new documentary-- SHIFT CHANGE.
SHIFT CHANGE captures how people around the world are shifting the way they are dealing with issues such as unemployment, wealth-creation and sustainability—they are creating opportunities for themselves through worker-owned businesses. Hundreds of worker-owned businesses have formed across the US and One PacificCoast Bank supports this innovative model. Bay Area's own, Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives, is a client of OPCB and is being featured in the film. Another co-op featured, Cooperative Home Care Associates in Brooklyn, has also recently received their B Corp certification.
As a financial institution, OPCB has the opportunity to be a change-agent and empower other businesses and nonprofits to be change-agents in the communities they serve. And as a triple bottom-line bank, OPCB is strategic about targeting loan capital to organizations that are delivering meaningful social justice and environmental outcomes. Worker-owned businesses around the world such as Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives and the Cooperative Home Care Associates are doing just that-- creating impactful and meaningful outcomes in communities that need it most.
Join One PacificCoast Bank, Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives and the creators of SHIFT CHANGE at the world premiere on October 18th, 2012 at the historic Grand Lake Theatre in the Lake Merritt District of Oakland, CA to celebrate how B corps and co-ops around the world are “creating greater economic opportunity, strengthening local communities and preserving our environment.”
About One PacificCoast Bank, FSB
Founded in 2007 by Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor, One PacificCoast Bank is a FDIC-insured, Certified Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and SBA Preferred Lender headquartered in Oakland, CA. In addition to banking services for individuals, businesses and nonprofits, One PacificCoast Bank works with the One PacificCoast Foundation to increase financial education, affordable housing and environmental conservation in the low and moderate income communities it serves. One PacificCoast Bank operates from a triple-bottom-line perspective, measuring financial as well as social and environmental outcomes. The Bank also has branches in Portland, OR, Seattle, WA, and Ilwaco, WA. For additional information, please visit www.opcb.com.
About B Corp
Certified B Corporations 1) meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance; 2) legally expand their corporate responsibilities to include consideration of stakeholder interests; and 3) build collective voice through the power of the unifying B Corporation brand. As of October 2012, there are over 630 Certified B Corporations from over 60 industries, representing a diverse multi-billion marketplace.
About Moving Images
Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin have produced many documentary films on social justice and environmental issues in North and South America, winning prestigious awards from CINE, Houston, Columbus, Prix Leonardo, International Wildlife, Women in Film/Seattle, Chicago, NW Film and Video Festivals, among others. Their productions are known for diverse examples of regular people helping create positive change. Young and Dworkin’s films are in broad circulation in academic and activist settings. Five have been broadcast on PBS, most recently, Good Food [2010], an intimate look at the growers and businesses that are creating a local, sustainable food system in the Pacific Northwest. Their latest release, We Are Not Ghosts (2012) is about rebuilding Detroit from the ground up.
One PacificCoast Bank
Andrea Walker, 510-663-2253 (PST)
awalker@onepcf.org
Source: One PacificCoast Bank