What is the Best for Rhode Island Challenge?
The Best for Rhode Island Challenge is a statewide initiative of Social Enterprise Greenhouse (SEG) that “encourages businesses to assess and improve their community impact.” It ties in with B Lab’s B Impact Assessment, which is an online assessment that measures the impact that businesses have on workers, the community, and the environment.
Businesses take the 30-minute online assessment to identify areas for improvement. SEG in partnership with other organizations helps them work to meet their positive impact goals. “We offer free printed resources that focus on specific areas like employee manuals and we have started to roll out a series of workshops that are focused on specific topics of interest,” said Britt Page, Best for RI program director.
This ongoing initiative can be completed at any time during the year. Britt encourages businesses to take the challenge because customers and employees care about the impact businesses make. “People want to do business with companies that care about social good,” she said. “It’s good for businesses to work toward these goals.”
Rhode Island was chosen t If participants want to continue their improvement journey, they can complete the full B Impact Assessment to receive a verified score from B Lab.
About B Lab and SEG
B Lab is a non-profit organization that “serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good™.” B Lab seeks to build a community of Certified B Corporations™ that join business and societal interests to meet social, environmental, legal, and public transparency standards.
SEG is a network of 400+ enterprises and 300+ businesses and community leaders in Rhode Island that create a positive impact by supporting the local business community. SEG offers services to help businesses that are working to make positive changes and impact the economy and community.
Groov-Pin and the Best for RI Challenge
Groov-Pin completed the Best for RI Challenge to identify practices that could help make our traditional business more of a social enterprise.
In 2009, we began our lean manufacturing transformation, which helped better engage our team members and restructure our business, but we have the potential for greater improvement. Our lean journey has encouraged us to look for more opportunities to improve our processes for our team and create a more positive impact and engagement in our community.
“From our lean work, we have learned that comparing ourselves against benchmarks and sharing best practices with others who are trying to improve accelerates our progress. We see Best for RI as an opportunity to bring greater meaning to our work by creating shared value among our team our business and our larger community,” said Scot Jones, Groov-Pin CEO.
How to Get Involved with the Best for RI Challenge
Want to participate in the Best for RI Challenge? This assessment is free for all companies in Rhode Island. You can complete the Best for RI Challenge here.
There are many other ways businesses and universities can participate, including applying to be a strategic partner, a sponsor, or a volunteer. Learn more about the ways to get involved here.