“Conscious business” applies to companies motivated by purpose and values beyond profit. 

Beginning in the US, the B Corporation movement relates to companies that use business to solve social and environmental problems. B Corporation certification is to business what Fair Trade certification is to coffee or chocolate.

Wodonga Chamber of Commerce business manager Bernie Squire says there is a groundswell of interest in the movement among Border businesses and the not-for-profit sector.

The chamber has its sights set on developing a cluster of 30 Certified B Corporations on the Border by 2030.

Wodonga firm Business Growth Strategies was the first business in the region to gain the certification in November with others set to follow suit.

“It’s starting to gain momentum,” Mr Squire says.

“This is the vehicle we believe we’ll be able to use to say we’re a world-class business community.”

The chamber hosted a B Corporation bootcamp for Border businesses interested in exploring this pathway at La Trobe University in Wodonga during August.

Two Australian Certified B Corporations addressed 25 people at the bootcamp. Port Melbourne-based manufacturer of organic snack food for children, Whole Kids, and Carlton-based Bcubed management consultants shared their record on conscious business.

“We had 25 people come along to the bootcamp and about eight businesses stayed for assessments measuring what matters (a preliminary step to B Corp certification),” says Mr Squire.

Mr Squire first became aware of conscious business theory two years ago while studying for his Master of Business Administration.

“Some of the best businesses going were using it: Ben and Jerry’s, Patagonia, Whole Kids and Bcubed,” he said.

“Conscious business seemed to be the way to go and the way to grow.”

Albury solicitor Chris Halburd says a cluster of B Corporations on the Border will change the business landscape for the better.

“Albury-Wodonga, as we know it today, is a result of government policy which manifested itself in the form of the Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation,” he says.

“In 2014 the architect of that policy died and the Development Corporation was formally wound up.

“In 2015 we have the opportunity to be the architects of our own fate.”

Join the Linkedin group The Heart of Conscious Business in the Country: Albury Wodonga. Details: bsquire@wodongachamber.com.au.