Onyx, LIVSN earn B Corp certification

Two Northwest Arkansas companies have been named a Certified B Corporation, or B Corp. Rogers-based coffee company Onyx Coffee Lab and Bentonville-based outdoor apparel company LIVSN Designs were certified in April and May, respectively.

B Lab certifies companies worldwide that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability, according to a news release. There are 3,200 B Corp companies in the United States and 9,400 globally.

“We started exploring certification in 2022 with the assistance of graduate students from the University of Arkansas,” said Andrew Gibbs-Dabney, CEO of LIVSN. “However, it took a dedicated internal focus led by Abby [Hollis] to get it over the finish line. We’ve been doing our best to operate as a socially responsible business since we began, so the validation brought by the B Corp certification means a lot to us.”

Hollis is director of product and sustainability at LIVSN.

To become certified, a company must complete the B Impact Assessment, which considers factors related to governance, workers, community, environment, and customers, and score at least 80 points. LIVSN scored 111.2, while the median score for ordinary businesses that complete the assessment is 50.9. Onyx scored 99.1.

“I know I speak for the entire team when I say this certification is deeply meaningful to us,” said Jon Allen, co-founder of Onyx. “From the beginning, we’ve aimed to drive change in the coffee industry by holding ourselves accountable to our values. Today, as part of the B Corp community, we’re amplifying that commitment, expanding our efforts to create positive change locally and throughout the world.”

Companies must also adopt a “legally binding benefit statement” to become certified, the release shows. LIVSN’s benefit statement is to “create products and systems that maximize function and minimize harm to people and planet.”