Operated with the understanding that a business’ success depends on taking care of their employees, community, and the environment, a B Corp certification is tough to get.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming’s Roadhouse Brewing recently celebrated that achievement. The certification and rigorous set of standards recognizes these above values and challenges the brewery to ask how they can do more.
“Living and working in Jackson Hole, it’s hard not to appreciate the beauty of our environment and our community,” said Gavin Fine, co-founder of Roadhouse in a release. “This has influenced us to ensure our business impact is a positive force for all of our stakeholders – employees, customers, neighbors, vendors and partners. We are honored to be recognized for our dedication to these values and join the ranks of many esteemed B Corp organizations.”
Roadhouse says they strive for minimal environmental impact.
Some ways the six-year-old brewery does this is by sharing kegs, recapturing and recycling the heat they produce. They have installed solar panels that not only offset their power usage, but feed power back to the town grid. Their spent grain is sent to Mead Ranch, a local family-owned farm that produces grass-fed beef.
Additionally, Roadhouse has established an employee sustainability program to encourage staff to utilize alternative transportation methods for their commutes – celebrating biking to work. They’ve also implemented an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) so the brewery team has an ownership interest in the company.
To become a Certified B Corp, B Lab — the nonprofit that certifies B Corps and supports companies using business as a force for good — conducted a rigorous evaluation of Roadhouse and determined the company met and exceeded the comprehensive performance standards to qualify for certification.
Used by over 50,000 businesses, the B Impact Assessment (BIA) is a free, online platform that evaluates how a company interacts with their workers, customers, community, and environment. A brewery can complete and submit the BIA to begin the performance requirement of certification. More information is available at the B Corp website.
Roadhouse said in the release that their is a total of 20 breweries in the US that are certified like Columbus, Ohio’s Commonhouse, New Belgium Brewing and North Coast Brewing.
Roadhouse supports the work of its local search and rescue, aligning with the Teton County Search and Rescue Organization (TCSAR), both their rescue missions and the work to help educate citizens about safety in the backcountry.
Roadhouse also supports the Joe Casey Memorial Fund, an organization that benefits youth hockey programs in Jackson Hole. $2 from every case of Highwayman (a Belgian Session Ale) sold is donated back to the Joe Casey Memorial Fund.
“Here at Roadhouse, we’re committed to being stewards of our environment, our community and our people. Earning the B Corp certification reinforces this commitment and allows us the opportunity to continue to expand and improve our efforts,” said Colby Cox, co-founder of Roadhouse. “Our team has worked hard to champion these values since our founding, so they will always remain at the core of our organization.”
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