Today we are excited to share an important change that's in the works here at Alpine Parrot: we're converting to a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC)!
What is a Public Benefit Corporation?
A PBC is a legal way of saying that Alpine Parrot is about more than just profits, but also about creating a public benefit, even if that means it doesn’t maximize shareholder gains. It’s still a corporation, with stockholders and a board of directors, but they are legally bound through the documents of incorporation to be held accountable for the community that the company serves. In fact, at this point, it would take a majority of the board to change the public benefit statement!
Becoming a public benefit corporation is still rather uncommon - there are some companies that are also legally structured this way (shout-out to Patagonia and Cotopaxi!), but most are not. Even though it means we may sometimes have to go through extra steps, we think this change is worth it because we want our community to feel secure in knowing that even as this company grows, our community will remain a core value.
What’s the difference between a PBC and a B Corp?
There’s an important difference. A PBC is a legal corporate structure which requires working with a legal team to create legal documents that are then filed with the Secretary of State. Certified B Corporations are certified by a third-party non-profit called the B Lab. We are not (yet) a Certified B Corporation, but we’re working on it! Becoming a PBC is one step towards that certification.
What is the Alpine Parrot public benefit statement?
In legalese:
The specific public benefits to be promoted by the Corporation shall be the promotion and advocacy of underrepresented persons in outdoor spaces and recreational communities, specifically people of size and people of color, while championing socially responsible and environmentally sustainable standards in the outdoor industry.
In plain-er English:
We promote and advocate for underrepresented people in the outdoors, specifically people of size and people of color, in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable way.
If this sounds kind of familiar, it’s because we based it on our original mission!
Our mission is to create apparel that celebrates and encourages underrepresented people in the outdoors, specifically people of size and people of color.
How will being a PBC affect the day-to-day operations of Alpine Parrot?
We don’t expect there to be any significant changes to the way we operate day-to-day, because it's a standard that we've already been holding ourselves to. Now it's just extra official. That said, we will be releasing regular reports about how we’re meeting the public benefit that we originally stated in our articles of incorporation.
Our customers shouldn’t notice any major differences, either, but we hope that you’ll feel good knowing that we’re making apparel as sustainably and ethically as possible, for the community who has backed us since the very beginning!
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