Real estate can be a force for good, and that’s exactly what real estate developer, Brinkman, is trying to do with their recent achievement of B Corp Certification. Certified by the nonprofit B Lab, Brinkman underwent rigorous testing standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability to truly accent and propel their commitment to a triple bottom line approach to their business by positively impacting people, creating a sense of place in a sustainable way, and producing a desirable economic impact.

“The B Lab is the accountability piece we wanted as part of this movement to become B Corp certified,” said Brinkman. “It wasn’t enough for us to just say we were committed to positively impacting the community, we wanted to utilize their assessment to take a hard look at how we stack up in terms of social and environmental performance.”

Be the Change You Want to See in the World

B Corps are for-profit companies that believe in making a change in the world. Companies become B Corp certified when they earn a score of 80 out of 200 points on the B Impact Assessment. This assessment looks at the company’s overall impact on its stakeholders and typically takes two to four hours to complete. Once that is finished, companies must meet the legal state requirements for certification. Finally, companies sign the B Corp Declaration of Interdependence and make their B Corp certification official, which Brinkman did on February 7^th, 2018.

To date, there are 2,416 B Corps in over 50 countries involving 130 industries. Ninety-One B Corps are Colorado companies, three of them are based in Fort Collins, and Brinkman is one of only four commercial real estate developers in the state to achieve the certification. Each of these B Corps have one unifying goal: to redefine success in business.

Exchanging Underutilization for Innovative and Meaningful Spaces

The Exchange in north Old Town Fort Collins is a transformative undertaking that will reshape an entire city block into a vibrant community destination through adaptive reuse and upcycled shipping containers. The Exchange is a pivotal project that carries out Brinkman’s triple bottom line approach by addressing people, place, and prosperity. Not only will The Exchange offer unique experiences to visitors with artisan food, craft cocktails, and year-round events in the central plaza, it also utilizes recycled shipping containers to reduce construction materials, time, and cost. The added amenity to Fort Collins will give visitors another reason to spend time downtown visiting local businesses.

With other revitalization projects such as The Foundry in Loveland and their recent selection as the Town of Windsor’s partner to design and construct a dynamic new downtown, this is just the beginning for Brinkman. “We have to recertify [our B Corp standing] every two years and the standards become higher each time. We’re in this for the long run and plan to continue on this path of improving our company for our employees, our community, and our world.”