ADFIAP Award honours BDC's support for B Corps
MONTREAL, May 3, 2016 /CNW/ - The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is proud to have won the Outstanding Development Project Award from the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP).
BDC won the award in the Corporate Social Responsibility category for its project entry "Helping Grow an Exciting Entrepreneurial Movement: Certified Beneficial Corporation (B Corps)."
B Corps are a new kind of company designed to solve social and environmental problems. To be certified as a B Corp, a company must pass a bracing evaluation of economic, social and environmental performance developed by B Lab, the non-profit organization that certifies B Corps.
"In fulfilling its purpose to promote entrepreneurship, BDC supports innovative people who create companies designed to solve social and environmental problems via grassroots organizations, capital market mechanisms and a newly-created, nation-wide network of bankers," said Enrique I. Florencio, Head, Knowledge Management and Sustainability Officer, ADFIAP. "With this award, ADFIAP recognizes BDC's consistent and continuing work and advocacy to promote innovative corporate social responsibility."
"We're delighted that our Asia Pacific peers recognize our efforts to support the B Corp movement in Canada," says Craig Ryan, Director, Corporate Social Responsibility at BDC. "B Corp entrepreneurs are extraordinary innovators who create social and environmental value all around the world."
BDC was the first Canadian financial institution to receive B Corp certification in 2013. It was re-certified earlier this year with high marks. There are more than 1,600 B Corp companies in 48 countries.
This is BDC's second award from the ADFIAP. In 2011, it won the ADFIAP's award in the Outstanding Development Project – Trade Development category for a program that provided Canadian entrepreneurs with financing to research new markets and products and expand activities in domestic and foreign markets.
About BDC
BDC is the only bank dedicated exclusively to entrepreneurs. With more than 100 business centres and over 32,000 clients across Canada, it offers loans, investments and advisory services. BDC's purpose is to support Canadian entrepreneurship with a focus on small and medium-sized businesses. To learn more, visit www.bdc.ca.
SOURCE Business Development Bank of Canada
Maria Constantinescu, BDC, [email protected], 1-844-625-8321
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