Emily Kanter, Second-generation co-owner

October 8, 2014

1 Min Read
Why my natural products store is a Certified B Corporation

At Cambridge Naturals, we’ve prided ourselves on doing business the right way for more than 40 years. To us, that means supporting all of our stakeholders: our customers, employees, suppliers, local community and planet.

Our close relationship with our shoppers has allowed us to communicate these ideals to them over the years, but we recently took the extra step to become a Certified B Corporation to let them know they don’t need to take our word for it—we are willing to be put to the test and have a third party determine we’re truly using business as a force for good. Being a Certified B Corp also gives us access to a network of like-minded businesses. I’m inspired by our peers’ creative improvements, and they help us to be even more intentional in our decisions going forward.

As we grow and evolve, certification will help keep Cambridge Naturals on track. When we became a Certified B Corp, we added into our bylaws that our business will always hold the purpose of “doing good” at the core of its mission. As ownership transitions to my generation—the second generation—and beyond, this ensures the store will never stray from the model we’ve created.


What will it take for you to join the
Certified B Corp movement with me?

 

About the Author(s)

Emily Kanter

Second-generation co-owner, Cambridge Naturals

Emily Kanter is the body care manager, marketing director and second generation owner-in-training of Cambridge Naturals, a 40-year-old natural products retail business in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has early memories of being plopped into a milk crate in the middle of the bustling grocery store and watching daily business unfold. Before returning to Cambridge Naturals in 2014, Emily lived with her husband, Caleb, in Portland, Oregon, where she managed a hunger relief nonprofit and received her MBA in sustainable systems from the prestigious Bainbridge Graduate Institute at Pinchot.

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