Message from our president

“To start, I got into business by accident. I needed financial security, wanted to maintain a healthy lifestyle, work with great people, and ultimately contribute more than I consume. I now find myself running a business with my wife and two business partners. Our team of 13 people includes some of my dearest friends and an amazing group of people. We work with some of the finest people who are employed by some of the best and most inspiring outdoor manufacturers. We sell to a group of retailers that we respect for how they positively support their communities, and we have many dear friends who work for these retail partners. We acknowledge all of these partners and friends as stakeholders and want to do business right by them, by fair means.

OnwardUP’s values mirror my family’s. They have been nurtured by my tenure in a lifetime spent outdoors and impacted by the people and the industry in which we operate. We are constantly striving for better. We want to be the best in class and work on this daily. This is what led us to B Corp.

In essence, B Corp is a not-for-profit that guides toward and then certifies companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. “B Lab creates standards, policies, tools, and programs that shift the behavior, culture, and structural underpinnings of capitalism. We mobilize the B Corp community towards collective action to address society’s most critical challenges.”

When forced to answer WHY we wanted to become a B Corp, the answer was to check where we currently stood against the gold standard and also to learn about where we can be better. The process was clear and easy to follow but also very demanding.

The process starts with a B Impact Assessment. We were forced to look honestly at ourselves and admit where we could do better. Some questions were an easy “yes, we do that and have a process in place”, others were a “yes, but we don’t have a process in place”, and more were a “no, but let’s do that, great idea.” Some of the goals for improvement will be implemented in the short term, and others may take years. Then there were many questions and categories where we simply are too small and lean and/or could not get points because we do not produce our own goods.

We are so proud to join the B Corp movement. The next steps will be to set the goals and aim to get better over the next few years. We learned a ton about ourselves and what is possible. I would encourage all companies, big and small, to look inside, ask the hard questions, and, B Corp or not, consider moves to become a Beneficial Company.”

Rob Owens