Behind the B: Triple20’s B Corp Certification, Explained
Behind the B:
Triple20's B Corp Certification, Explained
What does it really mean to be a Certified B Corp™ exhibit company? Here’s our complete breakdown—and why it matters for your next event.
If you’re here, you’ve probably heard us talk about B Corp certification and wondered what it actually means.
Or maybe you’re researching exhibit companies and want to understand what sets B Corp-certified agencies apart.
Either way, you’re asking the right questions. The short answer: everything.
First things first: What is a B Corp?
Certified B Corporations™ are a global community of companies independently verified for balancing profit and purpose. Think of it as a rigorous report card for how your business impacts everyone it touches, from employees and customers to communities and the environment.
The key word here is “verified.” Any company can claim to care about sustainability or social impact.
B Corps have to prove it — by taking a comprehensive third-party assessment every three years, with scores made public for accountability.
Why this matters to you
- If you’re planning trade shows or events: You’re about to partner with a company that’s been independently verified to care more—about quality, about people, about long-term value over quick profits. That translates to fewer surprises, better communication, and exhibits built to last.
- If you’re in the exhibit industry: You’re seeing that it is possible for sustainability and profitability to work together, not against each other. This is a roadmap for how our industry can evolve.
- If you’re evaluating B Corp companies: You’re getting a transparent look at what certification actually means in practice—the real scores, the honest challenges, and the concrete changes it drives.
The B Impact Assessment: How Triple20 Scored
The B Impact Assessment™ evaluates how your company’s operations and business model create positive impact for different stakeholders.
B Corps are evaluated across five impact areas:
- Governance
- Workers
- Community
- Environment
- Customers
To achieve certification, companies must score at least 80 points. (For comparison, the median score for ordinary businesses completing the assessment is just 50.9).
Our score: 83.3 — making us one of the first exhibit agencies in North America to earn B Corp certification.
Here’s the reality: We scored well in some areas, have serious work to do in others, and learned a lot about ourselves in the process.
Thumb through the tabs below to see how Triple20 is showing up in each category — our scores, our strengths, and where we're working to improve.
Governance
Governance
→ OUR SCORE: 14.1/18.5
This pillar examines how we make decisions, track impact, and stay accountable to our mission. At Triple20, this means evaluating business choices based on people, planet, and process—not just profit.
What we’re doing right
- We treat social and environmental impact as a primary measure of success—even when it’s not the most profitable path.
- We set annual goals that go beyond revenue and track progress through regular assessments.
- Every quarter, we transparently share financial and impact performance results with our full team.
- 100% of our employees are aligned with and accountable to our impact goals—they’re part of how our team is evaluated, developed, and promoted.
What this means for you
In an industry where misaligned incentives can lead to surprise costs and short-sighted choices, governance is where alignment starts. Our structure ensures that what’s best for our clients, our team, and our planet isn’t just considered — it’s a key driver in how we make decisions from the very start.
Workers
Workers: Building a people-first culture
Our score: 20.8/36.7
This pillar evaluates everything from compensation and benefits to training, ownership opportunities, and work environment.
While this was one of our lower scores, it reflects the B Impact Assessment’s emphasis on formal structures and ownership models—not workplace culture or employee satisfaction.
What we’re doing right
- We maintain a 90%+ employee satisfaction rate
- We offer unlimited PTO with a genuine no-guilt personal leave culture
- 100% of our workers earn a living wage—and that hasn’t changed as we’ve grown
- We grew our team by 25% last year and promoted three team members into leadership roles, including two women
- We provide comprehensive benefits to all employees, recently expanded to include dependent coverage and vision insurance
- Our team enjoys location flexibility with hybrid schedules that prioritize both life balance and client service
What’s next
One of our core beliefs is that humans are built to do meaningful work—not just because we need paychecks, but because contributing to something bigger than ourselves is part of what makes us fully human.
The B Impact Assessment revealed opportunities to formalize and expand programs we’re already developing:
- Offering financial wellness support like emergency savings accounts and flexible paycheck timing
- Subsidizing professional development and training opportunities
- Expanding our health and wellness programs
- Solidifying our comprehensive caregiver leave policy.
The bottom line:
We’re proud of the culture we’ve built and the satisfaction our team expresses. The B Corp framework gives us a roadmap for formalizing these values into even stronger structural support systems.
Community
Community: Supporting local economies and suppliers
Our score: 22.7/29.4
This area examines how we support local economies, work with suppliers, and contribute to our community. As an exhibit agency working with vendors across the country, our goal is to strengthen every community we’re part of—from project cities to production partners. That includes championing small businesses, supporting regional supply chains, and deepening our roots in the places we call home.
What we’re doing right:
- 30%+ of our suppliers and materials are sourced within 200 miles of our production facility—helping support local businesses and strengthen the Twin Cities economy
- Our team contributed 267 volunteer hours last year through paid time off for community service
- We prioritize working with small and local suppliers whenever possible
- We pay our vendors and suppliers fairly and promptly (because cash flow matters for small businesses)
- We bank with a local, independently owned institution that’s deeply rooted in the communities it serves
What’s next
We believe investing in the communities we work in—especially our home base in the Twin Cities—is one of the most meaningful ways we can create long-term impact.
That’s why we’re launching new initiatives like:
- A summer internship program focused on expanding access to creative careers for underserved students
- A student design contest in partnership with Bemidji State University
- Expanding our supplier diversity program by prioritizing suppliers owned by women, people of color, or individuals from other underrepresented populations
- Offering job opportunities for individuals who are part of chronically underemployed populations
The bottom line: We’re proud of our high score in this area, and we’re even more excited about where we’re headed.
Environment
Environment: Getting better than yesterday, every day
Our score: 18.7/43
We won’t try to sugarcoat this: we work in a waste-heavy industry. According to industry data, 60% of exhibit materials end up in landfills, and 600,000 tons of exhibit-related trash is generated in the U.S. each year.
Trade shows and exhibits aren’t inherently sustainable – our work involve cross-country shipping, temporary structures, short timelines, and a whole lot of waste.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t be intentional about reducing our environmental impact.
What we’re doing right:
- We specialize in modular, reusable exhibit builds to help reduce long-term waste in an industry where single-use is still the norm
- 50%+ of the products we sell are certified for their environmental impact
- Our leadership helped lead the development of new industry-wide sustainability guidelines — now adopted by two major professional organizations with 20,000+ members
- We reduced our energy use by over 20% last year through efficiency upgrades
- We actively support clients in adopting greener exhibit practices
The reality:
Even in an industry with baked-in challenges, we’re committed to being honest about the impacts of our work — to being part of the solution, rather than making excuses.
Here’s what that looks like in practice: We may not always get it right, or be able to get it right — sometimes we can’t make the most sustainable choice — but we’ll always ask the question.
That alone sets us apart: We think about it, we ask about it, and we always try to do what we can.
It’s not going to win any awards or inspire documentaries, but it will make things better than they would have been.
And in many cases, that’s exactly how positive change happens: bit by bit, by people who care, making one better decision at a time.
Customers
Customers: Creating value responsibly
Our score: 2.3/3.2
This pillar examines how we create value for customers responsibly, ethically, and equitably. It’s our highest-performing area because it aligns closely with how we’ve always approached client relationships—but now we have formal systems to ensure consistency.
What we’re doing right:
- We screen for values alignment early in the sales process
- We prioritize long-term ROI and sustainable exhibit design over flashy one-offs
- We’ve implemented a formal, GDPR-compliant data privacy policy to protect client information
- Our focus on reusable exhibits and efficient practices helps our clients reduce environmental impact and maximizes long-term ROI
- Our client feedback process allows us to incorporate testing and quality assurance into product and service design, shortening the distance between feedback and changes.
What this means for your events:
Working with a Certified B Corp exhibit company impacts our current (and future) clients in several important ways:
- Alignment with your values: If your company cares about sustainability, supporting local economies, or working with partners who treat people well, you can trust that we share those values.
- Long-term thinking: B Corps are legally required to consider all stakeholders in business decisions, not just shareholders. This means we’re incentivized to build lasting relationships and deliver sustained value—not just maximize short-term profits.
- Continuous improvement: The B Corp recertification process every three years means we’re constantly evaluating and improving our practices. Your partnership supports a company committed to getting better.
- Transparency: B Corp certification requires public disclosure of our impact scores and practices. You can see exactly how we’re performing and hold us accountable.
This isn’t revolutionary; it’s just good business. But formalizing these practices through B Corp standards helps ensure we maintain these values as we grow.
Building better, one decision at a time
Look, we didn’t pursue B Corp certification to get a logo for our website. We didn’t do it to win awards, or even to attract more clients. We did it because we’re committed to doing business differently.
In an industry that too often treats exhibits like disposable commodities and clients like transactions, we’re proving there’s a better way. One that prioritizes people, planet, and building something that lasts—without compromising on creativity, quality, or results.
Whether or not B Corp certification factors into how you choose an exhibit partner, we believe you’ll see, feel, and experience the difference of working with a company that cares more.
Because at the end of the day, that’s what this is really about: caring more, doing better, and getting a little bit closer to the world we want to build.
We’re precision worldbuilders. And the world we’re building is one where business is a force for good.
Say hello to us