Raining Rose gets B Corp certification for ‘using business as a force for good’

CEDAR RAPIDS - A Cedar Rapids natural-based manufacturing company best known for its lip balm has become a Certified B Corp.

Raining Rose, at 100 30th St. Dr. SE, joins more than 1,600 businesses in 120 industries and nearly 50 countries with the same recognition from B Lab, a nonprofit organization that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good.

Certified B Corporations meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. They are legally required to comprehensively measure their impact on their shareholders and stakeholders, such as consumers and the environment.

B Corp certification is to a company what Fair Trade or USDA Organic certification is to a single product. They have a broad vision to impact the world around them individually and collectively.

'Becoming B Corp certified is an important accomplishment for us,” said Chuck Hammond, Raining Rose CEO, in a news release. 'It is being recognized for socially and environmentally responsible practices that we have had in place for years.

'As a manufacturer of natural and organic goods and an active member in our local community, the values B Corps represent align with ours. We look forward to putting even more focus on these values with our new certification.”

Raining Rose manufactures lip balm and other natural body care products and is certified to make USDA organic products. In 2014, the company was named a Blue Zones-designated workplace and received LEED certification for its sustainable corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility.