Proud to announce we are a certified B Corp.

Grand Rapids-based Swift Printing & Communications becomes a Certified B Corporation® 

Swift Printing & Communications, Inc. recently earned its B Corporation certification. B Corporation or Benefit Corporations is a certification with the basic belief that business should go beyond profits. Best for employees, best for community, and best for the environment.

“If you follow Local First it’s easy to recognize the B Corp logo,” said Jessica Gutowski Slaydon, (Third Generation) Swift Printing & Communications, Inc., “but it’s fairly difficult to know what it means. The best analogy I’ve seen is B-Corp is to business, like what fair-trade is to coffee or how organic is to food.”

Swift is one of only two B Corp commercial print shops in the world, and the 14th B Corp in West Michigan and the 17th in the state.

“B Corp certification has helped us formalize our processes and affirm the good things we’re doing for our employees and the community,” said Walt Gutowski Jr. “We are excited to be a part of the B Corp movement and continue to find ways to make a positive impact in West Michigan.”

We provide quality printing services with an enlightened customer experience – going above and beyond standard industry practices. “If you can read it, we do it, swiftly!” Swift has grown from 2,000 square feet to more than 16,000 square feet at 404 Bridge St. NW. and continues to make significant investments in Grand Rapids’ WestSide business district. Swift is owned and managed by Gutowski Jr.

Certified B Corporations are for-profit companies certified by B Lab. B Lab rates companies based on their ability to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. The process is a 200 point system where numerous questions are asked from number of vacation days employees receive, to how you vet your suppliers. Each question carries a different weight of importance. Then you have to prove it, by confidentially sharing employee wages, benefits, suppliers and who/where your business gives.

Swift makes a positive impact in many ways, including purchasing vehicles for employees as a bonus, giving generously to many charities in their own backyard, repurposing old paper products into new products and demonstrating a commitment to sustainability. Swift was the first print shop in the area to recycle its paper scraps and they also are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.

“As a family owned business, we felt it was important to make sure our values are part of our business for generations to come,” said Slaydon, “We truly care about supporting our community and making a positive impact, so it just made sense to become a B Corp.”

B Corp has a great approach and the neat part is when you reach certification, you have to keep on improving and implementing new practices to make your business even better.

Becoming B Corp Certified has played a big part of planning their two million dollar expansion. Swift recently invested in a Heidelberg, Speedmaster XL 75 Anicolor press and is renovating an additional 5,000 square feet at their current location.

There are more than 2,000 Certified B Corps from 50 countries and 130 industries. Other West Michigan companies designated as Certified B Corporations include Brewery Vivant, Cascade Engineering, Essence Restaurant Group, The Gluten Free Bar, Highland Group, and Image Shoppe. For more information about B Corps and B Lab visit bcorporation.net or localfirst.com/good-for-grand-rapids.