9b: Say Hello to Oklahoma's Newest Certified B Corp

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Our friends at 9b celebrated their third anniversary in October with an exciting announcement- they are now one of only three B Corp Certified organizations in Oklahoma! In great company with businesses like Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, and Seventh Generation— B Corps meet the "highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose".

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9b is a data analytics and information technology consulting company that helps municipalities, nonprofits, and other purpose-driven organizations with any and all aspects of their data. Their wheelhouse includes data analytics, architecture, engineering, programming, science, storytelling, and visualization. 9b was founded right here in Tulsa in 2018. A big inspiration for starting 9b came from learning about benefit corporations and Certified B Corporations. To break that down- a benefit corporation is a legal structure and the Certified B Corp is a third-party certification from B Lab. Both allow companies to use their business as “a force for good” rather than just for profit.

The 9b team is made up of experienced data analysts and developers, certified auditors and accountants, and former educators and journalists. You can meet everybody here. Oh, and here are a few fun facts about 9b: The entire 9b team lives and works in Tulsa—half in The Heights north of downtown. They have three people with the first name of David, and three with the last name of Pickard. One of their team members built their conference table with salvaged wood flooring from our neighbors Cain’s Ballroom. How cool is that?!

Over the past three years 9B has focused on building relationships with individuals and purpose-driven organizations in Tulsa as their growth strategy. The team attributes many of their local connections to their involvement in the 36 Degrees North community. They’ve been members since 2018, starting out at Basecamp and moving over the Incubator this year.

On 9b’s third anniversary in October they officially became a Certified B Corporation, earning a verified score of 113.9! (The minimum is 80.) The process took about 15 months. B Corps—like Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, and Seventh Generation—are businesses that meet the "highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose." 9b is currently one of only three B Corps in Oklahoma, and they hope to see more companies go through the process. It was so beneficial to 9b as a younger company to think through their impact on their employees, community, and environment.

It’s been a crazy year, but one that has shown 9b just how important data is for organizations to make sense of what’s going on and decide what to do next. They consider it a privilege to help meet this need in our local community. Their team is constantly inspired by the organizations they work with and the systems they are trying to improve from education to justice. Also, like many companies, the past year has also challenged their ability to work together when they are working apart. They’ve loved having space here at 36 to meet as a team and help them stay connected this past year. Also, Slack—where would we be without Slack?

So, here's to the future! 9b is excited about engaging with the global B Corp community and also connecting with the existing (and aspiring) B Corps in Tulsa. If you have questions about 9b or how to become a Certified B Corp, their team would love to hear from you! Reach out to Molly (one of the three Pickards) here!