BSI is Certified Evergreen
In 2021, BSI joined the Tugboat Institute, an international collection of about 300 or so like-minded businesses, from the very small to the very large (i.e., Enterprise Holdings and Edward Jones). What unites this diverse group of companies is that they (1) are committed to staying private by refusing to sell their company to outside parties, and (2) strive to do business according to the Evergreen principles. These principles are defined by the 7 “P”s:
Purpose: Having a compelling reason for existing – a North Star above all else.
Perseverance: Having the ambition and the resilience to overcome obstacles and keep pursuing the purpose indefinitely into the future.
People First: Engaging a workforce of talented associates who excel as a team and are motivated by the purpose and the culture, as well as by total compensation, in the belief that, by taking care of them, they will take care of the customers, suppliers, partners, communities, and their families.
Private: Taking advantage of the ability of closely held private companies to have a longer-term view, greater confidentiality around strategies, and more operating flexibility than public or exit-oriented businesses.
Profit: Not mistaking profit as the purpose of the business; but recognizing it is essential to survival and independence, and the most accurate measure of customer value delivered.
Paced Growth: Having the discipline to focus on long-term strategy, balance short-term and long-term performance, and grow steadily and consistently from year to year.
Pragmatic Innovation: Embracing a continuous-improvement process built around taking capital-efficient, calculated risks to innovate creatively within constraints
While all Tugboat members aspire to be Evergreen companies, a much smaller group has actually gone through the process and met the thresholds to be Certified Evergreen. Last year, BSI elected to make a go of it to see if we were living up to these standards. The answer, as evidenced by the certificate shown above, was a resounding “Yes”! While we easily exceeded the benchmarks for each of the seven categories, we were especially pleased that our highest rating (and one of the highest scores the certification team had ever seen for the category) was “People First.” Given the incredibly capable and dedicated team we have here at BSI, that seems fitting.
To learn more about the Certified Evergreen Program, including how to pursue it for your company, click on the link below: