The Triple Bottom Line Vol.3 #9

The Triple Bottom Line may sound like black and white thriller or an obtuse economic theory, but don’t be scared; The Triple Bottom line (affectionately referred to as TBL) is simply an underlying theme of conducting business with the three big P’s – People, Planet and Profits – in application to why and how a company performs their work.

TBL 101: A Quick Summary

People
A TBL-focused company not only offers their employees and clients fair business practices but also gives back to the people of the community in which they work by contributing to the strength and growth of community endeavors. A TBL company might provide on-site child care for employees to both ensure employee satisfaction and also present more jobs for the local community.

Planet
By offering sustainable solutions for all aspects of their work, a TBL company finds that environmental sustainability is the more profitable course for a business in the long run, and values equitable business practices. When you reduce what you are able to and offset what you cannot, you are positively impacting the global environment. TBL companies follow the guidelines of organizations like Carbon Fund or joining the TerraPass program not only demonstrates your consideration towards the environment, but even gives you more marketing power.

Profits
When a TBL company profits, their community profits. It means their taxes are contributed locally, which means more money for education and resources. For every dollar made in a community, it exchanges hands at least three times; basically, if you make money, you are going to spend money on local products like the dry-cleaner, the babysitter, and the farmer’s market. All of these entities profit when a TBL company thrives.

The TBL is the brainchild of John Elkington 1994, an economist and writer who began to think that perhaps government and NGO’s will start taking a back seat in the global culture, allowing businesses big and small to take the wheel and drive. Business is quite obviously the key to reviving the Bay Area from the economic downturn of the past few years. As the Bay begins to regroup, utilizing those big P’s will significantly affect how quickly the Bay Area as a whole will once again flourish.

TBL 201: Making the TBL Work for You

Wondering how you can incorporate the Triple Bottom Line into your production work in the Bay Area? Well, let’s zoom in on a local TBL-friendly venue, the Craneway (a newly restored venue and location on the bay in Point Richmond) to a few of the impacts that come from making a local choice.

1. Why Location Matters
In food service, it’s all about presentation; and in production, it’s all about location and amenities!

The Craneway is a local venue nestled next to the bay at Ford Point in the revitalized Marina District of Point Richmond. Besides having a huge amount of parking for the easy load in and load out, the Craneway is also remarkably imagine: BART, Amtrak, bike, bus, car, ferry, or helicopter, which makes the Craneway a convenient choice as the set or backdrop for your production needs.

TBL on the Location: When you choose to produce an event, a shoot, or a performance in a local venue like the Craneway, you keep the environmental impact of travel to a minimum and are likely to hire from within local talents; thus nearly guaranteeing the taxes paid out from each paycheck flow back into your neighborhood, and the profits from each check are spent throughout the your area as well.

2. How the Venue Plays a Role
You need enough space to play!

Not only is the Craneway easy to get to by all forms of mass transit and sustainable transportation, but it also offers 45,000 square feet to play with indoors, and a 20,000 square foot open-air patio. This flexible space used to be the old Ford Motor Plant, and retains original flooring, brickwork, window panes and pulleys from its tenure as an auto plant; not only is the Craneway rich in history, but it has a bright future provided the local production community starts using the facility.

TBL on the Venue: Making a local choice means money changes hands locally. Profits a local venue makes go directly back into the local economy, and allow the venue to give back with free concerts, donating the space for charity, or even seeking educational opportunities for inspiring Bay Area creative-types like yourself.

3. Can’t Go Wrong With Green
Kermit was wrong: Being green is easy!

Recently restored venues support modern technologies that older buildings and locations are not able to offer. For example, the Craneway’s roof was designed specifically to maintain a one-megawatt rooftop solar power plant, which helps power the 2000 amps, three 400A company switches, 30+ boxes with DMX, audio, video, network, T1, intercom and fiber feeds, and a BARCO video wall (the only such screen in the Bay Area). Moreover, the Craneway was created for maximum sustainability with an abundance of environmentally friendly features.

TBL on the Green: Going green isn’t just a fad or a piece of ad lingo – it’s a paradigm switch that promotes the wellness of people and the health of the planet. When you go green, you are encouraging others to do the same simply by your example. Your company and companies you partner with are contributing to global sustainability. Just like many hands make like work, many partners with the same green goals makes sustaining green ways of business easier.

4. Food for Thought
Supporting local farmers is a piece of (carrot) cake.

Partnering with a TBL-oriented company like the Craneway doesn’t just give you the power to lessen your environmental impact and support the talent in your community – you are even making a choice about food. Food is purchased from local farmers and inspiringly prepared with the Bay Area culture in mind. The Craneway offers on-site catering, bars and a restaurant.

TBL on Food: Supporting local farmers not only helps the community of people, but helps the planet; when we refrain from mass-production, we are not creating waste by producing more than we can chew. Also, small local farms make less of an impact on the environment, and by choosing to work with them, you are in turn working towards a healthier global community.

TBL 301: How to Get Involved

So now that you know how the choices you make can affect the Triple Bottom Line, you’re probably curious as to how to you can join in. Luckily, there are tons of ways to incorporate the TBL into your business and your life, and the internet is a great place to research ideas; but the best ideas definitely come from yourself. Only you really know what you can do in terms of your business to help the Triple Bottom Line.

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