Place to B: A Hub for Impact-led Work
Mar 19, 2024
Step inside Place to B...
Inside Place to B, you’re greeted with beautiful desk spaces, conference rooms, a modern kitchen, and towering windows that let in sunlight even on a gloomy, Oregon winter day. Place to B is located inside Killian Pacific’s stunning Nova building in Southeast Portland. The smell of coffee spills into the lobby from Nossa Familia Coffee, the ground-level coffee shop in Nova.
One thing becomes immediately apparent – this isn’t your average office space.
A different kind of workplace
Place to B is a community hub and incubator space for values-aligned businesses and nonprofits in the Portland metro area. By providing co-working spaces and networking events, Place to B aims to bring folks from different sectors together to foster community, provide opportunities for social interaction during the workday, and amplify positive impact in the community.
Place to B was founded by Erin Fish, Corey Omey, and Kel Moody, who met through the B Corp community in Portland. Erin Fish is the Founder of Wanderwell, a B Corp travel insurance agency committed to environmental conservation. Corey Omey is an architect at Kaleido Studio (formerly EMC Architecture), a B Corp architecture firm in Portland. Kel Moody, former Board Chair of B Local PDX, is the Founder of Alluvium Gatherings, an event planning and production company for environmental and social justice events.
All three had separately envisioned a co-working space for values-aligned businesses and organizations, so when they met, they decided to make their dream a reality. They secured space in the Nova building and opened Place to B. While Place to B is not yet a certified B Corp itself since it just opened, they are taking all the proactive steps so that certification is easy once they are eligible.
Place to B welcomes a variety of impact-driven businesses and organizations including B Corps, pending B Corps, nonprofit organizations, and minority, woman, and LGBTQ+-owned businesses. The space is designed to ignite and boost positive community impact through synergistic, multi-sector collaboration. “We’re working with other people, and it doesn’t even have to be in our field. It actually might even be better if it’s within mission-aligned – ‘mission’ being that we care about the wellbeing of the planet, the wellbeing of people, and prosperity,” explains Corey. Erin adds, “Business does not have to be about competition. Competition can drive a lot of innovation, but collaboration can take us further.”
Erin, Corey, and Kel have plans to heavily involve community members in the evolution of Place to B. “One thing we want to focus on is creating an advisory committee of members to make this a space that is representative of our community and purely and truly inclusive,” says Kel.
Banking on values
When establishing Place to B, they decided to set up their business bank account with Beneficial State Bank. “We were all already connected to Beneficial State Bank as the bank that we love,” says Corey. “It comes down to B Corp values, and Beneficial State Bank is the only certified B Corp bank that we know.”
I never even thought about banking on values until I met people at Beneficial State Bank. Knowing the values that Beneficial State Bank firmly backs makes me feel good about where my business is banking.
Erin Fish, Co-Founder of Place to B and Wanderwell
“The B Corp movement has deep roots in Portland, making it one of the most vibrant and thriving values-centered business communities in the country,” says Craig Hill, Place to B’s relationship banker. “Kel, Erin, and Corey’s multi-year work to build Place to B is a testament to just how deep those roots run. I’m thrilled to see Place to B taking center stage as a hub for inclusive, triple bottom line businesses to work alongside other values-aligned folks, and we’re proud to support them as their banking partner.”
As a triple bottom line bank focused on supporting the planet and people in our communities, we’re incredibly proud to be the bank for businesses like Place to B and to be an advocate for the larger B Corp community. Values-aligned businesses and nonprofits in Portland and beyond are proving that business can be a force for good. They can help uplift people and our planet, especially when we do it together.
Visit the Place to B website to see how you can get involved.
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