Impactfully No. 39: Direct trade
This week, Stumptown Coffee redefines the coffee farmer relationship, Parker Clay tackles exploitation in Ethiopia, and Hallam-ICS advances workplace safety.
Supply chains are getting a lot more scrutiny from companies these days.
You might be thinking about the supply chain issues from the pandemic, where it seemed like a new product was flying off store shelves each week, from toilet paper to cream cheese. But social impact companies are also thinking about how their decisions downstream are affecting society and the environment at the source.
Take our featured company this week, Stumptown Coffee. Coffee companies have always held a certain respect for the farmers that grow coffee trees, but Stumptown was something of a pioneer in the industry with their "Direct Trade" approach to supply chain management. In addition to paying farmers more than commodity rates, they build relationships with them over many, many years – according to Stumptown, over 90% of the coffees they purchased came from farms with whom they'd built a relationship for more than three years.
Many companies are in a race to lower costs throughout the supply chain as much as possible, so there's something to be said for a company that treats its supplier relationships like long-term partnerships. It changes the incentives to value everyone who has a hand in a product, and that's a form of social impact in and of itself if you ask me. Let's make it normal!
Here are this week's job opportunities:
Stumptown Coffee is a Certified B Corp with a unique approach to sourcing coffee beans – they work directly with the coffee farmers for years and pay them based on the quality of their product, not the commodity value. One of the cool ways they bring their customers into their community outreach efforts is by giving them the chance to vote on which nonprofits receive a portion of sales.
- Health & Safety Manager – Portland, OR
- Box Truck Driver – Portland, OR
- Cold Brew Production Tech – Portland, OR
- Cafe Manager (W8th Cafe) – New York, NY
- Green Coffee Handler – Portland, OR
- Sr. Manager Business Development, National Accounts/Foodservice – New York, NY or Portland, OR
NewAge Industries is a Certified B Corp that specializes in fluid transfer products in multiple industries, including healthcare. They are one of the few employee-owned companies we've come across, meaning you own company stock as part of the employee stock ownership plan or ESOP.
- Manufacturing Engineer – Southampton, PA
- Sr. Product Development Engineer – Southampton, PA
- Continuous Improvement Engineer – Southampton, PA
- Design Engineer – Southampton, PA
- Creative Design Specialist – Southampton, PA
- Marketing Campaign Specialist – Southampton, PA
- Account Manager – Southampton, PA
- Financial Planning & Analysis Manager – Southampton, PA
Simply Good Jars creates ready-to-eat meals designed to address food equity by making it easy to get a healthy meal in underserved areas. They are looking for a couple of sales managers to help them grow their impact on the east coast – great if you have a passion for food and a desire to make a difference.
- Regional Sales Manager Food Service | Northeast – Remote
- Regional Sales Manager Food Service | Southeast – Remote
Brew Dr. Kombucha aims to be the world's most impactful kombucha brand, and they give back to the community through social and environmental impact. In addition to charitable donations, they have worked to reduce their supply chain impact by using recycled glass in their bottles and repurposing alcohol from fermentation into biofuels.
- Brand Manager – Remote
Whole Whale is a digital agency that helps nonprofits and social impact companies advance their missions through technology. Their benefits are solid, including unlimited paid time off, wellness and technology credits, and money to spend each year on continuing education.
- Analytics Director – Remote
Hallam-ICS is an engineering firm that specializes in designing systems to keep people safe. One example that stood out to us was their work on toxic gas monitoring systems – laboratories rely on those systems to make sure their researchers make it home every night. Their community outreach is excellent as well. If you want to work in tech and help protect people doing mission-critical work, give this company a look.
- Controller – South Burlington, VT
- Mechanical Engineer – South Burlington, VT, Malta, NY and Middletown, CT
- Engineering Leader – Malta, NY
- Electrical Engineer – Middletown, CT
- Instrumentation and Controls Technician – Mansfield, MA
- Engineering Intern – Mansfield, MA
- Commissioning Engineer – Mansfield, MA
- Senior Mechanical Engineer, PE – Mansfield, MA
- Controls Engineer – Apex, NC
- Lead Control System Engineer – Austin, TX
- Control System Engineer – Austin, TX
Parker Clay sells leather bags made in Ethiopia, where they partner with Ellilta Women at Risk to help women who have been exploited by prostitution. Their perspective on giving models resonated with us – one of the lines on their website notes that when you donate a pair of shoes, you take away a job from a local shoemaker. Their goal is to help the women of Ethiopia help themselves so they can transform their communities as they see fit.
- Community Engagement Manager – Santa Barbara, CA
- Warehouse Manager – Santa Barbara, CA
- Warehouse Associate – Santa Barbara, CA
ReGrained repurposes spent grain from breweries into new foods – currently, they're turning it into pizza crusts, brownies, carrot cake, and banana bread. Years ago, I had pizza with spent grain and it was the best pizza crust I've had. I love this idea for both its concept and its impact – quite the tasty way to divert waste from landfills!
- Ingredient Sales Assistant – Remote
- Sales and Marketing Internship – Berkeley, CA
Apparently this was the foodie issue of our impact jobs roundup! Who said making a difference couldn't taste good?
Pro tip: if you're at the grocery store, check the packaging for the Certified B Corp or Fair Trade logos. It's a simple way to grow your impact with an everyday habit.