Cape Breton–based sustainable promotional products company Ethical Swag is navigating the current economic chaos through the B-Corp certified systems it already had in place.

The Sydney company helps organizations make their values visible through ethically made, branded merchandise.  Over the last few years, the company has had strong revenue growth operating throughout Canada and the U.S. Even during the pandemic, Ethical Swag was able to increase its revenues 30 percent year on year in 2020-21, Founder and CEO Tara Milburn told Entrevestor at the time. Clients on its website today include Greenpeace, Google, Microsoft and Stanford University.

B-Corp Status requires companies to demonstrate values of sustainability and community. For example, it means Ethical Swag was already sourcing products close to consumers partly in order to keep its carbon footprint and costs low. Ethical Swag also knows, or can easily find out, where the component parts of products it sells originate, which enables an easier untangling of the complexities of tariffs.

“Canadian products, for example, may have inputs from other places,” Milburn said in a recent interview. ““We have a system that gives us insight into where our suppliers are located at the click of a button. We are very nimble because of the way we set up our systems.”

She said less than one percent of companies in her industry in North America have B-Corp status. Tariffs are impacting everyone and the B-Corp approach makes them easier to handle. Many competitors, in contrast, may not know where the components of a product they buy are sourced.

“It often feels like extra work when you’re setting things up, digging into the social and environmental implications of the products we source, but we found the hard work we did prior to Covid set us up for Covid, for example we have always allowed staff to work remotely,” Milburn said. “With tariffs, we already prioritized people and planet with the products we source, which is making us resourceful in this time of turmoil.”

Milburn, a former executive with Nova Scotia Business Inc. (now Invest Nova Scotia), began working on Ethical Swag full-time in 2018 and received B Corp certification in 2021. The company has both Canadian and U.S. clients. Clients in both nations are keen to avoid tariffs, and Canadians want to show national pride by buying Canadian-made products. Ethical Swag’s site states a product’s country of origin.

“We make those choices easy, so that’s also a competitive advantage,” Milburn said.

The company now has 13 full-time staff, located across Canada, Nairobi and Thailand. Milburn is currently seeking a Director of Operations.

In the spring, Milburn was featured in Canadian SME Small Business Magazine, highlighting her conviction that sustainability and profits can support one another rather than act as a trade-off. In the interview, she highlighted the importance of transparency and trust, as well as partnering with like-minded organizations to scale impact.

In the Entrevestor interview, Milburn said she is bullish about the potential of Ethical Swag.

“Lots of organizations are talking to us, and we are seeing opportunities, both from our clients and from people interested in how we are doing things in terms of partnerships or acquisition.”