Patagonia will be one of two businesses awarded the Lifetime Business Achievement Award given by the Los Angeles-based Sustainable Business Council (SBC) on April 18th in Santa Monica. Patagonia and Van Vlahakis’s company Earth Friendly Products will be named for the award.

Patagonia is based out of Ventura, California and has been known since its inception by famous mountain-climber Yvon Chouinard in 1972 as an environmentally-conscious company.

“The SBC Board of Directors chose Patagonia for a number of reasons, including their historic commitment to pesticide-free cotton; the fact that they have helped to create a huge demand for organic cotton; their tithing initiative; their commitment to donating one percent of sales or ten percent of profits to charity; and the fact that they became California’s first Benefit Corporation, which will likely inspire many other businesses to do the same,” said Steve Glenn, Chairman of the SBC Board of Directors.

The Los Angeles-based Sustainable Business Council established the award for Lifetime Business Achievement in February 2012 to honor a Southern California business for having an extraordinary impact on the sustainable business industry. The recipient must:

• fundamentally advance the sustainable business industry;
• have achievements that have been acknowledged by the general public as well as by sustainable scholars, critics and peers;
• have work that is known as ground-breaking, innovative and contain historical significance to the sustainable business industry;
• serve as a role model and inspire other sustainable businesses.

Patagonia’s Director of Surf Jason McCaffrey will be present to accept the award in person and will give a brief inspirational talk at the event.