October is my favorite month, bringing cooler weather, pumpkins and the announcement of our 100 Best Nonprofits to Work For in Oregon. It’s our third annual ranking and this year nearly 5,500 employees from 170 nonprofits and not-for-profits participated in the anonymous survey about their workplaces.

Oregon businesses’ support for nonprofits continues to grow modestly post recession. However, perceptions that charitable activities help an organization’s reputation have declined since then. 

Like many green companies, Elements Natural, a Bend-based manufacturer of natural baby wipes, has pursued a variety of certifications verifying that its products are ecologically responsible. The ingredients for the plant-based wipes are approved by national organizations such as EcoCert and the Natural Products Association. Founded in 2007, Elements Natural is also the only baby-wipe manufacturer certified under the USDA Biopreferred program. 

Ken Tomita has a mantra he repeats as he moves from the woodworking area to the design floor of his rapidly growing company, Grove: “We build everything here.”

A couple of years after the Natural Capital Center, a pioneering green office building in the Pearl District, was completed in 2001, the LEED gold-rated structure underwent a “post-occupancy evaluation” to see if it really consumed less energy than a conventional office building. The audit showed the structure did meet pre-construction expectations, says Sidney Mead, director of events for Ecotrust, the nonprofit that owns the Natural Capital Center. But several years later, Mead adds, Ecotrust added three new “kitchen-ish spaces,” including a coffee kiosk and walk-in freezer, both of which “used quite a bit of energy.” It was only because the nonprofit also happened to install solar panels that “total energy use came out kind of a wash,” she says.

“It’s been nothing but positive so far,” says Zach Dotson, chef and manager of Dan & Louis Oyster Bar in Portland’s Old Town neighborhood. On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Dotson was pouring a glass of milk for a thirsty patron of Voodoo Doughnuts  — and waxing enthusiastic about one of Portland’s first pedestrian-only streets, on Southwest Ankeny between Second and Third avenues.