I truly believe that responsible forestry makes good business sense.
Especially in a market that increasingly demands environmentally aware practices, being able to put the FSC® logo on your products is a major selling point—and it can set your business apart from the competition.
American Green exists to make certification as easy—and affordable—as possible.
That’s why companies like American Green Consulting Group exist. I founded American Green in 2011 to create the most efficient, easy-to-use, and cost-effective path to forest product certification possible. Our sole purpose is to be the expert on these programs and what you need to do to stay compliant—so that you can remain focused on your own business.
While there are quite a few businesses like ours that have the same purpose, only American Green offers a CoC certification consultation process that cuts the cost in half.
That’s right—we offer CoC certification consultation at half the cost of other consultants. Plus you come away with an advanced understanding of how the certification process works, and that knowledge is free.
Why American Green’s CoC certification system is different
All certification consultants use virtually the same process:
- Talk 1:1 with you about your business and the process to get certified.
- Fill out a template with your business specs, which then gets used to generate the documentation you need.
- Provide ongoing consultation for a fee.
The difference between American Green and the others is found in Step #2 above (and a little in #3).
Other consultants = $2,500 (on average)
The completion of the template is what takes up most of anyone’s time. With other consultants, they fill all of this out for you. While this may sound quick and easy for you on the frontend (which it is!), the benefits are short-lived.
- Every year, consultants will have to go through this exact same process again, which costs them more time and costs you more money.
- Additionally, you never get the chance to learn what the certification details are all about.
American Green = $1,295 + free education
Years ago, we realized that we could cut the cost of certification consulting in half for our clients if they were willing to spend a few extra hours upfront during Step #2, which averages to about 3-5 hours.
This would also give them a great opportunity to gain valuable insight into the certification process, which they can utilize year to year when it comes time to re-certify.
With that in mind, we developed our Chain-of-Custody (CoC) Portal. Every client receives their own portal login, and they can sign in anytime they like to fill out forms, watch videos, and more. It’s all according to their own timetable and everything is stored in one place.
Let’s compare.
| AMERICAN GREEN | OTHER CONSULTANTS |
|---|---|
| ✅ Expert assistance and consulting | ✅ Expert assistance and consulting |
| ✅ Valuable independent perspective | ✅ Valuable independent perspective |
| ✅ Evaluation of your business and its specific needs | ✅ Evaluation of your business and its specific needs |
| ✅ Identification of gaps and options to remedy them | ✅ Identification of gaps and options to remedy them |
| ✅ Procedure templates and documentation | ✅ Procedure templates and documentation |
| ✅ Record-keeping tools for smoother audits | ✅ Record-keeping tools for smoother audits |
| ✅ Proxy on your behalf with the CB | ✅ Proxy on your behalf with the CB |
| ✅ Detailed training (included) | ❌ Detailed training (available for additional cost) |
| ✅ One hour of additional support guaranteed | 🤔 Additional support may or may not be included |
| Total consultation cost: $1,295
What else you get:
|
Total consultation cost: up to $2,500 |
The bottom line
We know every company is different, so the decision on how you pursue CoC certification will depend greatly on a number of factors, including time and budget.
Before you decide, why not ask these two questions:
- Is it worth $1,200 in savings for five hours of your time to fill out the forms yourself and also learn all about the CoC certification process? (Plus you get an hour of support from American Green after all is said and done.)
- Or would you prefer to pay someone else up to twice as much to fill out your forms for you—and then pay them again to explain what they did and why they did it?
Be sure to also check out the information and videos on our CoC Portal page. And if you still have questions, our team would be happy to answer them for you.
About the author: Chris Gibbons founded American Green in 2011. Since then, he’s grown the company from a few clients to a few hundred, using his extensive experience with FSC standards to help businesses navigate the requirements of FSC Chain of Custody certifications. Learn more about Chris on our About Us page.
Image credit: Oliver Paaske on Unsplash
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