Arlington, VA, July 17, 2001 - Twenty-two businesses from 12 states and the Canadian province of Ontario have been selected finalists in the 2001 Better Business Bureau National Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics competition. The winner from each of four size categories will be announced on October 1, 2001 at an awards ceremony held in conjunction with the International Assembly of Better Business Bureaus in Nashville, Tennessee.
Presented annually since 1996, the BBB National Torch Award illuminates the long-term value of honest and honorable business practices. Leading up to this year's competition, more than 2,200 businesses competed in 72 local BBB Torch Award competitions, with 104 businesses being nominated or qualifying for entry at the national level.
"The right way to do business is to do right by your customers. BBB Torch Award honorees excel at customer satisfaction and, they extend that same careful attention to meeting the needs of their family of employees, vendors and suppliers, and the communities in which they do business," said Ken Hunter, president of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the umbrella organization for the nation's Better Business Bureaus and sponsor of the BBB National Torch Award.
A blue-ribbon panel of business and ethics experts judged this year's competition, which was particularly noteworthy for the variety of industries represented and their geographic scope. It was the first year that businesses headquartered in Canada qualified for entry in the national competition.
The finalists for the 2001 BBB National Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics, their headquarters city, and a description of their industry are as follows:
Category I (1,000 or more employees)
1. Callaway Golf Company (Carlsbad, CA) - golf products
2. Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. (Lafayette, LA) - helicopter services
3. United Supermarkets (Lubbock, TX) - retail supermarket
4. Vetrotex America (Wichita Falls, TX) - manufacturing
Category II (100-999 employees)
1. Cook's Pest Control, Inc. (Decatur, AL) - pest control
2. RLI Corporation (Peoria, IL) - property & casualty insurance
3. Sifton Properties Limited (London, ON, Canada) - developer
4. Walker Information, Inc. (Indianapolis, IN) - information products
Category III (11-99 employees)
1. American Beauty Landscaping (Boardman, OH) - landscape firm
2. DeSantis Landscapes, Inc. (Salem, OR) - landscape contracting
3. Gordon Brothers Water (Salem, OH) - water conditioning & delivery
4. Packer Thomas (Youngstown, OH) - certified public accounting
5. Repacorp Label Products (Tipp City, OH) - labels/ribbons
6. Smithfield Manufacturing Inc. (Clarksville, TN) - machine parts
7. Viplex Industries, Inc. (Bend, OR) - replacement windows
8. Virginia Varsity Transfer, Inc. (Roanoke, VA) - moving & storage
Category IV (1-10 employees)
1. Berry's Discount Warehouse (Abilene, TX) - retail tire & wheels
2. International Minute Press (Boise, ID) - printing services
3. Jam-N-Yams (Flossmoor, IL) - pie bakery
4. Kituku & Associates (Boise, ID) - professional speaker
5. Pro-Liquitech International (Louisville, KY) - beverage R&D
6. Woodrose Company, Inc. (Ft. Worth, TX) - general contractor
"This year's finalists provide proof that success in business does not happen by accident and is not accomplished through short-cuts. It requires a commitment and dedication by owners, management and employees to excellence, to fairness in the marketplace, and to honesty and trustworthiness in day-to-day operations. Those are the very hallmarks of BBB Torch Award honorees," said Calvin J. Collier, chair of the Council of Better Business Bureaus and senior vice president and general counsel/corporate affairs, Kraft Foods, Inc.
Four companies from the list of 22 finalists will be named winners and presented with the 2001 BBB National Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics at the October 1 ceremony. To be held at Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel in Nashville, this year's ceremony is sponsored by CDW Computer Centers, Inc., winner of the BBB National Torch Award in 2000. The keynote speaker will be NFL legend Mike Singletary, award-winning former linebacker for the Chicago Bears.
About the BBB National Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics:
The Judging: The finalists and award-winning companies were selected by an independent panel of business ethics experts: Allen Beatty, retired senior vice president, Bureau Network Division, Council of Better Business Bureaus; Joan Koebernick, Dakota-K Auto Repair (2000 National Torch Award winner); Ronald Miller, president, BBB of Central Ohio, Columbus, OH; Laura Nash, director, Institute for Values-Centered Leadership, Harvard Divinity School, and Dr. John Yost, business professor, Bradley University.
Award Criteria: Companies were evaluated against criteria that included commitment to and demonstration of ethical practices in the marketplace; high standards of behavior toward customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and communities; truthfulness and accuracy of advertising and sales practices; ethical reputation among industry peers and in communities in which they do business; long-term value of ethics policies to shareholders, customers and employees; and training and communications programs to assist employees in carrying out established ethics policies.
Previous Recipients: Recent winners of the National Torch Award include:
Catg. I : CDW Computer Centers, Inc., Vernon Hills, IL; IBM Corporation, Inc., Armonk, NY; Praxair, Inc., Danbury, CT
Catg. II: Commerce Bank & Trust, Topeka, KS; Neil Kelly Company, Portland, OR; Highlights for Children, Inc., Columbus, OH
Catg. III: Dakota-K Auto Repair and Tire Center, Arlington Heights, IL; Automation Systems International, Inc., Longview, TX; Fletcher Communications, Waco, TX
Catg. IV (new category, instituted in 2000): Stephen C. Gidley, Inc., Darien CT
For the complete list of winners dating to 1996, the year the Torch Award was established, visit the BBB central web site at www.bbb.org/BizEthics/winners.asp.
