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BBB Announces Honorees for 2007 Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics

12/4/2007

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The San Diego Better Business Bureau (BBB), San Diego's largest county‑wide business organization, has honored 20 local businesses for ethical business practices. Seven for‑profit companies and one non‑profit organization were honored as top winners of a 2007 BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics, while 12 others were named as finalists.

Now in its tenth year, the Torch Awards is the BBB's annual awards program that honors outstanding local for‑profit companies and non‑profit charitable organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to ethical business practices, both in operations and in terms of being ethical, reliable and responsive to employees, vendors and customers, according to Sheryl Bilbrey, San Diego BBB president and chief executive officer.

“The Torch Awards is the way San Diego annually rewards and celebrates ethical business practices in our marketplace,” Bilbrey said. “Each honoree exemplifies that adhering to a fair and honorable marketplace gives a company a competitive advantage, and that BBB ethical standards are the hallmark of a successful, competitive company. The Torch Awards program is designed to promote not only the importance of ethical business practices, but the willingness and efforts made by outstanding businesses to ensure that our marketplace remains fair and honorable.”

Selected as winners of a 2007 BBB Torch Award were (categories were based on number of employees which appear in parenthesis): McFarlane Promotions of Downtown San Diego (one‑to‑four); Dream Design Builders of Rancho Bernardo (five‑to‑10); Jackson Design & Remodeling of San Diego (11‑to‑24); Centara Capital Management Group, Inc. of Mission Valley (25‑to‑99); Barney & Barney, LLC of San Diego (100‑to‑249); North Island Credit Union of Chula Vista (250‑to‑499); Sycuan Resort and Casino of El Cajon (more than 500); and, Pacific Safety Council of San Diego (charity/non‑profit category).

Finalists included: Velocity Audio Visual Services of Kearny Mesa (one-to-four); 3 Blind Mice Window Coverings of San Diego (five-to-10); Groovy Like a Movie of Kearny Mesa (five-to-10); Select Mailing Service, Inc. of Kearny Mesa (11-to-24); K‑CO Construction, Inc. of Clairemont (11-to-24); Murray Lampert Construction of Mission Valley (11-to-24); Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air, Inc. of El Cajon (25-to-99); Marrokal Construction Company of Lakeside (25-to-99); JW Floor Covering, Inc. of San Diego (100-to-249); Toyota of El Cajon (100-to-249); Cabrillo Credit Union of Scripps Ranch (charity/non-profit); Make-a-Wish Foundation of San Diego, Inc. (charity/non-profit).

The presenting sponsor of the 2007 BBB Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics was San Diego County Credit Union, the largest locally owned credit union with more than 180,000 customers served at 25 branches located in San Diego and Riverside counties.

Each year, thousands of U.S. businesses are entered in local Torch Award competitions conducted by BBBs in every region of the country. Winning entries from the San Diego competition will be forwarded to the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the parent organization for the BBB network, for an international competition.

The 2007 BBB Torch Awards presentation luncheon was held on Dec. 4 at the Town and Country Resort Hotel and Convention Center in San Diego’s Mission Valley area. A keynote address was delivered by Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the San Diego FBI Division. George Chamberlin, business editor with News Radio 600 KOGO, money advisor for NBC 7/39 and host of the "Money in the Morning" radio program, served as emcee at the event.

Companies and organizations were not the only award recipients at the luncheon. Five high school students who wrote essays on the importance of ethics and integrity in the community were presented with cash scholarships. A total of 234 essays from students attending 78 different high schools in San Diego County were evaluated by the judges. College Loan Corp. of Rancho Bernardo was the presenting sponsor of this year’s BBB scholarship program.

This year's recipients of a Torch Award scholarship were (amounts awarded appear in parenthesis): Calvin Boice, a junior at Carlsbad High School in Carlsbad ($1,500); Brian Cheng, a junior at San Dieguito Academy in Encinitas ($1,250); Samuel Drummy, a junior at Saint Augustine High School in San Diego ($1,000); Nathan Hochstetler, a senior at Valley Center High School in Valley Center ($750); Taylor Semrau, a senior at Valley Center High School in Valley Center ($500).

In his essay, Boice about his decision not to download music for free. He wrote: “In the end, I decided that my integrity is worth more than a few music CD’s. If everyone else lived by integrity, our community would be safer, kinder, more fair and happy.”

The non-profit San Diego BBB, which opened in 1921, is San Diego’s largest county-wide business membership organization with more than 6,000 accredited businesses and charities. The local Bureau remains the sixth largest in the worldwide BBB network, which includes 128 local bureaus across the U.S. and Canada. The BBB promotes business ethics through voluntary self‑regulation, consumer and business education, and helps consumers with free pre‑purchase information and consumer protection advice, including reliability reports on more than 101,000 local companies. Providing the largest free service of its kind to local consumers, the San Diego BBB’s “Instances of Service,” which reflects the total of the services provided to the general public and BBB members, exceeded 2 million in 2006.Consumers who first inquire with the BBB before a buying decision is made currently represent approximately $4 billion per year in local purchases, according to the BBB. Before buying decisions are made, consumers are encouraged to phone the BBB's free 24‑hour Consumer Helpline at (858) 496‑2131 or (800) 600‑7050, or visit the website at www.bbb.org, to obtain free information and a list of BBB accredited businesses in a particular type of industry.

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