Torch Awards aimed at spotlighting ethics
The buzz around our branch of the BBB these days is about the upcoming Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics.
Better Business Bureaus across the country host the annual Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics at the national level. The Murfreesboro service area branch of the BBB of Middle Tennessee was the first branch office to establish the Torch Award program at the local level in 1999, a fact of which we’re very proud. The Torch Award recipients from the five counties this branch serves will be eligible to be entered for the national award next year.
But what exactly is a Torch Award? Put simply, it shines the spotlight on ethical business. If someone sets out to scam the public, there is an outcry heard throughout the country. The scammer gets his 15 minutes of fame, but honorable companies suffer long at the hands of a consuming public rapidly losing confidence in business. The media loves to route out the villain, and consumers naturally consider all businesses guilty by association. Fair or not, in the minds of consumers, every company is painted with the same shade of suspicion.
The fact of the matter is most businesses are honorable, operating with admirable levels of integrity. They take a quiet pride in doing right by their customers, their employees, their vendors ? so quiet, in fact, that only those people ever know about it. It is an indisputable law of human nature that we typically tell 11 to 20 other people when we think we’ve been ripped off – bad news travels fast! Conversely, we take fair treatment by businesses as our God-given right, barely noticing, much less acknowledging, those good guys who go the extra mile.
Enter the Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics. The BBB considers it a responsibility and privilege to hold high the torch of integrity, casting light on those ethical companies who might otherwise go unrecognized. Every consumer in our community knows of a business who continually does right, who makes doing business with them a positive experience. A Torch Award nomination is a very public way of acknowledging that company, and bringing them the recognition that ethical-performance deserves.
Taking the high road in a “get-rich-quick, no-work-involved” world, is no easy feat. Those who do so deserve the true honor of being nominated for the Torch Award.
Any for-profit business in our service area is eligible for nomination. There are several company- size categories to keep it fair. Nominations can be e-mailed to us a [email protected] or faxed to (615) 867-3905.
Nominations are now being accepted, and we are happy to report that they are already rolling in! After the deadline of July 31, the nominated businesses will be contacted and asked to submit an official entry packet. An independent panel of judges will judge the entry packets. The finalists in each category will be honored at a special Torch Awards Ceremony on Nov. 6 at the Doubletree-Murfreesboro (formerly Garden Plaza), and amidst a tremendous media spotlight, the recipients will be announced.
This is an exciting time for our business community, when the public’s eye is on those companies that have chosen the high road of honesty and integrity. The Better Business Bureau urges everyone to take the time to honor those companies by nominating then for the Torch Award ? they deserve it,
If you need additional information, contact the Better Business Bureau at (615) 867-0032 during regular office hours. You can also visit our web site at www.middletennessee.bbb.org.