Nominations Being Accepted for the BBB 2016 Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics

Nominations are now being accepted to honor exceptional businesses with the Torch Awards from the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois.  These awards are presented annually to outstanding businesses in recognition of their commitment to high standards in relationships with their customers, employees, suppliers, competitors, and the surrounding communities.

Like the BBB Torch logo, the Torch Awards honor and help to illuminate the importance of a corporate conscience and the responsibility for creating a fair and honest marketplace.

The Torch Awards nomination process is open to all for-profit Chicago and northern Illinois based businesses. Nominations can come from individuals or businesses.

An individual may nominate the company he or she works for, owns or is affiliated with; as well as any company that individual does business with, or any company, which the nominating individual believes, meets the Torch Award criteria.  A company can also be nominated by an organization (i.e., Chamber of Commerce, academic institution, ethics organization, trade association, etc.).

Candidates for the 2016 Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics will be evaluated by a prestigious independent panel of judges from the business and academic communities against these criteria:

• High ethical standards of behavior toward customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees, and communities.
• Demonstrated ethical practices surrounding their buyer/seller relationships.
• Marketing, advertising, communications, and sales practices which reflect a true representation of what is being offered in the market place.
• Acknowledgment of ethical marketplace practices by industry peers and in the communities where they do business.
• Management practices and policies that give long-term value to shareholders, customers, employees, and vendors.
• Training programs that assist employees in executing ethics policies.

Companies are judged in five categories based on the following employee numbers: 1-9; 10-99; 100-999, 1,000-7,499 and 7,500+.  Recognition and awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, November, 19, 2015 – 11:00 a.m. at Loews Chicago O’Hare, 5300 North River Road, in Rosemont, IL.

To nominate a company, or for detailed information on judging criteria, go to www.bbb.org/chicago and click on the torch award link on the lower right side of the page. You may also e-mail Nina Castle at ncastle@chicago.bbb.org  or mail to BBB Torch Award, 330 N. Wabash Ave., #3120, Chicago, IL 60611.  Entries must be postmarked no later than Wednesday, September 30, 2015. Winners will be selected by October 16, 2015 and will be notified by phone following completion of judging.