San Diego Better Business Bureau honors companies for marketplace ethics

Fourteen San Diego County businesses have been honored for ethical business practices by the San Diego Better Business Bureau (BBB), San Diego's largest county‑wide business organization. Six for‑profit companies and one non-profit organization were honored as top winners of a 2012 BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics, while seven others were named as finalists.

Now in its 15th year, the Torch Awards is the BBB's annual awards program 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.

“Consumers want to do business with ethical companies, and our Torch Awards is one way to identify companies that maintain a competitive advantage by adhering to BBB ethical standards,” Bilbrey said. “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. It’s the way San Diego celebrates ethical business practices in our marketplace.”

Winners and finalists were selected in categories based on number of employees. Selected as winners of a 2012 BBB Torch Award included (categories according to number of employees appear in parenthesis): On-Site Tech Support (one-to-four); Dream Design Builders (five-to-10); Reilly Financial Advisors (11-to-24); Quality Controlled Manufacturing, Inc. (25-to-99); Coles Fine Flooring (100-to-249); JW Floor Covering (250-499); and, Pacific Safety Center (charity/non-profit, winner).

Finalists included: Milholland Electric, Inc. (five-to10); San Diego Law Firm (11-to-24);  Action Air Conditioning, Heating & Solar (25-to-99); ASI Heating and Air (25-to-99);  Ideal Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical (25-to-99); Anderson Plumbing Heating and Air (100-to-249); and, Bill Howe Family of Companies (100-to-249).

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 2012 BBB Torch Awards presentation luncheon was held at the Town and Country Resort Hotel and Convention Center in San Diego’s Mission Valley area. A keynote address was delivered by paralympic Olympic athlete Oscar “Oz” Sanchez. Sanchez, who competes in para-cycling competition, won a gold and bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic games, and a bronze medal at the recent 2012 London Paralympic games. George Chamberlin, executive editor of the San Diego Daily Transcript newspaper, business editor for AM-600 KOGO News Radio and FM News and Talk 95.7 and money advisor for NBC 7 San Diego, served as emcee at the event for his 15th consecutive year. San Diego Gas & Electric was the ethics partner sponsor for the 2012 BBB Torch Awards.

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 258 essays from students attending 87 different high schools in San Diego County were evaluated by the judges. Sycuan Casino 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): Katie Anastas of Poway, a junior at the Academy of Our Lady of Peace in North Park ($500); Gabriella Chan, a senior at San Marcos High School ($750); Melodyanne Cheng, a senior at Torrey Pines High School ($1,000); Malary Greenwood of Fallbrook, a senior at Oasis High School, an independent study high school ($1,250); and Kay Toma of Santee, a senior at Francis Parker High School ($1,500).

In her essay, Toma discussed an event that happened when her family ran a small jewelry retail store. Three customers who accidentally were given too much money in change later returned to the store to give back the extra money.

The non-profit San Diego BBB, which opened in 1921, is San Diego’s largest county-wide business membership organization with 6,000 accredited businesses and charities. 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 45,000 local companies. 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.