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The Winners
for the 2006 Torch Award for Marketplace Integrity
are...... Top honors among large businesses (in excess of 500 employees) went to... SunTrust Bank (Central Virginia) and SunTrust Mortgage
Inc. In their supporting documents, SunTrust Bank and SunTrust Mortgage listed their corporate values: listen first; speak with candor, act with integrity; build relationships based on empathy and mutual respect; be enterprising; work smart, not just hard; succeed through team work; and achieve growth by exceeding client expectations. Top Honors among smaller businesses were: Rainbow Station (101-499 employees) offers a unique early-childhood education program. Gail Johnson, a pediatric nurse, founded the company in 1989. It has since grown to six locations in the Richmond area, and the company has sold franchises in Virginia, Texas and North Carolina. Every policy and procedure manual at Rainbow Station opens with the mission and values of the business. These values also appear on the agenda of every company meeting. Employees are routinely asked to cite an example of how they demonstrated one of the values. Holiday Barn Pet Resorts (26-100 employees) has been in business for 30 years and has consistently demonstrated high ethical standards and a commitment to workforce integrity. It has strict policies that guard against unethical behavior, and it routinely communicates these policies to all employees. Adolf Jewelers (1-25 employees), A Richmond institution for 45 years, Adolf Jewelers has consistently demonstrated a commitment to honest and ethical business practices. Through its fair treatment of customers and employees and through its generosity in the community, Adolf Jewelers has built a unique trust in Richmond. The Torch Award for Marketplace Integrity is one of the most prestigious honors that any business can attain. The award, a large, handsome crystal bowl, recognizes that the business is fulfilling its obligation to the marketplace to do what is right and fair. It attests to the fact that the business insists on exceptionally high standards of behavior in dealing with both customers and vendors.
To be
considered for a Torch Award, a business need not be a member of the BBB,
but it must be operating within the BBB’s Central Virginia service area.
Nonprofit institutions are ineligible. The individual placing the
nomination need not be affiliated in any way with the company that he or
she nominates. The business being nominated must have a favorable track
record with the BBB and have been in business at least three years.
Nominees must be free of any evidence that they do not meet their
financial obligations.
Judges
examined the following criteria in evaluating
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