The Better Business Bureau conducted its annual meeting last week. The purpose of the meeting was to recognize businesses with the BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics and to award Student of Integrity scholarships.
Gov. Bill Haslam was the keynote speaker. The governor addressed many of the difficult decisions that must be made as the chief executive in the State of Tennessee. He said decisions guided by trust and “doing the right thing” are critical.
Recipients of the 2016 BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics are: Category I winner – Cleveland Boat Center; Category I honorable mention – Chattanooga Closet Company; Category II winner – Fischer Evan Jewelers; Category II honorable mention – LearningRx of Chattanooga; Category III winner – Don Ledford Automotive Center; Category III honorable mention – Cleveland Daily Banner; non-profit winner – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Chattanooga; and non-honorable mention – United Way of Bradley County.
The BBB achieved a milestone in its annual Student of Integrity scholarship competition: surpassing $100,000 awarded. The program is now in its 12th year. This year, scholarships valued at $1,000 each were awarded to ten students, who competed for the scholarships by writing an essay on the importance of ethics in business and in the community. The competition was available to all high schools seniors in the BBB service area of 21 counties in Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia. One hundred and thirty eight students entered the competition this year.
The local winners of the BBB 2016 Student of Integrity scholarships are: Bethany Haven Burns, Signal Mountain High School; Abby Jane Heinichen, Signal Mountain High School; Florian Alexander Kirschenbauer, Baylor School; Austin Neal Sawyer, Signal Mountain High School; and William Alexander Shirer, Cleveland High School.
BBB President Jim Winsett congratulated the winners. “The business winners and the student winners are exemplary representatives of ethics and integrity in our marketplace,” he said.
Source: BBB