The Better Business Bureau Serving Wisconsin and the Concordia University Wisconsin School of Business Administration have formed a partnership to present the Torch Awards for Ethics beginning in 2015.
The awards program honors corporate and nonprofit organizations in the state “whose leaders demonstrate a high level of personal character and ensure that the organization’s practices meet the highest standards of ethics,” according to the BBB Foundation, which launched the program in 2003.
The BBB Foundation joined Mequon-based CUW’s School of Business Administration at its graduation and awards ceremony on Friday evening to announce the new partnership, which augments CUW’s focus on business ethics.
“For many years the School of Business Administration has been hosting a business ethics award,” said CUW President Rev. Dr. Patrick T. Ferry. “Moving forward, to be able to partner with the Better Business Bureau and the Torch Awards, to further the cause of business ethics, is something that relates directly to our mission.”
That commitment to business ethics was one impetus for the new partnership, according to Randall Hoth, president and CEO of the BBB Foundation.
“(CUW) school administration has been very supportive of building an honor code around ethics, and so that resonated with my foundation board of directors, and we felt that they would make a great partner,” Hoth said.
The Torch Awards for Ethics program will accept nominations from companies, nonprofits and outside nominators through Feb. 9, 2015. The long-term deadline will both “build some excitement around the six potential winning categories” and give companies plenty of time to apply, Hoth said.
A ceremony will follow next spring in conjunction with CUW’s School of Business Administration graduation and awards ceremony.
In the meantime, the BBB Foundation will host a series of workshops emphasizing the importance of business ethics, with presentations from award judges and former award winners.
Past recipients of the Torch Awards for Ethics include Rockwell Automation, The Boldt Company, Briggs & Stratton, Sargento Foods, Bergstrom Automotive, Festival Foods, Badger Meter, J.P. Cullen & Sons, Johnson Controls, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Wisconsin, Children’s Hospital, Make a Wish-Wisconsin, and Feeding America of Southeastern Wisconsin.
For more information on award requirements and deadlines, visit www.bbb.org/wisconsin/torch-award.
