Torch Technologies (Torch), a 100% employee-owned technology services and solutions company, has been awarded the coveted North Alabama Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics in the Government Contractor category for 2020.

With this year’s recognition, Torch is now the only four-time recipient of the North Alabama Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award, having also won this award in the Mid-size Company category in 2005, the Large-size Company category in 2009, and the Government Contractor category in 2015.

Presented annually, the BBB Torch Award honors businesses that demonstrate exceedingly high standards of behavior toward customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and communities; adherence to truthful and honorable advertising and sales practices; and an earned reputation for noteworthy contributions to their industries and the communities in which they do business. In lieu of the traditional annual awards luncheon, this year, due to COVID-19, winners were presented their awards at their place of business.

The Torch Award 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 country’s marketplace remains fair and honorable for all Americans. Candidates for the Torch Award were nominated and given the opportunity to submit information regarding their ethical relationships with customers, employees, and vendors. A prestigious panel comprised of representatives of the academic and business community judged the 26 entries from businesses and organizations that accepted their nomination and provided an entry for the Torch Award.

“We are honored to receive this prestigious recognition from the Better Business Bureau of North Alabama,” said Torch President and CEO John Watson. “The BBB upholds a national standard for enterprise and ethics, and we feel that receiving the Torch Award is one of the highest compliments that could be paid to us.”

The BBB awarded the 2020 Torch Award for Ethics to: Jackson Plumbing, Heating & Cooling in the Small Business Category (1-25 employees); Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne P.C. in the Mid-Size Company Category (26-99 employees); Farmers Telecommunication Cooperative in the Large Business Category (100+ employees), Torch Technologies in the Government Contractor Category; and Ethic Tech in the Veteran-Owned Category.

Presented annually, the BBB Torch Award honors businesses that demonstrate exceedingly high standards of behavior toward customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and communities; adherence to truthful and honorable advertising and sales practices; and an earned reputation for noteworthy contributions to their industries and the communities in which they do business.

The Torch Award 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 country’s marketplace remains fair and honorable for all Americans.

Candidates for the Torch Award were evaluated by an independent panel of judges from the business and academic community against the following criteria:

• High ethical standards of behavior toward customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees, and communities in which they do business;
• Demonstrated ethical practices surrounding their buyer/seller relationships;
• Longstanding history/reputation of ethical practices in the marketplace (minimum 3 years in business);
• Marketing, advertising, communications, and sales practices which reflect a true representation of what is being offered in the marketplace;
• Acknowledgment of ethical marketplace practices by industry peers and in the communities where they do business;
• Ethics policies that are effectively communicated to employees;
• Ethics policies that are designed to give long-term value to shareholders, customers, etc.
• Training programs that assist employees in carrying out established ethics policies.

Torch Technologies is the only company to be a three-time recipient of the Torch Award, having also won this award in the Mid-size Company category in 2005 and the Large-size Company category in 2009.