By Melissa Ames
BBB President and CEO
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The marketplace seems to change minute by minute, with new competition at every turn. As a result, individuals and businesses seeking out organizations to help solve their needs are looking to cut through the noise. Those individuals and businesses turn to BBB to find a trusted company.
In a 2022 survey of BBB accredited businesses across the United States and Canada, respondents said the BBB torch demonstrates that BBB accredited businesses are reputable, trustworthy and honest.
With a retention rate of 93%, BBB accredited businesses in the Mahoning Valley recognize the importance of operating within BBB standards for trust.
While BBB is fulfilling its mission of advancing trust in the marketplace, attention is also drawn to those scam artists looking to steal personal information and money. As a result of this work, BBB recently partnered with Capital One and Amazon – both companies that also share interest in educating the public about fraud.
As a result of this new partnership, BBB launched Scam Tracker 2.0 in November. New features include searching for specific URLs, phone numbers, emails and business names. This enables a potential victim to investigate his own encounter. Another feature is a social share function, so the individual reporting the scam can share his experience and help others to avoid the same fraud.
In 2021, BBB Scam Tracker helped to save $31.4 million. BBB wants to help those within our community and put those dollars back into our local economy. Users can visit bbb.org/scamtracker to learn more.
In 2022, BBB announced that it plans to invest $100,000 in the Youngstown Business Incubator’s Youth Entrepreneurs program. With the investment in this program and BBB’s Ethics and Integrity Scholarship, BBB wants to assist students as they become future business leaders in the Mahoning Valley.