BBB Presents Torch Awards for Marketplace Trust
POLAND, Ohio — Two characteristics that define a good leader are boldness and an urgency to proceed, said Better Business Bureau President and CEO Carol Potter at the organization’s annual Torch Awards ceremony. Those qualities, she continued, can also be found in all of this year’s honorees.
“They create value using their own gifts. They are intentional with their time and energy,” Potter told the audience of about 200. “Their honesty and integrity shine through no matter how difficult the situation.”
During the awards luncheon at the Lake Club, the BBB honored four companies, a nonprofit, and an individual with awards for integrity in the marketplace (WATCH VIDEO).
The businesses honored were Hickey Metal Fabrication of Salem, MS Consultants, M7 Technologies and Jensen Lock & Alarm, all of Youngstown.
Hickey, founded in 1942, is a fourth-generation family business that has grown from a small roofing company to a large metal fabricator with customers across the United States. It operates four plants in Salem that collectively contain 300,000 square feet.
In accepting his company’s Torch Award, Leo P. Hickey, president, attributed its success to the hard work of the Hickey family and the company’s 180 employees.
“Family is important to us and without my grandfather and my parents, none of us would succeed today. So we’ve tried to carry on that legacy,” Hickey said.
Mike Garvey, president of M7 Technologies in Youngstown, echoed the Torch Awards theme of integrity and ethics, saying “marketplace integrity is an essential ingredient in a healthy community.”
The Torch Award for nonprofit excellence was awarded to the Butler Institute of American Art and the award for civic leadership was presented to Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel.
“You can’t have a great Valley or region if you don’t have a quality Better Business Bureau,” Tressel said.
The BBB also honored six area banks as its TrustBuilders with a video that showed how bank executives work with commercial customers to help build the regional economy. The BBB TrustBuilders are Talmer Bank and Trust, Home Savings and Loan Co, PNC Bank, Farmers Bank, Huntington Bank and Cortland Banks.
James Sisek, chairman of Farmers Trust Co., and Alexa Sweeney Blackann, vice president of Sweeney Auto Group, presented $1,000 scholarships to five high school graduates with a family affiliation to BBB accredited businesses. The students had to achieve a GPA of at least 3.0, receive a recommendation from a school or community representative, and write an essay on ethics and integrity.
The recipients are Francesca Hierro, Katherine Landry, and Beau Weaver from Poland Seminary High School; Jaret Johnson, Niles McKinley; and Rebeka Simon, Ursuline High School.
Pictured: Carol Potter, BBB president and CEO, presents the Torch Award to Leo P. Hickey, president of Hickey Metal Fabrication.
VIDEO:
‘3 Minutes With’ BBB Torch Awards for Marketplace Trust
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