The Better Business Bureau serving Chicago & Northern Illinois (BBB) announces the 2009 winners of the thirteenth annual Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics, which spotlights companies that exemplify ethical business practices.

Winners are:

• The Inland Real Estate Group
• Packer Engineering, Inc
• Tasty Catering
• Assurance Agency, Ltd
• and Integrated Project Management Co. Inc.

Honorable Mentions will be awarded to:

• Shell Vacations, LLC
• Champion Windows
• and Cray, Kaiser LTD

“As the headlines have portrayed, ethical business practices have taken a beating on Wall Street, the banking industry, housing and other marketplaces,” says Steve J. Bernas, president & CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois.

“The Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics honors companies that make a demonstrable effort to promote ethical business practices, and we are pleased to see the number of businesses who, in the eyes of their customers and other associates, meet that threshold.”

Winners will receive their honors at an awards luncheon ceremony at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza on Thursday, Dec. 3.

The awards recipients are selected by an independent panel of judges each year.

Bernas went on to say, “This year’s participants and winners have reaped many rewards as a result of their commitment to achieving and maintaining high ethical standards including stronger customer loyalty, enhanced reputation, and greater employee commitment.”

The 2009 competition had the largest number of nominations and entries with more than 1,800 nominations from a wide variety of businesses, explained Bernas.

“This variety in entries and the subsequent winners and honorable mentions reflect an increasing interest by more and more companies to use ethical business practices in their operations as the primary method of self-regulation,” Bernas said.

“This belief is the cornerstone of the BBB system.”

Companies are judged in five categories based on their number of employees. Bernas noted that the presentation of awards is just the tip of the iceberg for companies that do it right by working with their customers, suppliers and other organizations in a professional manner.

It remains important for people to inform the BBB when they have done business with a company that did an exemplary job.

Many of the over 1,800 nominees for this award were the result of consumers alerting the BBB to companies who ‘do it right’.

This year’s event has been made possible through the generosity of the following sponsors:

AAA Chicago, Abt Electronics & Appliances, Access One, Inc., Alberto-Culver Company, Apple Vacations, Assurance Agency, Ltd., Bridgestone Retail and Commercial Operations, CDW, Champion Windows, Charter One, Chicago Tribune, ComEd – An Exelon Company, Combined Insurance Co. of America, Delaware Place Bank, DeVry, Discover Financial Services, Empire Today LLC, Grant’s Appliances Electronics & More, Hallberg Commercial Insuror’s Inc., Hilton Chicago, Inland Real Estate Group, Inc, Integrated Document Technologies, Inc, Integrated Project Management Co. Inc, Lehigh Hanson, Life Care Innovations Inc, Luna Carpets & Blinds, Inc, Medley Moving & Self Storage, Midas, Pampered Chef, Ltd, Plumbing Council of Chicagoland, PromoWorks, R H Donnelley, Sundance Vacations, Tiffany & Co., Total Merchant Systems, Urban Imaging Group, Inc, U S Waterproofing & Construction Co., Walgreens.

Consumers can nominate an ethical business on our Web site at bbb.org/chicago under the “For Consumers” section.