Seven businesses earn BBB Torch Awards
Four suburb-based businesses were among seven companies that received the 2019 BBB Torch Awards for Marketplace trust, excellence and ethics from the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois.
Award recipients are selected by an independent panel of judges. Companies are judged on ethical performance and business excellence across several categories and are compared against businesses with a similar number of employees. In addition, one company received the BBB's Firestarter Award for excellence in a business operating for less than three years,
"The Torch Award is the highest honor the BBB can present to a company," said Steve J. Bernas, president and CEO of the BBB serving Chicago and Northern Illinois. "Torch Award winners consistently demonstrate the highest ethical standards of trust and ethics toward customers, employees, and the communities in which they do business."
The businesses were recently honored at an event at the Hilton Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center, which featured guest speaker Wayne Messmer, co-founder of BBB accredited company Wayne Messmer & Associates and a successful author and singer, best known for singing the national anthem at sporting events.
The honorees of the 23rd annual Torch Awards are:
• 1-9 Employees: Escape Artistry, a woman-owned, Chicago-centric, socially conscious escape room company.
• 10-49 Employees: WEBIT Services Inc., a Naperville-based managed technology, security services and solutions provider.
• 50-99 Employees: Pan American Bank & Trust, an independent bank for business and communities based in Melrose Park.
• 100-499 Employees: Integrated Project Management, Inc., a business consulting firm based in Burr Ridge.
• 500-2,499 Employees: Empire Today LLC, the nation's largest in-home provider of carpet and hard surface flooring, based in Northlake.
• 2,500+ Employees: IBM Corp., a global cognitive solutions and cloud platform company for the enterprise with offices in Chicago.
• Firestarter Award: Fixer, a Chicago-based online home repair firm. Customers book a skilled, experienced Fixer for any kind of home maintenance issue