The Fort Collins Area Chamber had the great honor of being a sponsor of the 2024 BBB Torch Awards for Ethics by the Better Business Bureau Foundation Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming. This annual event showcases winners of the most prestigious awards that the BBB can present to businesses and nonprofits. The recognition honors organizations whose leaders demonstrate a high level of personal character; ensure that the organization’s practices meet the highest standards of ethics; and consequently, generate trust with its customers and the community.
It was fun to not only sponsor, but to also attend the event and to see so many Chamber members listed as past winners, nominees and 2024 winners. Events like the BBB Torch Awards for Ethics showcase what is great about the business community and how impactful business can be in building community.
Congratulations to Fort Collins Area Chamber Members Breeze Thru Car Wash, High Country Beverage and Journey Payroll & HR for receiving the 2024 Business Awards. Additionally, we celebrate Jen Parker, Executive Director of KRFC 88.9 FM. Jen was awarded the second Northern Colorado Ethical Leader Award by the BBB at the celebration.
The Northern Colorado Ethical Leader Award is a collaborative effort between the BBB Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming Foundation and the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiatives at Colorado State University College of Business and University of Northern Colorado Monfort College of Business. This award serves as another tool to recognize outstanding, ethical leadership in Northern Colorado and Wyoming.
See below for the full summary of the nominees and the winners. And join me in celebrating the role of ethics in community!
Four businesses and one nonprofit from Northern Colorado and Wyoming have been named recipients of the 2024 BBB Torch Awards for Ethics by the Better Business Bureau Foundation Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming. The 26th Annual BBB Celebration of Ethics was held April 23rd at the Embassy Suites in Loveland, CO and also featured recognition of the fifth class of BBB Ethics Scholar interns, the announcement of the sixth Annual BBB Spark Award for Entrepreneurship winners and the naming of the Northern Colorado Ethical Leader honoree. FNBO was the 2024 Celebration of Ethics presenting sponsor.
This year’s Torch Award winners in the business category are:
- Breeze Thru Car Wash (Fort Collins, CO),
- High Country Beverage (Johnstown, CO),
- Journey Payroll & HR (Fort Collins, CO),
- Kennon (Sheridan, WY)
And the Torch Award winner from the nonprofit category is:
- Lifestories Child and Family Advocacy (Greeley, CO).
Winners of the BBB Torch Awards for Ethics are evaluated and judged by an independent panel composed of board members and past Torch Award winners who review entries based on the four Torch Award for Ethics criteria:
- Character: Do the leaders of the organization behave intentionally and communicate with their leadership team, employees, customers and stakeholders in a way that is consistent with their beliefs?
- Culture: Does the organization work toward a culture of trust through clarity of purpose, empowering employees, and opportunities for growth?
- Customers: Does the organization employ consistent internal practices to build better customer relationships?
- Community: Does the organization have programs, contributions and activities that return value to and support its community?
In addition, nonprofit nominees must have met BBB’s 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.
“This year’s group of Torch Award winners come from a wide area of our service territory and do very different work across a variety of industries, but all show the same commitment to ethics and integrity in their operations,” said BBB president and CEO Shelley Polansky. “Whether that work is washing cars, distributing beverages, running payroll, making protective products, or providing a voice to victims of abuse and neglect, each of these organizations starts with a foundation of trust and has built a culture to reinforce that commitment to customers, clients, employees, and the community.”
Nominations for the 27th Annual BBB Torch Awards for Ethics will open in the summer. Make sure to save the date for the 2025 BBB Celebration of Ethics which will be held April 22, 2025.
About Better Business Bureau Foundation Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming: The BBB Foundation’s goal is to provide ethics based assessment, training and recognition programs for businesses, consumers, nonprofits and students in Northern Colorado and Wyoming.
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BBB Northern Colorado & Wyoming: Second Northern Colorado Ethical Leader Award winner
On Tuesday, April 23, Jen Parker, executive director of KRFC 88.9 FM in Fort Collins, CO, was awarded the second Northern Colorado Ethical Leader Award. The announcement was made at the 26th annual BBB Celebration of Ethics, which also featured the announcement of the 2024 BBB Torch Award for Ethics winners and sixth class of BBB Spark Award for Entrepreneurship winners. FNBO was the presenting sponsor.
The Northern Colorado Ethical Leader Award is a collaborative effort between the BBB Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming Foundation and the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiatives at Colorado State University College of Business and University of Northern Colorado Monfort College of Business. Business and nonprofit leaders from the Northern Colorado portion of BBB’s service territory were nominated by peers and colleagues. Applications were then reviewed by an independent panel consisting of BBB board members and faculty and students from CSU and UNC. The award criteria were based on the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Principles:
- Integrity – Act with honesty in all situation
- Trust – Build trust in all stakeholder relationships
- Accountability – Accept responsibility for all decisions
- Transparency – Maintain open and truthful communications
- Fairness – Engage in fair competition and create equitable and just relationships
- Respect – Honor the rights, freedoms, views, and property of others
- Rule of Law – Comply with the spirit and intent of laws and regulations
- Viability – Create long-term value for all relevant stakeholders
Jen Parker has been executive director of KRFC 88.9 FM since 2016. KRFC is an independent, community radio station with a mission to support Colorado’s musicians and music industry and to provide positive local community programming that connects, informs, and inspires listeners. Parker came to KRFC having previously worked across the media industry including in video games, publishing, television, and commercial radio. Since becoming executive director, Parker has retired all of the station’s outstanding debt, substantially grown community partnerships, and ran a successful $500,000 capital campaign to build a new radio tower which boosted KRFC’s broadcasting power from 3kW to 50kW and expanded the station’s reach north to Cheyenne and south to the northern Denver suburbs.
To learn more about Jen Parker, you can read her profile on BBB’s website or watch our video featuring Parker. For more information BBB’s Foundation programs, please visit our website. If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Jami Jonckowski-Wiens at [email protected] or (970) 488-2048.