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Helping
Millennials Find a Path to Success
BBB St. Louis opens its first Illinois officepage 5
Gain by Giving Program Builds Partnerships Between Businesses & Charities page 7
2016 St. Louis & ColumbiaTORCH Award Winners page 8
Accredited Businesses Help Their Employees (and Themselves) Thrive in a Changing Workplace page 6
www.bbb.org/stlouis Fall 2016
Keesha Irving, Director of technical
workforce management for field operations at Charter Spectrum
Better Business BureauFall 2016 Better Business BureauFall 2016
3
Looking to our history as
we build our future
Cover photo: Diana Linsley
Board of Directors
The mission of Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois is to be the
leader in advancing marketplace trust.
* Chair **Past Chair ***Ex-Officio
Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Missouri
& Southern Illinois211 N. Broadway, Ste. 2060,
St. Louis, MO 63102Phone: (314) 645-3300
Fax: (314) 645-2666Office Hours: 8:30 a.m.—5 p.m.
Jerri Stroud, Editor Email: [email protected]
Paul BirnerRenewal by Andersen
David BreckenridgeMoneta Group
Tim CombsHelitech Waterproofing
Michelle L. Corey***Better Business Bureau
Ron CrowLaclede Gas Co.
Tonya DemullingEnterprise Rent-A-Car
Kevin DeptulaBuilder’s Bloc Contracting
Darlene ElderBuild-A-Bear Workshop
Kim GarnerBEST Transportation
Robert J. Hoffmann**Hoffmann Brothers
Jim HoldenerAmeren Missouri
Steven HorstGraybar
Michael HurstRukus
Keesha IrvingCharter Communications
Marlene JonesBJC Healthcare
Justin LeeRubinBrown
Tim LeonGeile/Leon Marketing Communications
Scott Mosby*Mosby Building Arts
D. NarainMonsanto Co.
Karen NolteChildren’s Home Society of Missouri
Michael RottlerRottler Pest & Lawn Solutions
Carolyn Sandgren-KempfElite Travel
Scott SchaeferSchaefer Auto Body
Joseph W. Schmelzle**United Van Lines
Will SmithCaleres
Tom StreibStreib Electric Co.
Tom ThielChesterfield Fence & Deck Co.
Thomas B. WalshDrury Hotels Co.
T. William White**Commerce Bank N.A.
A message from the President
As BBB prepares to mark its first 100 years of serving consumers and businesses in our region next year, it seems only natural—and appropriate—to reflect on the history that has brought us to where we are.
From those earliest debates over how best to monitor and regulate newspaper and magazine advertising, to the complex challenges posed by today’s 24-hour-a-day on-demand flood of information from radio, TV, the Internet and social media, BBB has witnessed a century of innovation and growth, built slowly and deliberately, brick by brick, on the solid foundation of our past.
Winston Churchill said it simply and eloquently: “The farther backward you can look the farther forward you are likely to see.”
On Oct. 27, BBB will be meeting in St. Louis to look back at our past and forward toward our future as we honor exceptional businesses, charities and high school students at our annual BBB
TORCH Awards. We held similar events on Oct. 4 in Columbia and in Cape Girardeau in April.
The day also offers another opportunity to thank all of our 7,600-plus Accredited Businesses and Charities who provide the support and encouragement to keep alive this bold dream of marketplace self-regulation.
As we approach our centennial, it is fitting that we are meeting in one of our region’s most historic sites – the Khorassan Room of the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.
BBB was just five years old, still in our infancy, when the Chase Hotel had its grand opening in the early autumn of 1922. By 1931, the new Park Plaza Hotel had joined the Chase along Kingshighway Boulevard, creating the Chase Park Plaza.
The hotel complex has played host to an impressive cavalcade of celebrities and events over its long history, but none more important than the businessmen and businesswomen who will be coming together for this year’s awards luncheon.
While most of the honorees and guests may not be household names -- at least outside our bi-state region – they are many of the people whose imaginations, roll-up-your-sleeves work ethic and strict adherence to ethical business values
have continued to build on the rich legacy of BBB.They join a long and distinguished list of business professionals
who came before, joining the ranks of what can only be described as the best of the best.
It is an exclusive club, to be sure, and one whose membership carries with it a special responsibility to help honor our past and build toward our future.
They are people who understand that there are no shortcuts when it comes to making customers happy, and there are is no substitute for doing an honest job at a fair price. For 99-plus years, the basic principle of who we are has remained the same.
Good business means doing the right thing, not the easy thing. That much has never changed.
Ours is not an organization for the faint of heart or the weak of knee. It never has been.
The grand hotel will be alive and buzzing later this month, with the clatter of luncheon dishes, inspirational speeches and video tributes to deserving businesses and nonprofits. And if you listen hard enough, you might be able to hear the sounds of history echoing through the ornate old meeting room.
Take a moment to celebrate, and remember . . . how far we have come together.
Michelle Corey President & CEO, CAE
Good business means doing the right thing, not the easy thing.That much has never changed.
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Torchlight 0 5 3 3 4 0 8/30/16
quarterly 4 $15211 N. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102 Jerri Stroud
314-584-6741
211 N. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102
Michelle Corey, 211 N. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102
Jerri Stroud, 211 N. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102
Jerri Stroud, 211 N. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102
Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Missouri & Southern Illinois 211 N. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102
Torchlight (ISSN 1547-2043 USPS 053-540) is published quarterly by Better Business Bureau, 211 N. Broadway, Ste. 2060, St. Louis, MO 63102. Subscriptions are available to BBB Accredited Businesses only. Periodicals postage paid at St. Louis, MO. Postmaster: Send address changes to Torchlight, 211 N. Broadway, Suite 2060, St. Louis, MO 63102.Contact Chelsey Heller, [email protected], 314-645-0606 to participate
in these webinars, an exclusive benefit for Accredited Businesses.REGISTER NOW4
TORCHLIGHT MagazineStatement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation
Better Business BureauFall 2016Better Business BureauFall 2016
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News & Notes for BBB Accredited Businesses in Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois
The three winners of Student of Ethics Awards in BBB St. Louis and BBB Columbia are role models who already have made a difference in the lives of others.
The students were chosen based on an essay about ethics, academic achievements, leadership and community service activities. Each will receive $2,500 to be used toward college or trade school tuition or other college expenses.
Caroline Zupan, a senior at St. Joseph’s Academy, started tutoring children in underserved areas as her way to make a difference after the unrest in Ferguson two years ago.
“I believed that it was my duty to act ethically to combat racial injustice,” Zupan wrote in her essay. “Since a central racial disparity is access to comprehensive education, I became a volunteer tutor in underserved regions of St. Louis, offering literacy lessons to school age children. Although my volunteerism is modest, I believe that it is meaningful.’
Zupan also has worked at a soup kitchen, and she plans to pursue her interest in social justice, human rights,
effective altruism and international relations when she enters a four-year university next fall.
For Taylor Danielle Mateyka, a senior at Edwardsville High School, the treatment of students with disabilities prompted her to work with fellow students on a school-wide campaign to increase awareness of such students and how to refer to and interact with them.
Mateyka also has volunteered with
Special Olympics teams at her school, served as a volunteer tutor for pupils with behavioral problems and helped with Challenger Baseball, a recreational baseball league for adults and youth with disabilities. She plans to study biomedical engineering in college.
Maggie Brooke Victor, a senior at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Mo., wrote in her essay about resisting pressure to cheat in
school and at her new job. In each case, she resisted the pressure and stayed true to her ethical beliefs.
“Sometimes it is hard to do the right thing, especially when friends are around, but integrity and honesty are the only traits that matter,” she wrote. Victor listed tutoring, Challenger Baseball and several other activities. This honor student wants to study nursing or secondary education at a four-year university.
BBB Honors Area Students Who Are Making a Difference
Left to right: 2016 BBB Student of Ethics Award winners Caroline Zupan of St. Joseph’s Academy, Taylor Mateyka of Edwardsville High School, Illinois, and Maggie Victor of Columbia’s Rock Bridge High School.
BBB Quincy Serves 10 Missouri Counties, 6 In Illinois Mara Clingingsmith is leading St. Louis BBB’s newest regional office in Quincy, Ill., as
regional director. Clingingsmith, who has more than 28 years’ experience in sales and marketing with
Quincy area media, will be responsible for running the office’s day-to-day operations and representing BBB in the Quincy-Hannibal region in a variety of outreach efforts.
“I’m excited to help increase awareness of BBB, for consumers and businesses alike,” Clingingsmith said. “A big part of my role will be educating the public through media outlets and consumer groups, connecting consumers with the variety of free services BBB offers, as well as assisting local businesses and charities in earning BBB Accreditation status.”
John F. “Skip” Bright, executive director of the Quincy Business and Technology Center, said he welcomes BBB to the region. “BBB’s mission is to be the leader in advancing marketplace trust. Having an office in Quincy brings that resource close to home and gives us information we can trust from people we know. BBB is a vital resource to use when choosing a vendor, business or charity with whom to invest our hard-earned dollars.”
The new office is at 301 Oak St., Suite 2-33. The office website is bbb.org/stlouis/quincy and emails may be sent to [email protected].
BBB Quincy is St. Louis BBB’s third regional office and the first in Illinois. Others are in Columbia and Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Counties serves by BBB Quincy are:• Missouri counties: Chariton, Clark, Knox, Lewis, Macon, Marion,
Monroe, Ralls, Scotland and Shelby.• Illinois counties: Adams, Brown, Hancock, Pike, Schuyler and Scott.
Clingingsmith
BBB Board Chair Scott Mosby is proud to report that Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois won the Marshall A. Mott Award for outstanding communications and two “Outstanding BBB Awards” for Best Charity Review program and Best Outreach program.
The awards were presented at the International Assembly of BBBs in Indianapolis in September. St. Louis BBB won two of the 12 “Best of BBB” awards categories in addition to the Mott Award, one of the two most prestigious annual awards given at the assembly.
Michelle L. Corey, St. Louis BBB president and CEO, said receiving the awards underscores the important role the BBB plays in building marketplace trust by exposing substandard business behavior and showcasing businesses and charities
committed to BBB Standards of Trust. “We are dedicated to helping
consumers make informed buying and giving decisions and to warning them about actual or potential fraud,” Corey said. “Just as important is our role in upholding high ethical standards for BBB Accredited Businesses and Accredited Charities as well as other firms and nonprofits in our region.”
The Mott Award recognizes the BBB deemed to have the most effective and
excellent external communications program among 103 BBBs in North America competing for the award. The award recognizes the reach and
effectiveness of a BBB’s communications with consumers, businesses, regulatory agencies, media as well as with its own employees, board and vendors.
The award for Best BBB Charity Review program recognizes St. Louis BBB’s Gain by Giving program, which promotes partnerships between Accredited Businesses and Accredited Charities. Giving back to the community is increasingly important to companies. If an Accredited Business chooses to donate to, volunteer or provide
services to an Accredited Charity, both entities can be assured that they are working with a trustworthy partner.
The award for Best Outreach recognized St. Louis BBB’s effort to engage with ethnic communities through ethnic media by holding a conference with the Federal Trade Commission’s Midwest division, based in Chicago, and also by providing speakers to consumer and business groups representing a broad spectrum of ethnic groups.
BBB Cape Girardeau Seminars Boost Accredited Businesses
BBB Cape Girardeau helps BBB Accredited Businesses learn about best practices with seminars on a variety of topics.
Earlier this year, businesses were invited to “Maximize Your Accreditation” and more recently, BBB held a human resources seminar featuring Katie Magoon from People Solutions Center. Magoon led a discussion of common risks and strategies for human resources issues many businesses face today.
“We were excited to hear from an expert like Katie to help human resource employees and small businesses with understanding HR risks,” said Cape Girardeau Regional Director Joey Keys.
Seminars are another way BBB helps our Accredited Businesses resolve issues they face every day. Last year, BBB Cape Girardeau hosted a social media seminar attended by more than 30 participants.
BBB Wins Awards at International Assembly
BBB St. Louis employees with awards are, from left, Sarah Schlimme, director of finance and human resources; Tracy Hardgrove, vice president of operations and administration; Michelle Corey, president and CEO; Chris Thetford, vice president of communications and marketing, and Shellie Kreter, PR and communications manager.
Better Business BureauFall 2016Fall 2016 Better Business Bureau
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don’t realize that they can get their training paid for and make good money doing construction work. Too often, they come out of college without the skills they need to land a job.
“Most kids don’t go to school to work in an auto body shop,” Schaefer said. The company has participated in career days and job fairs to try to attract the talent it needs to run the business.
Hoffmann says he’s become more flexible on maternity leave and on employees’ needs to work from home for a few hours if they’re expecting a service call, for example. But he doesn’t see work-from-home as the way to run his business all the time.
Hoffmann has added some fun to the workplace to please his staff. He said he doesn’t understand it, but some of his female employees really like days when they’re allowed to wear yoga pants. Other workplace celebrations include a holiday party or trips to ball games. Once a year, the entire company goes to a casino, and
the company provides a hotel room for the night. “Some of our employees have told me that it’s the only
vacation they have,” Hoffmann said.Dennis Harter, field operations manager for Streib Co.,
said he believes the company’s family culture has helped it attract and retain millennials. Streib also makes it a point to have celebrations that can involve employees’ families as well as smaller celebrations for meeting goals, such as 100 days or more without a lost-time injury.
“It’s really, really difficult to have millennials accept that they have to put in the hours to get where they want to be,” Harter said. “By building an esprit de corps” and celebrating successes, employees learn what they need to do.
Streib also has counseling statements for each employee, which are reviewed every six months. An employee and his or her boss sit down and talk about where they are, where they want to be and how to get there, Harter said.
“You give them a path to take to success,” Harter said. BBB
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For some business owners, millennials are a challenge – whether they’re hiring them or trying to retain them as loyal, productive employees. Employers are looking for employees who will work hard, come to work on time and conform to workplace rules – values that some millennials
don’t understand. On the bright side, employers value millennials’ fresh ideas and adept use of technology.
Even some employers who’ve had some disappointing experience with millennials say it’s wrong to make generalizations about employees of any age – young, old or in-between. Millennials’ needs are often similar to those of older employees. These business leaders say workplaces need to adapt, providing employees with a clear career path and offering flexibility to accommodate employees’ personal needs.
“You can’t lump all millennials in the same boat,” said Robert Hoffmann, president of Hoffmann Brothers Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing and Electrical. “Some come in and want
COVER STORY
By Jerri Stroud BBB Editor
to work eight hours and leave. Others are willing to work all kinds of hours. Some are good about being on time, and others don’t understand the importance of that.
“You need to respect their personal needs,” Hoffmann said.
Keesha Irving, director of technical workforce management for field operations at Charter Spectrum, has seen the percentage of millennials in Charter’s field technical staff grow to 70 percent from 34 percent in 2013. It’s a trend other employers have been told to expect as the work force ages.
Irving attributes Charter’s success in hiring millennials to the company’s clear path for employees to progress through the ranks by taking advantage of company-paid training and other opportunities to learn about and move to new jobs.
“It’s not just a job, it’s a career,” Irving said. When employees see the opportunity to move up, they’re more likely to stay with the company, she said.
Irving started as a customer service representative, then worked in marketing and project management before moving to her current position, where she supervises about 90 dispatch and workforce representatives. Their job is to make sure field technicians make it to customers’ homes or businesses on time with the tools they need to install, trouble-shoot or repair the product or service.
Charter offers employees the opportunity of job-shadowing in a related or different part of the company. She has one dispatcher that first shadowed a door-to-door sales representative, then decided to try it in another department, where he eventually transferred.
Charter also offers competitive pay and benefits, Irving said, and many employees like the benefit of getting Charter products and services at a nominal fee.
“That’s what people are attracted to in coming to work at Charter,” Irving said.
Scott Schaefer, senior vice president
of Schaefer Autobody Centers, says the company has millennials at all levels in the company. The company has made few changes to accommodate them, but it does try to provide a company culture where employees are paid well in a “fun environment where they can be creative.”
Millennials “want the workplace to almost be like their family,” Schaefer said. “We give them a lot of say in how they get things done and encourage them to contribute their ideas.” The company provides a lot of feedback and helps them determine a career path.
Schaefer said the company offers some promotions and community involvement that young people have responded well to, such as allowing them a say in how Schaefer spends part of its budget for supporting charities.
Both Schaefer and Hoffmann expressed frustration with trying to find young employees who want to learn a trade. Hoffmann said many high school students
HIRING MILLENIALS
Businesses Give To Charities, Gain In Relationships By Bill Smith
Still in its infancy, BBB’s Gain by Giving program revolutionizes the way businesses and charities partner with one another in the St. Louis region.
The two-year-old program – which brings BBB Accredited Businesses together with BBB Accredited Charities – continues to bring together people in a way that mutually benefits the businesses, the charities and the BBB St. Louis region. In September, BBB St. Louis was honored with an award for Gain By Giving at the International Assembly of Better Business Bureaus in Indianapolis.
Tracy Hardgrove, BBB vice president of operations/administration, who oversees the program, says she has been overwhelmed how quickly and enthusiastically both area businesses and nonprofits have embraced the program.
“Project by project, partnership by partnership, we are witnessing simple but wonderful acts of kindness and generosity,” Hardgrove said. “When Accredited Businesses begin to work with AccreditedCharities, there is an immediate feeling of common trust and respect. Both parties appreciate doing work with others who have strived for and met high ethical standards. It has been truly transformative.”
This month, John Beal Inc., a BBB Accredited Business with headquarters in Maryland Heights, began work on a $15,000 roof replacement at the Nature Center/Office Building for the nonprofit World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, at no cost to the sanctuary.
The company’s generosity means that money that otherwise would have gone toward the repairs now can be directed to other important needs.
Roger Holloway, director of the Wild Bird Sanctuary, called Gain by Giving, “a wonderful opportunity for charitable groups to share their mission with the business community.
“This project is more about the business learning about our mission as an environmental organization. It’s not us getting a bid and writing a check.”
The project, Holloway says, “frees up our limited resources to educate the public.”
Not content with limiting its Gain by Giving commitment to the sanctuary project, Beal is looking at assisting several other charities with projects, saying it wants to donate labor and materials worth $15,000 to an Accredited Charity every quarter for the next year.
Other Accredited Businesses that have come forward to pledgework, materials or money to area charities are Greener Construction Services, Tesson Roofing & Exteriors, Amaya Contracting, Precision Construction Services and Mosby Building Arts.
BBB’s Hardgrove said that, while details are still pending, Accredited Business BEST Transportation is hoping to work with the American Cancer Society in St. Louis to provide crucial transportation to cancer patients and their families.
Schaefer Auto Body has pledged to donate a fully restored vehicle to a charity and Geile/Leon Marketing already is working on a project to support Children’s Home Society.
Michelle Corey, BBB president and CEO, said Gain by Giving hopes to build on these partnerships in coming months and years.
“Gain by Giving offers charities a chance to spread their messages to local business leaders and an opportunity to obtain critical services at little or no cost.
“It offers businesses a way to give back to the community that has supported them..
“And it makes the St. Louis region a richer—and better—place for all of us.” BBB
Helping Employees Find a Path to Success
Keesha Irving, Director of technical workforce management for field operations at Charter Spectrum, works with employee Brittany Cornell.
Employees of Schaefer Auto Body reach out to prospective employees at a recent job fair to attract young talent.
When the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency announced that it had chosen an area north of downtown St. Louis as the site of its new $1.75 billion western headquarters, NGA Director Robert Cardillo cited Cortex Innovation Community as a key reason why.
On Oct. 27, Cortex President and CEO Dennis Lower will present the keynote speech at BBB’s annual TORCH Awards at Chase Park Plaza Hotel. The speech will underscore the importance of ethics and service with all stakeholders of a business or nonprofit.
Lower has headed the technology-based Cortex program since 2010. Cortex Innovation Community is a 200-acre urban development and innovation project whose mission is to serve as a technology hub to spur economic development in the region.
Lower has called Cortex a project “built on a solid vision of leveraging our region’s university and corporate research.” He says he hopes the area will expand to 300 companies and 13,000 tech-related jobs in the coming decade.
The Cortex redevelopment area, Lower said recently, is particularly attractive to an increasingly millennial workforce “who often seek to build their future in urban
environments where steps, not miles, separate them from where they live, work and play.”
Before coming to St. Louis, Lower served as a vice president of the Biomedical Research Foundation and Director of InterTech Science Park in Shreveport, La. He serves on several area boards including the St. Louis PBS Nine Network and the St. Louis Public School’s Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience.
In a recent interview with a writer with the Brookings Institute think tank, Lower described the Cortex community as “where innovation, tech, culture and community collide – and people are hungry for this mix.”
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A-Mrazek Moving SystemsDavid Sabada, president
A-Mrazek is a 116-year-old moving company that strives to exceed customers’ expectations, says David Sabada,
president for the last 30 years. The company has developed a five-step process that’s fundamental to success in every move. It all boils down to communicating with the customer through every aspect of the move.
“A-Mrazek Moving Systems has enormous respect for the BBB and their contribution to businesses and customers. It is an honor to be receiving the TORCH award and to be part of a distinguished group,” —David Sabada
BELOMAN Jim Lugge, presidentBELOMAN is a 57-year-old heating and
cooling firm that takes its name from a character it created to promote its service in the Belleville-O’Fallon, Ill., region. The mascot represents “the superhero of home comfort,” and the firm strives to ensure customers’ comfort and satisfaction by doing the job right the first time.
“BELOMAN winning the TORCH Award for business integrity is like what the Stanley Cup is to Hockey.” —Jim Lugge
BBB St. Louis TORCH awards recognize companies and charities that are committed to exceptional standards for ethical business practices and service to their customers, employees, suppliers, and communities. Nominees must show creativity in their ability to manage customer expectations, provide excellent customer service and resolve disputes. They must demonstrate the ways they inspire their workforce to adopt and communicate their ethics and further their mission. And they must embody truth in advertising and help foster ethics within their industry and community.
This year’s winners will be recognized at a luncheon on Thursday, October 27, at the Chase Park Plaza in St. Louis. Reserve a seat or a table at this year’s awards by visiting www.bbb.org/stlouis/events. For more information, email [email protected] or call 314-645-0606.
TORCHAWARDS2016
WINNERS
Branham Electric Owned by Tim Branham, CEO, and Cindy Branham, president
Branham Electric is a 25-year-old independent electrical contractor that guarantees its workmanship, no matter
how long a customer has used its services. Branham likes to train his electricians himself, and they’re required to exceed common standards for safety and other certifications.
“Branham Electric is very excited to be a 2016 BBB TORCH Award Recipient,” said Tim Branham, “Past TORCH Award winners select each year’s winners. Thus, we feel extremely honored to be selected by this area’s ‘best of the best.’” —Tim Branham
Emmaus Homes Cindy Clark, president and CEO
Emmaus Homes has been serving adults with disabilities for 123 years, but that doesn’t mean it takes an old-fashioned approach to their care. Once known as a provider with large residential facilities, the organization now emphasizes community-based housing that helps clients meet their goals for living a full life.
“In the community at large, BBB is synonymous with quality. Being
recognized as a BBB Accredited Charity and a TORCH
Award winner are further validation that Emmaus Homes strives for excellence in all aspects of our business. It is evidence to our clients, their families and our donors that we meet the highest standards set by the community for best practices and good stewardship.” —Cindy Clark
Experience On Demand Steve Finkelstein, senior partner
Experience On Demand is a nine-year-old partnership of 11 veterans of St. Louis business who use their expertise and experience to help businesses and nonprofits reach their goals though meticulous planning tailored to clients’ specific needs. The
firm offers strategic planning, career and executive coaching, logistics, supply chain management, health care and energy consulting.
“We are honored that Experience On Demand has been selected for the 2016 Torch Award. It is our partners, the talented men and women who are experts in their respective fields, that make our company stand out in the consulting business. We will continue to live up to the high standards and shared values of trust, ethics and quality customer service.” —Steve Finkelstein
Helitech Waterproofing & Foundation Repair Jason Courtney, president
Helitech is a 29-year-old waterproofing, foundation repair and civil engineering firm serving residential customers in four states and civil engineering customers in the Midwest, southeast and mid-Atlantic states. The company prides itself on taking care
BBB TORCH Awards keynote speaker Dennis Lower will underscore the importance of ethics and service and discuss St. Louis’ Cortex Innovation Community.
Sabada
Lugge
Branham
Above: An Emmaus employee working with a client. Right: Clark
Finkelstein
Exploring ‘where innovation, tech, culture and community collide’
Continued on page 10
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of each client as if they were the only client.
“I am very humbled to accept the prestigious TORCH Award, but I do so on behalf of the entire customer service, administrative, sales, management, and operations teams. Throughout the last 30 years, each individual employee has embraced what it
means to have the grit, determination, and work ethic to become the industry leader.” —Jason Courtney
Kirberg CompanyEric Kirberg, president
With 96 years in the roofing business in St. Louis, Kirberg Company has installed almost every type of roof, from slate and tile on cathedrals and historic homes to the giant curved roof of what formerly was known as the Edward Jones Dome. Through it all, the firm has aimed for producing the appropriate roof for each building, with the utmost in safety and efficiency.
“Being honored with the TORCH award represents the dedication by our
great staff and field personnel to be the most professional roofing services company in town and wherever we operate. Receiving the TORCH Award from the BBB means that our core value of
providing the ultimate in customer service through professionalism, safety and quality, is the only path to keeping our reputation as the most respected and trusted provider of steep and flat roofing since 1920.” —Eric Kirberg
Mungenast Automotive Family Headed by Barbara Mungenast
The Mungenast Automotive Family’s history is also the history of Japanese auto and motorcycle sales in St. Louis. The family had the area’s first Honda motorcycle shop, the first Toyota dealership, the first
First BBB Columbia TORCH Awards Honors Excellence in Mid-Missouri
More than 100 people gathered in Columbia, Mo., earlier this month for the first BBB Columbia TORCH Awards, honoring four businesses and a student for their commitment to exceptional ethics and service.
KMIZ-TV Anchor Joey Parker served as emcee, handing out awards to the following companies:
• Tami R. Benus, CPA, a small accounting firm named for its owner that strives to help customers understand their taxes and lay out financial strategies for long-term success.
• Manor Roofing, which specializes in metal roofs but also installs other types of roofing, siding and windows. Owner Nick Allen founded the firm in Columbia in 2006.
• MidwayUSA, an online seller of guns, hunting and outdoor equipment, founded as a retail gun shop in Columbia in 1977. Founder and CEO Larry Potterfield says the business strives “to be the best-run, most-respected business in America.”
• White Dog Promotions, which helps its clients develop high-quality graphics for use on promotional items that their customers will remember. Owner Kammie Teter named the firm for a family pet.
Parker also presented BBB’s Student of Ethics award to Maggie Victor, a senior at Rock Bridge High School. The award provides $2,500 to be used to fund
college or trade school expenses.Sponsors for the event, held at the
Champagne Ballroom, were: Precision Construction Services, Columbia Daily Tribune, KFRU-1400 News Radio, Tami R. Benus, CPA, Columbia EDP, Buttonwood Business Center, The Bank of Missouri and Menifield & Associates.
Join BBB in honoring outstanding local businesses, charities and students
go.bbb.org/stl-torch-2016or contact Chelsey Heller
[email protected] or 314.645.0606
Thursday, October 27, 2016Chase Park Plaza Hotel
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Speaker sponsor networking with speaker
11:30 a.m. to noon Gain by Giving networking event
Noon to 1:30 p.m. Luncheon1:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
Winners Circle event for networking and congratulating 2016 TORCH winners
Emcee: Chris Nagus, Investigative Reporter,
News 4 Investigates
$60/person; $1,500 patron sponsor
ST. LOUIS KEYNOTE SPEAKER Mr. Dennis Lower, President & CEO of Cortex Innovation Community
Honda franchise, the first St. Louis Acura dealer and the first Lexus dealership. What holds them all together is a family that insists on taking care of its employees and its customers.
“My family, as well as my extended Mungenast Automotive Family are most honored to be the recipient of the BBB TORCH Award. Since the origin of the Mungenast Automotive Family 50 years ago, we have conducted business based on a philosophy of extraordinarily high moral and ethical business practice along with a commitment to respectfully giving back to the community which has been so loyal to us.” —Barbara Mungenast
Shock City StudiosDoug Firley, operations manager
Doug Firley was known as a keyboard artist and producer for Gravity Kills, a 1990s industrial rock band, before he decided to build his own state-of-the-art recording studio in 2006 in Soulard. He rehabbed an old ice plant to provide
commercial space for the studio and others as well as 14 contemporary loft-style apartments.
“We don’t think of the TORCH Award as a finish line. We strive to exceed the standards in our industry and that will never end.” —Doug Firley
United Services Disaster Restoration Jim Rable, president
Brad and Dinah Weston started United Services in 1988 as a construction
business. Under their son-in-law Jim Rable, it has grown to a full-service disaster restoration business based in Earth City.
“The United Services’ team is constantly trying to make our process better in order to make the customer
experience better. Receiving the TORCH Award is a great affirmation for our team because it shows that, outside of our company, people recognize the hard work and effort put into helping our customers.” —Jim Rable
Wall 2 Wall Cleaning Services Owned by Kurt and Amber Miller
Kurt and Amber Miller each run half of this business: Amber runs the maid services and Kurt the exterior cleaning. The couple run their 9-year-old company by the book: two books of policies and procedures to ensure each customer gets the best service.
“The TORCH award means that we have been acknowledged as a legitimate company that can be trusted with not only providing the highest quality, but also that our employees can be trusted in people’s homes. That is a big deal in the home cleaning business. The TORCH award badge lets our customers know that they are dealing with one of the best house cleaning companies around.” —Kurt Miller
Courtney
Kirberg
From left, Michelle Corey, BBB St. Louis president and CEO; Maggie Victor, Student of Ethics winner; TORCH Winners Tami Benus of Tami R. Benus CPA; Kammie Teter of White Dog Promotions; Matt Fleming of MidwayUSA, Nick Allen of Manor Roofing & Restoration and Sean Spence, BBB Columbia regional director.
KMIZ-TV Anchor Joey Parker with Student of Ethics winner Maggie Victor, a senior at Rock Bridge High School.
The staff at White Dog Productions
Janice Dawson-Threat (left) and BBB Board member Sherry Major converse at the event.
Kirley
Kurt and Amber Miller
Rable
Barbara Mungenast
RESERVE YOUR SPOTS NOW!
Better Business BureauFall 2016
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211 N. Broadway, Suite 2060St. Louis, MO 63102
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