Taking care of business:

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Southern Colorado and UCCS's College of Business recently teamed up to create the GE Johnson Award for Marketplace Ethics, an award which recognizes community businesses that exhibit ethical business practices and commit to maintaining a fair marketplace.

Assistant Professor of Marketing and International Business Tracy Gonzalez-Padron helped initiate this partnership between UCCS and BBB. Prior to this award there was not one in the marketing category that examined ethics, according to Gonzalez-Padron. Businesses within the profit and non-profit sectors may be nominated, as long as they reside within the twenty-five counties of the BBB of Colorado.

UCCS's business school has been involved with programs in the past where students have offered assistance to award recipients. Glenn Sommerfeld, a graduate student at UCCS who worked with a medical company called RITON, assessing the company's ethics, said of such programs, "If you look at the climate we are in now, with everything from Enron in the ‘90s to the current credit card crunch, a lot of big businesses in the U.S. have really taken a turn and made unethical decisions in order to make bottom dollar. Future leaders need to be aware that this is not only bad business, but it can have huge ramifications on the economy as a whole."

For the GE Johnson Award, MBA students taking "Business, Government and Society" helped design the questions asked of businesses up for nomination. Each semester different classes will be involved. "It fits well with the MBA class because part of it looks at the social responsibilities of business. This course assesses the ethical practices of local businesses. The class nominates a business when they believe they are doing this well," Gonzalez-Padron said.

According to the website's eligibility statement, applicants must "exhibit high ethical standards of behavior towards customers, suppliers, users, shareholders, employees, and communities in which they do business." Businesses may nominate themselves or be nominated by employees or customers.

Gonzalez-Padron said the award will also benefit the students involved. "This is one more way students can be seen as the dependable employees Colorado is looking for, not only for their people skills but how they handle ethical situations. This illustrates that they understand what is important to Colorado business and it will make them valuable employees." Businesses may be nominated through July 30. The winner will be announced in September.