The 15th Annual Torch Award for marketplace Ethics was presented to two Abilene businesses at an award luncheon on the campus of McMurry University. Tige’ Boats and Automated Copy Systems were selected in the annual competition to honor outstanding examples of ethical business conduct. An independent panel of judges made up from the business and academic community select the winning companies from the nominees. The Torch Awards are held in partnership with our three Universities. The keynote speaker was Larry Conlee, the former COO, Product Development and Manufacturing, Research in Motion LTD, the parent company to the Blackberry. Conlee told the Torch Award audience the threat of Cyber terrorism is real. He warned everyone to be aggressive in protecting company, customer and employee information in your computer systems. Conlee said, “My father told me always tell the truth and that way you will only have one thing to remember.”
Tige’ Boats
1801 Highway 36
Tige’ Boats was born in California in 1991 and soon relocated to Abilene in 1994. Founder and CEO Charlie Pigeon wanted to create a high performance boat that put the customer experience first. The Tige’ Boats Creed does just that: “We believe our first responsibility is to the retail customer, without whom our business would not exist. Our second responsibility is to all those who work for us. Our third responsibility is to the world in which we live. Our fourth and last responsibility is to our stockholders”.
The company’s reputation is built upon the principles of lawful and ethical conduct. Employees are required to comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and policies, as well as the highest standards of conduct and personal integrity. Employees in all areas and levels are responsible for understanding and complying with the company’s Statement of Ethics.
Here is what one customer said about their experience, “I want to thank the owners and all the people at Tige’ for taking pride in what they do to build and service a quality boat. This is my 5th inboard, but our first Tige’. So far this boat has exceeded my expectations in every way”.
Gary’s Automotive and Truck Service
550 China
Gary Grisham started his business 20 years ago with a single employee. He has since grown and now has three generations of family helping him. From the beginning, the company’s mission statement has been to “provide the best quality service: while maintaining the utmost honesty and Hearing.Customers agree the company lives up to their mission statement, “They are always very ethical in their dealings with me. Several times I have taken a car in with a concern.
They are very upfront in telling me it is something that can wait, something I need to watch, or something that needs to be done right away. Rarely have I been given these kinds of options in dealing with most other similar types of businesses”. Another customer wrote, “It means a lot to us to know we’re working with people we consider to be honest and trustworthy. We would think of going anywhere else”.
Odds and Ends Handyman Service
1257 S Danville
Wayne Archer started his company 14 years ago, just as the name implies, a handyman doing odds and ends jobs for customers. News about his quality work at a fair price quickly spread, and the solo company needed to expand to handle customer demand and larger project. The company now has a crew of 5 and recently expanded to a new location on Danville Drive.
The company enjoys strong “word of mouth” advertising and investing in a little “extra” for customers without change results in more and larger projects later. The customer that nominated the company had this to say, “My experience with Mr. Wayne Archer at Odds and Ends was suburb. He was prompt in getting me an estimate and completed the project…I would highly recommend them to family and friends”.
Creative Graphic Solutions
1107 E Broadway, Sweetwater
1766 S Clack Abilene
Creative Graphic Solutions started in Sweetwater in 1997 by Russ Petty with the idea of “taking your image all the way”. Six years later the company expanded and opened the Abilene location offering all forms of marketing tools, signs, printing, web & print design, and those vehicle wraps.
Hard work and customer service excellence is what the CGS team is about. One customer told the judging committee, “We do sporadic business, but you would never know it by the service we get. We might go for months without needing anything, and then… all of a sudden, we need a number of things. When that happens, I get taken care of as if we were their biggest customer”.
Automated Copy Systems
2611 Post Oak
Family owned Automated Copy Systems is celebrating their 35th Anniversary. Owners Wes and Clara Ratliff attitude is “Positively Outrageous Service”, in fact is so much a part of their business it’s on the sign out front of their building, so employees and customers alike know what to expect from this business machines company.
Over the years the company has grown into a service area radius of 100 miles and 17 employees with an average tenure of 12 years with the company. Christian values and high moral character Mr. & Mrs. Ratliff exhibit influences the leadership and management decisions on their day to day operations.
One of Automated Copy Systems suppliers had this to say, “The employees I work with at Automated Copy Systems – weather service, sales or management, all present themselves in a professional and ethical manner. They represent Automated Copy Systems and Canon in a very positive way. I’ve met many of your longstanding customers and your company’s reputation for exceptional service has been impressive.”
