A. Lee Graham Reporter
Two Tarrant County firms have received the 2013 Greater Tarrant Business Ethics Award from the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. Announced Wednesday Dec. 11 at Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley’s State of the County address at Cendera Center were Teneo Linguistics Co. LLC and TriQuest Techologies Inc.
Also at the event, Sundance Square received the Vangergriff Award for 2013. The award honors the late Tom Vandergriff, best known as Mayor of Arlington, who supported the area by working on a variety of projects including the Texas Rangers, a General Motors automotive plant and Six Flags Over Texas. Sundance Square’s Edward Bass said his group began working to revive downtown because it is “the heart of our city, our county seat.” Co-ethics award winner Teneo, a full-service foreign language translation agency, is overseen by CEO Hana Laurenzo, with Gary Tonniges Jr. serving as president of TriQuest, which provides customized IT services to mid-size and small businesses. “I have no doubt there are many businesses that operate in a forthright manner here in Tarrant County,” said Guy Cumbie, president of Cumbie Advisory Services Inc. and a member of the Greater Tarrant Business Ethics Awards committee, commenting in a news release.
“However, the moral principles guiding those philosophies and the tangible set of practices employed by the companies recognized were clearly demonstrated in response to a rigorous application process,” Cumbie said. Award criteria are clear communication of the company’s ethical standards; transparent, honest and fair business practices; and a code of ethics, credo, code of conduct or mission statement that clearly spells out the company’s requirement for honesty, integrity and compliance with the law in all business dealings.
Judging each applicant was a panel of business owners and professionals. The Greater Tarrant Business Ethics Awards are presented by BB&T. Platinum sponsors are Bourland, Wall & Wenzel, P.C. and Th!nk Finance. Partners include the TCU Neeley School of Business, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, the Society of Financial Service Professionals, the Financial Planning Association of Dallas/Fort Worth, and the Fort Worth Business Press. – Robert Francis contributed to this report.