Local Ethical Businesses to be Honored

Reported by Michael D. Pitman
Article Title: Whistle Blower to Speak at Luncheon

Journal News
June 14, 2007

At the same Fairfield Chamber of Commerce luncheon where the man who blew the whistle on tobacco industry practices, seven businesses in the greater Fairfield area will be honored Wednesday for maintaining high ethical standards.

And one of those businesses will be chosen as the inaugural winner of the Fairfield Rotary Ethical Business Award.

"They walked the talk, and really live and breath ethics," Jim Mullaney, Fairfield Rotarian and Rotary Business Ethics Committee chair, said of the nominees, "Every single business that we met with could justify that award without exception."

The nominees are Avance Funeral Home & Crematory, Carson Wrapped Hershey's Chocolates, DNA Diagnostics, G&W Products, Original Mattress Factory, Osborne Trucking, and Schnetzer's Auto Upholstry.

"They are going to be held out as an example for all businesses in our community to model a culture," Mullaney said.

The winner will receive a crystal award, and the nominees will receive an acrylic award. The winner won't be revealed until the luncheon.

"The whole idea of the program is to raise the bar and awareness for business ethics in the community," Mullaney said.

"We as an ethical business committee found that there was very little out there that helped businesses in terms of a resource for business ethics."

The committee put together the Ethical Business Guide that spells out what business ethics is about, as well as how nominees will be scored. More than 1,000 booklets were distributed to Fairfield and Fairfield Twp. businesses.

To complement the business ethics award, Dr. Jeffrey Wigand will speak on his role in revealing the unethical practices of big tobacco, such as playing with nicotine levels to make cigarettes more addictive and targeting youth. Wigand's story was the subject of the movie, "The Insider," with Russell Crowe.

The luncheon is part of the chamber's regular annual speaker's series, and chamber president Ginger Shawver.

"Dr. Wigand's story tells us that there still are heroes out there, people willing to fight for the good of others. America needs stories like that," Shawver said.

Mercy Hospital Fairfield helped bring Wigand to Fairfield.

"He really was the person who blew the whistle on big tobacco. He sacrificed a lot, not just his job, his family," said Mercy Fairfield spokesman Greg Ossmann. "He was very ethical, and the sacrifice that he made was tremendous, from both a career standpoint and a personal standpoint."

A meet and greet with Wigand will be at 11 a.m. and the luncheon is from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Receptions Conference and Banquet Center, 4975 Boymel Drive. To reserve a spot at the luncheon, call the chamber at 881-5500. The cost is $30 for chamber members and non-members.

The Fairfield Rotary's Ethical Business Guide will be available at the luncheon.