The Better Business Bureau of Southeast Texas celebrated a very special birthday on February 28, 2013. It was on that day in 1963 that the BBB of Southeast Texas was incorporated.
The BBB was created as the Golden Anniversary project of the Rotary Club of Beaumont as a part of their 50th Anniversary and as a result of the vision of area business leaders. In 1963, the new organization was called the BBB of the Golden Triangle. The first CEO was Sidney Herdejurgen and the BBB had 72 records on businesses and approximately 5500 inquiries in its first year. Today, the BBB website contains over 13,000 records with over 500,000 inquiries annually. The BBB of Southeast Texas now has the second highest Market Share among all 113 BBB’s in North America.
From its inception for a number of years, the BBB was touch and go financially, but thanks to the leadership and vision of some key business leaders including Bill Clark, Sol Rogers, and others who stood in the gap for the BBB during these difficult times, the BBB was finally able to turn the corner in the 1990’s and begin to build the successful organization it is today.
As for the future, the BBB continues to be the leader in advancing marketplace trust along with helping develop the next generation of educated and ethical consumers and business leaders through TOGGLE 2.0, BBB's future workforce educational initiative. TOGGLE 2.0 continues to grow in its second year. T-O-G-G-L-E is an acronym for Teaching Our Generations Great Leadership Ethics. It is made up of two programs: Laws of Life and In Pursuit of Ethics. The Laws of Life Essay Program is open to all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students in Southeast Texas. It challenges students to reflect on core values or the ideals by which they strive to live their lives. They are then encouraged to write about those values. Community business leaders judge the essays; winning students, their teachers and school districts are awarded cash prizes. This program has grown from 600 essays in its inaugural year to over 2,000 essays in 2013. In Pursuit of Ethics is open to all high school students in Southeast Texas. This dynamic, video-based program presents challenging ethical scenarios in which participants must decide what choice to make. In the process, they gain understanding on the impact that ethical decision-making has on them and those around them every day. In Pursuit of Ethics has been presented to almost 1500 students since late 2012.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary, Beaumont City Council honored the BBB with a proclamation on February 26.
On March 1, the Greater Beaumont Chamber Of Commerce presented a ribbon cutting at the BBB office.
On February 28, the BBB hosted the first of 4 quarterly Lunch & Learn Business Seminars with Bruce Hamilton. Over 130 business leaders attended the event. The Morning Mix Tour, which is a networking event, will hit all of the 8½ counties in the BBB service area. During the ‘stops’, cities and Chambers of Commerce are honoring the BBB with proclamations and resolutions. A series of billboards are up and new public service announcements are running. The Ultimate Accredited Business Celebration at the new Event Center is planned for September. On May 7, the BBB will host the 16th Annual Torch Award Banquet with a number of guest speakers and a number of surprises including the announcement of a major expansion of the BBB scholarship contributions to four major educational institutions in the area.
For more advice you can trust from your BBB, visit www.bbb.org. For personal assistance, call 409/835-5348 or 855 BBB-SETX.
