2005 BBB Torch Award

Sundance Vacations Reputation: 2005 BBB Torch Award

Area business selected for BBB Torch Award

The Better Business Bureau of Northeast Pa awarded the 2005 Torch Award for ethical business practices to Sundance Vacations.

Scranton, PA, October 10, 2005: The 2005 Torch Award was given to Sundance Vacations during a banquet held at the Radisson in Scranton Thursday evening. The torch award was created to publicly recognize businesses that operate in an ethical manner.

Sundance Vacations is a travel company headquartered in Wilkes Barre and operates offices in Rockaway and Princeton, New Jersey and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Sundance President, John Dowd, accepted the award from WNEP’s Marissa Burke. “The biggest winner is the public and the consumers of all of the companies that strive for awards like this one. Because when we as business owners focus on customer satisfaction we all win,” explained Mr. Dowd. “To a business the cost of an unsatisfied customer is more than the cost to make an unsatisfied customer satisfied,” continued the winner.

“This is really an award for our employees. Because although we set policy, it is the nearly 400 employees of our conglomerate that implement that policy for the good of the customer,” continues Tina Dowd.

Delta Medix Breast Care Center and Hanley Environmental Cleaning Services both of Scranton received honorable mention. Schaeffer's Harley Davidson of Orwigsburg was first runner up.

The keynote speaker, John Stossel, entertained the business crowd with quips about bad government and evil trial lawyers. His message explained that businesses are more effective at governing and monitoring themselves than government could ever be.

He illustrated that the lives of Americans who live below the poverty line are 7 to 10 years shorter than those Americans above it. “You are the heroes,” he told the Better Business Bureau crowd. “You are making America richer. You are saving lives because wealthier is healthier.”

The Northeast Pennsylvania winner will be eligible to win a national Torch Award. The national award will be decided during a convention of Better Business Bureau’s which is scheduled to be held in Vancouver, Canada in 2006.