Burnsville consulting firm wins ethics award yesterday
The eighth annual Minnesota Business Ethics Award (MBEA) yesterday was presented to Hollstadt & Associates Inc., a management-consulting, project-management and business-analysis firm based in Burnsville.
The award is sponsored by the University of St. Thomas-based Center for Ethical Business Cultures, the Twin Cities Chapter of the Society of Financial Services Professionals and the Rotary Club of Edina.
In recognizing Hollstadt, the judges were particularly struck by the ways in which the ethical passion of the company's founder and its executive team have shaped the character of the organization as a whole. This passion and character, the judges said, are seen in the ways in which the company relates to its different stakeholder groups. The company excels in the ways it cares for its customers, employees and the communities in which it does business.
About 175 business leaders at the awards program heard a keynote address by Hank Shea, senior distinguished fellow at the St. Thomas School of Law and fellow at the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions. Based on his almost 20 years of experience as an assistant U.S. attorney specializing in prosecuting white-collar crime, Shea focused on "Ten Lessons Learned from White-Collar Criminals."
The MBEA includes two rounds of judging. The preliminary judging panel included Opus College of Business professors Laura Dunham from the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship and Susan Marsnik, chair of the Department of Ethics and Business Law, as well as Adam Bengtson, executive director of the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.
The finalist judging panel included Dr. Michael Evers, dean emeritus and professor of management from Opus College of Business; Gregory Margarit, partner in the accounting firm of Boulay, Heutmaker, Zibell & Co.; Randy Skare, chief information officer for the Holiday Companies; and Robert Solheim, director of the N. C. Little Memorial Hospice Inc.
The MBEA was launched in 1999 by the Center for Ethical Business Cultures and the Twin Cities Chapter of the Society of Financial Services Professionals. The Rotary Club of Edina joined as a sponsor in 2004.
