Brenny Transportation of St. Cloud, a 100-employee trucking firm founded by Joyce Brenny in 1996 after she hit the glass ceiling at another trucker, was named the small-company winner of the 2017 Minnesota Business Ethics Award.
"In a tough industry, Brenny stands out for its commitment to employees, regarding them as members of a family not only employees of the company," said David Rodbourne, vice president of the Center for Ethical Business Cultures at the University of St. Thomas and co-chair of the MBEA steering committee, at an awards ceremony on May 10. "Core values permeate a range of practices from initial interviewing and hiring, to their approach to discipline and second chances, to engaging employees in peer-to-peer reviews, to giving special attention to the spouses and families of truckers', and to pay drivers for time waiting during a job that might not have been compensated in other organizations.
"Brenny engages internal advisory teams in decision-making."
Reell Precision Manufacturing of suburban St. Paul was the winner in the midsize-company category of up to 500 employees. Employees own 72 percent of the company through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Reell, which also won the award in 2002, was recognized for treating customers and workers fairly, as well as committing 10 percent of pre-tax profit to community needs.
The company, founded in the 1970s, also was cited for turning down jobs "not aligned with its values."
U.S. Bank, the large-company winner, was cited for living up to its code of ethics at all levels, including incentive-award reviews that reward ethical behavior as well as sales.
