November 17 2009
“Amcham Hosted Social Responsibility Work Awards ”
El Financiero obtained recognition with honors for best editorial work concerning Social Responsibility work. The American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) granted this Tuesday the prizes for Community Contribution to those companies whose work in the social, environmental and educational field have set an example this year. This is the 13th edition of the Amcham awards and the 4th occasion in which it recognizes, under the name of Alberto Martén Chavarría, the labor of media. The main award was given to Juan Manuel Fernández, editor of the Mercados y Tendencias magazine, for its “Green Edition”. EF obtained that important award in the year 2007. The Awards for Community Contribution are granted under three important specifics, explained Linda Soler, Amcham Executive: education, social and environmental criteria. Also, other criteria are applied, such as strategic planning, the importance of the social responsibility subject for the company and evaluation of the programs or projects developed with concrete results. Honorific mentions were received by BLP Abogados, Bridgestone and Wal-Mart in Costa Rica.
Winning Companies
The winners were: in the category of environmental and social approach, Scotiabank, for its program: “Let’s Get La Sabana Back” and the “Volunteer Employee Program”; in the medium sized company category, the prize went to the North American Cultural Center, for its initiative “International Jazz Festival 2009”, focusing on culture. In the educational field, Hewlett Packard’s efforts with its “Volunteer Program” were acknowledged. In the environmental area, the winner was Peninsula of Papagayo, for their initiative “Commitment towards Sustainable Development”. Finally, Sykes Latin America received the award in the educational category, for its “Sykes Academy Program”. For Luis Gamboa, Amcham President, these companies deserve double recognition for having continued with their social programs even in this turbulent times and have become an example for other companies to assume Social Responsibility and a permant politic and not a trend. Oscar Arias, Costa Rican President, who has been a special guest in this activity for four years now, agreed with Mr. Gamboa. Arias also mentioned during his speech, that the maximization of utilities does not have to be a depredatory process. Everything is a matter of finding balance, and without a doubt, these winning companies are an example of how a team can work guided by values.
