Terry Ehrich Award

The Terry Ehrich Award for excellence in socially responsible business was inaugurated in 2002. It was first presented posthumously in honor of Terry Ehrich to his brother, Perez, at the 2002 VBSR spring conference. Beginning in 2004 the Terry Ehrich Award program was moved to a recognition banquet the night before the annual spring conference.  One year later the program was expanded to include recognition of a large company and a small company of the year.  These are  judged by the same criteria as the individual Terry Ehrich award winner.  Applications for all of these awards are reviewed by the board-appointed Nominating Committee.  Their recommendation must be approved by the full board. 

About Terry Ehrich 

Terry Ehrich was the late owner of Hemmings Motor News and founder of the First Day Foundation, and was a founding member of VBSR. The award is given annually to a person exemplifying Terry Ehrich’s commitment to the environment, workplace, progressive public policy, and community.

Nomination Process 

Each year individual nominations are sought and are judged on four criteria: 

• workplace environment,
  
• political environment,
  
• social environment, and
  
• natural environment. 
  

Any member of the VBSR community is eligible to be nominated. Self-nominations are accepted and encouraged.

In Workplace Environment, we look for a business model that encompasses a healthy and productive workplace, welcomes and promotes flexibility for employees, and has a key focus on the importance of life-friendly policies.

In Political Environment, we look for a person who is politically active in Vermont or on the national scene, speaks out on issues, and influences
policy to bring about positive changes in our state or nation.  We also seek a person who is proactive and sees the greater impact of what we do, represents a socially responsible business ethic to legislators and other decision-makers (state or federal), and provides a concrete example of how things can be done with a conscience through his or her own business model.

In Social Environment we look for a person who exemplifies what corporate citizenship and community involvement are all about, such as donating
volunteer time, providing resources (financial and other), and promoting employee volunteerism to take that spirit of caring out into the community.

In Natural Environment we look for a person whose business practices  demonstrate respect and concern for our natural resources and minimize
any negative impact on the environment.