About the Winners:
Category I, more than 1,000 employees: United Supermarkets, Lubbock, Texas
Founded in 1916, United makes it a priority to give each customer superior service while providing quality products at a fair price. Its "Personal Touch" philosophy is so appreciated that customers send in hundreds of letters and phone calls each day, praising, "my" checker, "my" sacker or "my" United. Fostering an atmosphere of mutual trust, the company lets its 5,500+ employees know that their work and abilities are appreciated through recognition, career advancement and benefits programs. By exhibiting standards above and beyond the normal supplier/customer relationship, United elicits impressive loyalty from its vendors. The company continues its founder's philosophy of growing and expanding into markets to "build up" communities. In recent years, United has given back approximately 20% of its pre-tax profits to the communities it serves. It is the only company to have been awarded three local Torch Awards, from Better Business Bureaus in Amarillo (2001), Lubbock (1999) and Wichita Falls (1998).