ROCKFORD — Three area businesses on Wednesday were awarded for outstanding ethical business practices.

Schmeling Construction Company and MembersAlliance Credit Union of Rockford and Gem Shop and Diamond Source of Rockton were each awarded the 2017 Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics by the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau.

The Torch Awards were given to businesses that have demonstrated the highest ethical standards of behavior toward customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees and competitors.

"We are grateful to be recognized for doing the right thing," Steve Schmeling, president of Schmeling Construction, said after being presented with his trophy.

The awards ceremony was presented by the Register Star and took place at Capital House Restaurant, 308 W. State St. It was the first award of its kind for Rockford. It mirrors the Torch Awards in Chicago, for which Rockford businesses are eligible but almost never submit, BBB regional office director Dennis Horton said. That's why a Rockford-centric awards ceremony was planned.

"We found, for whatever reason, they were reluctant to enter," he said.

That wasn't the case for Gem Shop and Diamond Source. The family-owned custom jewelry design studio, located at 110 W. Main St. in Rockton, won the Torch Award out of Chicago in 2001 and was also a finalist for the international Torch Award the same year.

"I'm very proud that they held this in Rockford," owner Kevin Mueller said.

Cheryl Sio, president of MembersAlliance Credit Union on South Alpine Road, says she hopes the nonprofit financial cooperative can "carry the torch," so to speak, and inspire other businesses in the region.

"We are thrilled," she said. "We hope to use it to encourage other businesses to have a positive effect on Rockford."

Schmeling Construction on Harrison Avenue has been in business for 115 years and is a fifth-generation family business.

"It proves to me that we have the same old-school values that have been handed down by generations," Schmeling said.

Mayor Tom McNamara, the keynote speaker, praised the winners.

"Doing the right thing pays off," he told them during his speech, "not just for the business but for the community."

Adam Poulisse: 815-987-1344; apoulisse@rrstar.com; @adampoulisse