VOILA Receives An Award for Great Service to Haitians

9 December 2009

On December 9, 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Clinton conferred the Secretary of State's Award for Corporate Excellence to Trilogy International Partners LLC, to recognize Trilogy's outstanding service to the Haitian public. Trilogy is the parent company of Comcel, the provider of Voil cellular service in Haiti.

The Secretary of State's Award for Corporate Excellence, or ACE, is awarded every year to U.S. companies that demonstrate exemplary business practices, innovation and good corporate citizenship in their overseas operations.

Trilogy, through its subsidiary Comcel, invests in a wide range of social investment projects in education, the arts, technology, environment, sports, and food production.

Comcel's activities include youth training programs, scholarships, internships, building computer labs and supporting sports and cultural events. TOMS Shoes was also awarded an ACE for its program to provide shoes to disadvantaged children in Argentina.

This year's ACE recipients were honored in a special ceremony at the Department of State's historic Benjamin Franklin Room in Washington D.C., which was attended by Trilogy CEO Brad Horowitz and Voil Executive Director Bernard Fils-Aime. U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Merten and Voil CEO Robin Padberg also participated in the ceremony via a digital video link between Washington D.C. and the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, as did their counterparts in Buenos Aires.

"Comcel/Voil is a shining example to other members of the private sector in Haiti," said Ambassador Merten. "Trilogy, through Comcel, has helped improve security, create jobs, generate income, and make Haiti more hospitable for investment." The Ambassador also credited Comcel for helping create thousands of jobs, and for supporting economic recovery in Cité Soleil by opening the first cellphone store in that area.

This year marks the 11th year of the ACE. A worldwide group of 42 distinguished nominees were evaluated for exemplary employment practices; providing a safe and healthy workplace; responsible environmental practices; contributing to the rule of law and local development; innovation; scientific or technical contributions; and compliance with international and local laws, especially those concerning anti-corruption and respect for human rights.

Past winners include both multinational (MNE) and small-to-medium size (SME) enterprises: Xerox Brazil, F.C. Shaffer & Assoc. in Ethiopia, Motorola Malaysia, Rayonier New Zealand, Frigorifico Canelones of Uruguay (a subsidiary of Land O' Frost), Ford South Africa, Selco Vietnam, Coca-Cola Egypt, Chindex International in China, Chevron Texaco Nigeria, U.S. Steel in the Slovak Republic, Motorola Brazil, Fiji Water of Fiji, Cisco Systems Jordan, Lapa Rios Ecolodge Costa Rica, General Motors Colombia, Goldman Sachs Chile, Sambazon Brazil, GE Indonesia, Transnational Automotive Group Cameroon, Cargill China and SURevolution Colombia. (End of text).