Richmond, VA February 18, 2008. Rainbow Station, a franchiser of early education programs, is one of the five finalists for the 2008 Better Business Bureau International Torch Award for Marketplace Excellence. Rainbow Station provides early education, emergency backup care and after-school and summer recreation programs.

The BBB International Torch Awards recognize companies in North America for consistently demonstrating high integrity in their business practices toward their customers, employees, suppliers, industry peers and the communities in which they do business. In 2006, Rainbow Station received the Torch Award from the BBB of Central Virginia.

Gail Johnson, owner and CEO, founded Rainbow Station in 1989.

“I built this company around five core values, including integrity, and reinforce them at every opportunity,” said Johnson. “This award is tangible evidence that when parents trust us with their children, we do what we say we’re going to do.”

Rainbow Station’s programs include preschool; nursery school; private kindergarten; the Get Well Place, an onsite facility that provides emergency care for sick children; and the Village, which offers after-school and summer recreation programs. Rainbow Station, headquartered in Richmond, has six corporate schools and franchise schools in Virginia, North Carolina and Texas. All schools are accredited, or seeking accreditation, by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the National Afterschool Association and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. For more information, 804-747-5900, www.rainbowstation.org.