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Finalists named for 2024 Maine Family Business Awards

A line-up of people from family-owned businesses. File PHOTO / DAVE DOSTIE The 24th Maine Family Business Awards gala will be held Oct. 29 at Thompson’s Point, Brick South in Portland. Seen here are last year’s winners.
By Laurie Schreiber

Out of over 500 companies nominated for this year’s Maine Family Business Awards, 25 are in the running for the annual contest.

The Institute for Family-Owned Business on Thursday released the names of the finalists for the 24th annual edition of the awards.

The winners will be announced Oct. 29 at a gala from 5:30-8:30 p.m., with online and in-person attendance options. The venue is Brick South, at Thompson’s Point in Portland. 

Keynote speakers will be Robert Crowley and his daughter, Page Atherton. Crowley is the 17th-season winner of reality TV show “Survivor.” He and Atherton are co-owners of a family business, Maine Forest Yurts.

Amanda Hill, weeknight TV news anchor for News Center Maine, will host the awards again this year.

The Institute for Family-Owned Business is led by Catherine Wygant Fossett, who was recently named a Mainebiz Woman to Watch. 

The finalists, which represent diverse industries across Maine, are:

  • Bouchard Family Farm
  • Cayer Security Services Inc.
  • Centerpoint Martial Arts
  • Coastal Auto Parts
  • Dok Mali Thai Kitchen
  • Dube’s Flower Shop Inc.
  • Fishermen’s Net
  • Graffam Bros. Seafood
  • Heads of the Harbor
  • Hussey Seating Co.
  • Indigo Arts Alliance
  • Janell Bags Inc.
  • Mathews Brothers Co.
  • McDougal Orchards
  • Main Line Fence
  • NAHGA Claim Services
  • Pieceworks Inc.
  • R.J.Grondin & Sons
  • Radius Pipe Solutions
  • Shed Happens Inc.
  • SoulBeing
  • The Craignair Inn by the  Sea
  • Waltz & Sons Inc.
  • Wood Pellet Warehouse
  • Young’s Lobster Pound
  • Wood Pellet Warehouse

All family-owned businesses headquartered in Maine are eligible for consideration. For the purposes of the Maine Family Business Awards, a family business is one in which one owner either shares ownership or works in the business with at least one other family member (contemporaneously or over time) and has a commitment to the continuation of the enterprise.

The awards will be presented in partnership with MEMIC, a Maine-based employee safety insurance group.

Awards to be presented include:

  • Renys Large Business Award (25 or more employees)
  • Chalmers Insurance Group Customer Service Award
  • Horch Roofing First Generation Award
  • M&T Bank Innovation and Technology Award
  • Shep Lee Community Service Award
  • Maddy Corson Small Business Award (fewer than 25 employees)
  • Geiger Environmental Leadership Award.

Each year since 2000, the institute has recognized large and small Maine-based family businesses that exemplify business success, positive business and family linkages, contributions to the community and industry, family participation, work environment, communication and innovation. An independent judging panel selects the winners.

This year’s gala will pay tribute to the institute’s 30th anniversary celebration and to Maddy Corson, who was a champion of the Institute and supported its effort to become a nonprofit distinct and separate from the University of Southern Maine. She was also the driving force behind the awards, started over two decades ago.

For more information or to register for the event, click here.

Sponsorships are available including a new showcase, allowing an 8-foot table display to businesses during the reception. 

Sponsors of the Maine Family Business Awards include title sponsor MEMIC, BerryDunn, Machias Savings Bank, Renys, Family Enterprise USA, Chalmers Insurance Group, the Breakwater Group at Morgan Stanley, Capozza Floor Covering Center/Old Port Specialty Tile Co., M&T Bank, Horch Roofing, Geiger, Lee Auto Malls, Skowhegan Savings, Oakhurst, Hammond Lumber Co., Burgess Advertising & Marketing, Bangor Savings Bank, Hussey Seating Co., Zachau Construction, Gorham Savings Bank, Volk Packaging Corp., Norway Savings Bank, Cote Crane & Rigging, Down East Cross Insurance, Camden National Bank, Amjambo Africa, AV Technik, Mainebiz, flyte new media and Maine Trust for Local News.

About the Institute for Family-Owned Business

The Institute for Family-Owned Business is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting family-owned businesses, which represent about 80% of all businesses in Maine. Through consulting, seminars, peer groups and networking, the institute assists family-owned firms in meeting the unique managerial challenges associated with operating and sustaining a successful family enterprise.

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