Maine's family-owned businesses recognized at gala event
Courtesy / The Institute for Family-Owned Business
The 2017 Renys Large Business of the Year winner is Capozza Tile and Floor Covering Center. Family members receive the award at the Maine Family Business Awards gala at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland on Wednesday night.
A diverse group of companies from across the state were honored at the Maine Family Business Awards gala at the Holiday Inn by the Bay Wednesday night.
Presented by the Institute for Family-Owned Business in partnership with MEMIC, the awards recognize exemplary Maine firms that demonstrate excellence in family involvement, business success, and commitment to employees, customers and community.
An independent panel of judges, facilitated by Maureen Costello Wedge of Sun Media Group, selected the winners from among 20 finalists. With 166 nominations, a record 52 semi-finalists competed to receive seven awards, now in their 18th year.
Here are this year’s honorees:
OceanView at Falmouth received the HUB/Norton Insurance and Financial Services Environmental Leadership Award, recognizing the sustainable practices that make it Maine’s “greenest” retirement community. The company’s many sustainable practices include recycling 95% of the waste it generates; a robust composting program to manage food waste; and use of solar energy.
Guilford-based Puritan Medical Products won the People’s United Bank Innovation and Technology Award in recognition of the company’s ability to adapt to a changing marketplace and preserve more than 200 manufacturing jobs. Founded nearly a century ago to produce wooden toothpicks, ice cream spoons and other consumer products, Puritan is now a leading, FDA-registered producer of single-use specimen collection devices used by the Centers for Disease Control and Department of Homeland Security, among others.
The Holiday Inn by the Bay First Generation Award was presented to Custom Composite Technologies Inc. of Bath, which was started by a husband-and-wife team to help custom boat builders improve and lighten their product design. Today, the company serves diverse industries, including robotics, defense, art and architecture, in addition to boat builders.
Hanson Enterprises LLC of Ogunquit was named the Chalmers Insurance Group Customer Service Award winner. The two-generation hospitality business, which comprises three lodging properties and a restaurant in the Wells-Ogunquit area, has received consistently high marks from guests and has earned industry honors from leading travel companies like Trip Advisor and Expedia.
The Shep Lee Community Service Award, named for one of the founders of Institute for Family-Owned Business, went to Geaghan’s Pub and Craft Brewery, a popular Bangor eatery and the ninth largest production brewery in Maine. The business was recognized for the many ways it is immersed in the community, supporting dozens of nonprofit and civic organizations including its own fundraising event to support cancer research. Geaghan’s received the Governor’s Award for Business Excellence and the Maine Restaurant Association Restaurateur of the Year in 2016.
Highland Avenue Greenhouse of Scarborough received the Maddy Corson Small Business Award, presented to an exemplary business with fewer than 25 employees. This nearly 70-year-old company was acknowledged for the ways it has continued to evolve, adding services that provide value and convenience to customers and adopting new approaches to make their business more environmentally friendly and sustainable, such as switching to biological pest control in the greenhouse and adding a commercial kitchen at its farm stand to produce baked goods, soups, sandwiches and prepared to-go meals.
Capozza Tile and Floor Covering Center was named the Renys Large Business of the Year, designated for companies with more than 25 employees. The company, founded in 1974 by Joseph Capozza, Jr., is now run by the third generation of Capozzas and has grown to three locations, including its newest location in Lewiston. The company provides a full range of flooring solutions for residential and commercial customers throughout southern and central Maine.
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