Winners of the 2019 Massachusetts Family Business of the Year Awards program were announced on June 12th, by the Northeastern University Center for Family Business at a celebration event hosted at Northeastern University's East Village Hall in Boston, Mass. Jeffery Born, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs for the D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern, gave opening remarks to begin the evening.
In honor of the event, Gov. Charlie Baker declared June 12th “Massachusetts Family Business Day.”
Grant Welker, News Editor at the Worcester Business Journal and author of We Are Market Basket, delivered a keynote address analyzing the steps leading up to the famed Market Basket feud that took the media by storm five years ago and what we can learn from it.
2019 Award Winners
Provo Wealth Management Group (Shrewsbury) won the Marshall Paisner Award for Small Firms.
The Clark School (Rowley) took home the James F. Molloy, Jr. Award for Medium-Sized Firms.
The winner of the Thomas E. Moore Award for Large Firms was Hub Folding Box Company (Mansfield).
The Award for Community Involvement was presented to J. Calnan & Associates (Quincy), presented by Middlesex Savings Bank in conjunction with the Center for Family Business. The award was created to acknowledge a company that has had a notable positive impact on the local community. Jay Calnan was present to accept the award.
Established in 2017, the Employee Appreciation Award and $1,000 honorarium went to Rick Crimble of Filter Sales & Service, Inc. (Burlington). Sponsored by Marshall Paisner, the Employee Appreciation category rewards an outstanding non-family member whose dedication and loyalty have contributed to the company's growth and overall success. Rick attended the reception with his family.
In its inaugural year, the Hall of Fame award honors those individuals who have made significant impacts through their business and civic contributions and who have served as lifelong examples for future generations to flourish.
The Center for Family Business Hall of Fame welcomed two inductees: Don Massa of Massa Products Corporation (Hingham) and Robert Scully of Scully Signal Company (Wilmington).
In honor of his 15 years as Director, the Center for Family Business surprised Ted Clark with one final award for the evening– a framed word art in the shape of the number “15” with the names of every family business Ted has worked with during his tenure.
The Northeastern University Center for Family Business created the Massachusetts Family Business of the Year Awards to honor family businesses across the state. For the last thirteen years, recipients of the Massachusetts Family Business of the Year Awards have been selected by a panel of independent judges based on the following criteria: business success, positive business and family linkages, multi-generational family involvement, contributions to the community and industry, and innovative business practices or strategies. The 2019 applicants represent a wide range of industries from all across the state. Some finalists have reached the 5th generation, a feat accomplished by less than three percent of family businesses.