The Wilcox family at the 2011
Excellence in Family Business Awards ceremony
2011 Excellence in Family Business Award recipients announced
October 28, 2011
PORTLAND, Ore. – Bike Newport of Newport, Colas Construction of Portland, IB Roof Systems of Eugene and Wilcox Farms of Wilsonville and Roy, Wash., will be recognized as winners at the 2011 Excellence in Family Business Awards at a ceremony Nov. 17 at the Governor Hotel in Portland.
The awards are presented by Oregon State University’s Austin Family Business Program.
Six companies and two individuals will receive the 2011 Excellence in Family Business Awards. Eight additional companies will be recognized as finalists at the awards event. More than 170 companies have received this recognition since the awards were first presented in 1988.
Sherri Noxel, director of the Austin Family Business Program, said the event offers an opportunity for families to be recognized for their commitment to family business.
“Each of the awards winners this year exemplifies why the Austin Family Business Program is committed to fostering healthy family businesses,” she said. “Especially in this current economy, it is important for family businesses to remain healthy and the 2011 winners have demonstrated that they can remain viable.”
The awards recognize the achievements of family businesses in innovation, entrepreneurship, and commitment to community involvement.
Bike Newport of Newport won the award in the micro category, which is open to businesses with nine or fewer employees. The company is being recognized for changing business lines to adapt to new opportunities, generating new community revenue and demonstrating its passion for family happiness in family business.
Oregon Coffee & Tea of Corvallis and Hybrid Real Estate of Eugene were the finalists in the micro category.
Portland-based Colas Construction, Inc. is the winner of the small family business category, which honors businesses with 10-24 employees. The business is being recognized for establishing strategic partnerships for long-term success, setting a powerful vision for the family business and for giving the second generation the freedom to choose their future.
The finalists in the small business category were The Joel Palmer House of Dayton and Koeber’s of Beaverton.
Eugene-based IB Roof Systems is the winner in the medium category for businesses with 25-99 employees. IB Roof Systems was honored because of the company’s willingness and capacity to make successful management changes, effectively engage all family members in the business, and develop exemplary family governance policies.
Denton Plastics and Meyer Sign Company of Oregon, both operating in Portland, were the finalists in the medium category.
In the large category (100 or more employees), Wilcox Farms from Roy, Wash., and Wilsonville was recognized for its commitment to vertical integration to support sustainability, a sophisticated outside board structure and the transition to a values-based company and new generation management.
GloryBee Foods of Eugene and Wilson’s NAPA Auto Parts of Wilsonville were the finalists in the large family business category.
Also honored at the event will be Brad Withrow-Robinson, a forester from the OSU Yamhill County Extension office, and Alyssa Duval, who is from the DuVal Farms family in Silverton and is studying crop and soil science at OSU.
In addition, Starker Forests of Corvallis will be given the Dean’s Award for Family Business Leadership and Sokol Blosser Winery of Dundee will be awarded the Director’s Award for Family Business.
Founded in 1985, the Austin Family Business Program is a university-based family business program providing inspiration, education, outreach, and research to support the success and survival of family businesses.
About the OSU College of Business: The College of Business educates students for success in managing and developing sustainable, innovative enterprises in a dynamic economy. With strong graduate and undergraduate programs, internationally recognized scholarly research, and an emphasis on experiential learning, the college helps students and businesses succeed.