Honorees at the 13th Annual Orange County Business Journal Family Owned Business Awards ranged from a beauty college to an asphalt company, with a reprographics firm, disaster recovery service and skateboard maker in the mix.
The awards are presented in conjunction California State University, Fullerton’s Center for Family Business.
The event drew a crowd of nearly 400 for a luncheon today at the Hyatt Regency Irvine, where Howdy Holmes III, chief executive of Chelsea Milling Co. in Chelsea, Mich., offered some tips and a few dashes of humor to the crowd.
“Families are all about keeping the peace—so, as a result, we don’t always tell the truth” to one another, said Holmes, whose company makes and markets the Jiffy brand of mixes for cornbread, muffins, cakes and other baked goods.
Holmes, who represents the third generation of his family to run the company, also lauded the five winners and 45 other nominees for this year’s awards as representatives of a vibrant segment of the economy.
Family-owned businesses “are the backbone of these great United States of America,” he said.
The winners, by category, were:
Small Business Award: Advance Beauty College Inc. in Garden Grove.
Medium Business Award: Ben’s Asphalt Inc. in Santa Ana.
Large Business Award: American Technologies Inc. in Orange.
Up-and-Coming Award: Hendrick Boards in Anaheim.
Longevity Award: SABP Reprographics in Irvine.
Profiles of the winners will appear in the Business Journal’s issue of Nov. 19.
