Seattle Business announces 2011 Family Business Awards

Hillcrest Bakery (Bothell), Rainier Connect (Tacoma) and Hotstart Inc. (Spokane) among this year's winners

by:

John Levesque

Seattle Business magazine honored recipients of the 2011 Washington Family Business Awards at a dinner and awards ceremony Nov. 3, 2011, at the Columbia Tower Club in Seattle. Here are the winners.

Small Companies: Hillcrest Bakery, a Bothell firm whose trade secrets date back nearly 200 years to a family business in the Netherlands and is now staffed by three generations of employees. Runners-up were Ski's Painting of Kent and the Dix Corporation of Spokane.

Midsize Companies: Tacoma-based Rainier Connect, a fifth-generation, century-old telecommunications company that provides comprehensive internet, cable and phone service in the South Puget Sound region. Runners-up were MacKay Manufacturing of Spokane and Metals Fabrication Co. of Airway Heights.

Large Companies: Hotstart, a 69-year-old Spokane-based manufacturer of engine pre-heaters that improve the reliability of generators, locomotives, large trucks, heavy machinery and oceangoing vessels. Runners-up were Bartell Drugs of Seattle and Sprague Pest Solutions of Tacoma.

Community Involvement Award: Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants, a Seattle-based chain of six fast-food restaurants known for its great burgers, fries and shakes as well as the good wages and benefits it offers its employees.

Best Practices Award: Nelson Legacy Group, a Redmond-based developer of commercial property that has a broad-based governance process, a strategic plan and a family code of conduct to ensure that the enterprise survives as a legacy family business.

Business Transformation Award: Mercer Canyons Inc., a Prosser-based grower of farm crops and owner of vineyards whose 125-year-old history encompasses a variety of businesses that have been operated with an eye toward environmental enhancement and sustainable farming.

Leadership Award: Wallace Properties, a full-service commercial real estate enterprise in Bellevue that has given generously to charitable endeavors while also contribute tirelessly to many regional development projects.

Legacy Award: Stemilt Growers, a Wenatchee-based farmer and packer and farmer of apples, cherries and other fruit. The company dates back to 1893 and has emerged as a leader in sustainable agriculture.

A highlight of the evening was the keynote address of René Ancinas, CEO of Port Blakely Companies, who discussed his unlikely rise to the presidency of the fourth-generation owner of forestland and real estate, and the importance of succession planning in family-owned companies.

Judges for the 2011 Washington Family Business Awards were Clarence Barnes, dean, School of Business Administration, Gonzaga University; Steve Brilling, executive director, Seattle University Entrepreneurship Center; Ron Dohr, family business consultant; Dan Gaffney, partner, Moss Adams; Bill Pettit, president and CEO, Merrill Gardens; Christian Schiller, managing director, Cascadia Capital; Rich Simmonds, managing principal, Simmonds Associates, and James Warjone, chairman, Port Blakely Companies.

Complete coverage of the 2011 Washington Family Business Awards will be featured in the December issue of Seattle Business magazine and on seattlebusinessmag.com. Underwriters of this year’s awards event were presenting sponsor Cascadia Capital and signature sponsors Bader Martin, Chase Commercial Banking and Comcast Business Class.

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