WINNER Burkhart Dental Supply Tacoma Burkhart Dental isnt just the oldest company in Tacoma; its one of the most successful. Started in 1888 by a dentist, Burkhart now supplies more than $150 million a year in equipment, repair, supplies, consulting, continuing education and other services to more than 5,000 dentists, operating a network of branch…

WINNER Harbor Wholesale Foods Lacey Harbor Wholesale Foods, which distributes to convenience stores, small grocers and restaurants, has come a long way since 1923, when it was founded in Aberdeen by Swedish immigrant Carl Erickson. It also has come a long way in just the past 10 years, with tripled revenue, five acquisitions, construction and…

Staid. Stuck in their ways. Resistant to change. Insular. Family-owned companies have had those generalizations tossed at them more than once. But as the winners of this years Family Business Awards show, companies dont survive through multiple generations of family ownership by clinging to those traits. Theyve had to adjust to economic downturns and sweeping…

WINNER: Evergreen Beauty College Everett/Bellevue/Renton | 35 employees | evergreenbeauty.edu Back when Vietnamese immigrant Thi Trieu and her husband, Hoa, settled in the Seattle area and opened their first beauty salon, they made ends meet by cleaning restaurants and schools at night. One of them was a beauty college in Lynnwood. Years later, in 1996,…

WINNER: B.E. Meyers & Co. Redmond | 80 employees | bemeyers.com From the heavens to the battlefields. Thats the story of B.E. Meyers Co., which found its niche as a military contractor during the nations forays into Iraq and Afghanistan. Back in 1974, Brad Meyers began selling telescopes to amateur astronomers and had a brainstorm:…

WINNER: Uwajimaya Seattle/Bellevue/Renton | 302 employees | uwajimaya.com Uwajimaya, one of the big draws in Seattles Chinatown-International District, is part of the fabric of Seattle a destination store that attracts tourists and local residents alike with its distinctive selection of Asian food items, seafood, produce and gifts. Its origins are humble: Fujimatsu Moriguchi began in…

WINNER: Dennis Company Raymond | 82 employees | denniscompany.com There are three constants in the 108-year history of Dennis Company. It knew how to recognize an opportunity, it always knew when to adjust and, since 1919, it has been under the sole control of the Dennis family. From its beginnings delivering coal, ice and firewood…

WINNER: Windermere Real Estate Seattle | 40 employees, 6,200 agents | windermere.com In 1972, banker John Jacobi decided he wanted to own his own business and he talked the owners of a small Wedgwood real estate firm into selling if he could prove himself within a year. His idea was that he was going to…

WINNER: Wilcox Family Farms Roy | 220 Employees | wilcoxfarms.com A fixture of the countryside southwest of Yelm for more than a century, Wilcox Family Farms has become one of the largest egg producers in the Pacific Northwest, with upward of $70 million in annual sales. The business has grown 15 percent a year for…

Attorney, Paradigm Counsel Not every family business is a Wal-Mart, Ford Motor Co., or a Cargill. Around 60 percent of family businesses will not survive past the second generation, and only three percent will make it to the fourth. Some family businesses do better and last longer than others. The question is: Why? Many family…