Smith & Gesteland: Wisconsin Family Business of the Year Award nominees announced

Neil Fauerbach, Director of Marketing

Smith & Gesteland

608-836-7500 – neil.fauerbach@sgcpa.com

MADISON, WI: An award honoring family businesses in Wisconsin has drawn nominations from across the state. 30 companies are competing for the Twelfth Annual Wisconsin Family Business of the Year Award. Awards will be given to Small (1-49 employees), Medium (50-99) and Large (100+) companies.

Nominees represent first through fifth generation companies from industries including dairy, distilling and construction. The oldest company started operations in 1854 and represents the oldest business yet nominated for this award.

The nominees are:

· ADVENT – Advanced Ear, Nose & Throat Specialists Milwaukee, WI

· AppleWood Storage, LLC Madison, WI

· Badger Basement Systems Fort Atkinson, WI

· Brakebush Brothers, Inc. Westfield, WI

· Breuer Metal Craftsmen Beaver Dam, WI

· C.G. Schmidt, Inc. Milwaukee, WI

· Dental Associates Milwaukee, WI

· Enviro-Safe Resource Recovery Germantown, WI

· Fox Brothers Piggly Wiggly, Inc. Hartland, WI

· G&V Machine Company, Inc. Ixonia, WI

· Gellings Implement, Inc. Eden, WI

· Glacier Valley Ford Baraboo, WI

· HM Graphics, Inc. Milwaukee, WI

· Kalahari Resorts & Conventions Wisconsin Dells, WI

· Lake Arrowhead Campgrounds, Inc. Montello, WI

· LMI Packaging Solutions Pleasant Prairie, WI

· Milk Source LLC Freedom, WI

· Moyer’s Landscape Services & Hometown Nurseries Stoughton, WI

· Nasonville Dairy Marshfield, WI

· North Central Group Middleton, WI

· R&R Insurance Services Waukesha, WI

· Remis Power Systems, Inc. Onalaska, WI

· Saris Cycling Group Madison, WI

· Shorewest Realty Milwaukee, WI

· Stan’s Fit For Your Feet Brookfield, WI

· Stebnitz Builders Elkhorn, WI

· Superior Die Set Corporation Oak Creek, WI

· The Roberts Group, Inc. Waukesha, WI

· Valley Cartage Company, Inc. Hudson, WI

· Yahara Bay Distillers, Inc. Madison, WI

The winners will be selected by a panel of independent judges based on criteria including: positive links between family and business, contribution to community and industry, and innovative practices. The winners will be announced at a banquet on Thursday, May 14, 2015 at the The Edgewater Hotel in Madison. The banquet is open to the public as well as the nominees, past nominees and friends.

Family-owned firms contribute a great deal to the economy of the United States. Family-owned businesses account for 60 percent of total U.S. employment, 78 percent of all new jobs and 65 percent of wages paid. Their economic influence is enormous, producing an estimated 50% of the nation’s gross domestic product. Not only that, it has been recently reported by family business researchers in the UK that employees are happiest in family businesses.

The award program is sponsored by Smith & Gesteland, a Madison-based CPA and consulting firm, First Business Bank and Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., a Wisconsin law firm.

For more information on the program and the banquet you can call Neil Fauerbach at 608-836-7500, or visit www.familybusinessaward.com.