Fourteen businesspeople in 13 different industries and two Business Excellence Hall of Fame inductees were honored Wednesday night at the seventh annual NHBR Business Excellence Awards.
Some 300 people attended the event, which was held at The Event Center at C.R. Sparks in Bedford. The awards are given to owners and operators of businesses or organizations with 100 employees or fewer. The winners were chosen by a panel of judges who reviewed more than 70 nominations.
Because of the extraordinary number of accomplished candidates, NHBR also named finalists in several categories. Emcee was Charlie Sherman, host of WGIR-AM’s morning news talk program.
The recipients of the 2009 NHBR Business Excellence Awards were:
• Steven Ryder, True North Networks — Excellence in Business Services/ Finalist — Edward B. Hopkins, Urban Tree Service/A Tree Health Company Inc.
• William Jordan, Jordan Signature Heating — Excellence in Construction. Finalist — Jerry Kingwell, Cobb Hill Construction Inc.
• Joe Reilly, Centrix Bank — Excellence in Financial Services
• Charles Fanaras, The Prescription Center — Excellence in Health Care. Finalists — Adele & Frank Belfsky, Living at Home Senior Care
• Tom Boucher and Mark Fenske, Great NH Restaurants — Excellence in Hospitality. Finalist — Carol Sheehan, The Red Arrow 24 Hr. Diner Franchising Inc.
• Tammy Boucher, Boucher Public Relations — Excellence in Media & Marketing. Finalist — Laurie Ferguson, New Hampshire Made
• Clyde Terry, Granite State Independent Living — Excellence in Non-Profits. Finalist — Peter Kelleher, Partnership for Successful Living
• Greg Bryant, Bedford Cost Segregation LLC — Excellence in Professional Services
• Karol LaCroix, Granite State College — Excellence in Public Service
• Stephen Duprey, Duprey Companies — Excellence in Real Estate
• Donna Buxton, Buxton Oil and Buxton Water — Excellence in Retail
• Peter Antoinette, Nanocomp Technologies — Excellence in Technology. Finalist — Wayne Croswell, ASA Tire Systems
• Mark Lore, Ride-Away Handicap Equipment Corp. — Excellence in Transportation
Inducted into NHBR’s Business Excellence Hall of Fame were Jack Middleton and the Dunfey Family.
Middleton is a partner of the regional law firm of McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton. With 50 years experience as a trial lawyer and 24 years of service as a New Hampshire District Court judge, he also spends countless hours volunteering and serving on the boards of such organizations as Franklin Pierce Law Center, The Nature Conservancy, The Mount Washington Observatory and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, among many others.
The Dunfey Family built the hotel chain that today is Omni Hotels, one of the country’s largest hotel franchises with over 15,000 rooms and 13,000 employees.
Sponsors of the event were FairPoint Communications, Laconia Savings Bank, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care of New England, Public Service of New Hampshire, Corks Wine Bar at the Bedford Village Inn, Merrimack Street Volvo, WGIR-AM, New Hampshire Public Television and The Event Center at C.R. Sparks.
A portion of the evening’s proceeds were donated to Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, an organization that advocates in New Hampshire’s courts and welfare systems for the best interests of abused and neglected children, so they can grow up in safe, permanent homes. — CINDY KIBBE/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW