2022 Award Honorees
Judging for the Goering Center Family and Private Business Awards is always a challenging and interesting experience. This year was no exception. We were charged with selecting the top ten honorees and twenty runners-up. With so many applications and interesting stories, we were left to make very difficult decisions.
Mike Miller, Barbara Fant, Chris Ramos, and Rex Wetherill
Power of Company Culture
Goering Center Family & Private Business Awards honorees share their stories:
- Describing their company culture in 5 words
- How did the Great Resignation or Great Reawakening affect culture
- How culture impacts employees, clients, customers, vendors, community
- What the Goering Center means and has meant to them
Business Honorees
Batesville Products, a family-owned manufacturing company, has created custom aluminum castings for more than 75 years. BPI has two locations in which they engineer, cast, machine, inspect, and polish aluminum castings for 70-plus industries nationwide. As BPI continues to adapt to the ever-changing manufacturing landscape, they remain strong in their original values as an American, family-owned business. Read their story.
Started by Don E. Baxter in 1924, Baxter Burial Vault Company sold grave liners and concrete air domes to area funeral homes. His two sons, Don Jr. and Doug, entered the business, and the precast and burial vault business grew to such an extent that the brothers eventually sepa-rated into two businesses. Today, Baxter Burial Vault Service is run by Doug’s three children. Read their story.
BRG Realty Group, LLC owns and operates 42 apartment communities comprised of 7,600 apartment homes in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Success has been built upon a foundation of rela-tionships shaped by trust, an engaged and talented employee base, service focused business practices, a sound fiscal approach, value-add services, and investor and risk management protocols that ensure future stability. Read their story.
Crescent is people-centric. Creative change is part of its operational psyche and history, and Taylor family members pragmatically discovered and have care-fully perfected best practices in servicing customers for nearly two centuries. Today, Crescent is a premier service provider in Contract Packaging and Parts Fulfillment whose people are well-prepared to take Crescent to new heights. Read their story.
Founded in 1935, Bardstown, KY-based Heaven Hill Brands is the nation’s largest independent, family-owned and led spirits producer and marketer, and the world’s second-largest holder of Kentucky Bourbon. Heaven Hill has a diversified portfolio of brands, plus the newly acquired Samson & Surrey portfolio. Read their story.
Kingsgate Logistics is a family-owned and operated third-party logistics company, established with one goal in mind: providing superior customer ser-vice and logistics solutions. Founded in October 1986 by Merry and Tom Beckham, Kingsgate is a privately-held Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) and operates on three core principles: hard work, exem-plary service, and upholding the highest levels of integrity. Read their story.
New Republic Architecture is a boutique, practice-centered firm which seeks to leverage a passion for real estate development through collaboration, integrity, and trust. They are architects, plain and simple. They are founded on the principle of putting clients and their architecture first. Read their story.
New Riff began distilling in 2014 and now has about 53 full-time employees producing about 11,500 whiskey barrels a year. Proud to be the spark for bringing bourbon tourism to Greater Cincinnati, New Riff is family owned and operated with no outside investment now or forever. They know if they treat all people right, with respect and fairness, the whiskey will turn out right, too. And so they do. And so it does. Read their story.
RiskSOURCE believes that “insurance alone is never enough.” Since 1977, they’ve specialized in customized risk management and insurance for businesses and individuals. They deliver thorough consultation, education, and proactive planning. RiskSOURCE cares about their clients’ best interests, creating long-term value, and earning trust. Read their story.
trak group was founded in 1994 as a full-service staffing and recruiting firm, serving the middle market in Cincinnati. Over the years, the services offered by trak group have dramatically expanded, now offering full-service talent acquisition support for companies of all sizes and industries. trak group has become an extension of its clients’ HR departments by offering flexible and creative solutions to hiring challenges. Read their story.
Grypp Rising Leader Award and John Goering Impact Award
“The Goering Center is a shared vision that’s come true,” says Barton.
Dr. Sid Barton has been in a variety of roles at the Goering Center since its inception in 1989, and he is the deserved recipient of the Center’s first ever John Goering Impact Award. Read his story.
At Modern Ice Equipment & Supply, Jake Jerow champions “Dynamic Business Strategy” every day, in many ways. In the last two years, he has taken on additional responsibilities in multiple departments. After a 2019 acquisition, Jake led the effort to fully integrate the business, working with the owner to transfer ownership, and developing operational procedures and a growth plan to triple the business within five years. In 2020, Jake took on marketing leadership along with his operations role. He quickly developed a strategy, clear metrics, and enhanced team results. In 2021, Jake continued building teams and capabilities in both departments, which in turn enhanced the organization as a whole. Due to his leadership, the acquired company’s revenue growth is already projected to double. Even in the midst of significant supply chain issues, the operations team is delivering a remarkable experience for their clients.
Family Business Hall of Fame Induction
JANCOA Janitorial Services, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Tony Miller Sr. As a 19-year-old student at the University of Cincinnati, he started the business clean-ing local taverns after one of his professors commented on the growing “services” sector, including janitorial services. Today, JANCOA is an award-winning, family-owned and operated business that cleans over 20,000,000 square feet of Class “A” offices, medical buildings, and commercial buildings in the Greater Cincinnati area. On Tuesday, Sept. 13, the company was inducted into the Goering Center Family Business Hall of Fame. Read their story.
Special Thank You to our Sponsors
The Goering Center's achievements would not be possible without the financial and technical support of our sponsors and their people. We would like to recognize them and thank them here.
