Family business strength on display

Photo | Contributed Lyman Orchards is one of HBJ's 2018 Family Business Awards winners. Pictured are three generations of the Lyman family: Adam Lyman, John Lyman III and the late Jack Lyman.

Robin Ann Bienemann

Gail Lebert

Anthony Price

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Any notion that family businesses are a dying breed in Connecticut runs counter to the response Hartford Business Journal's Family Business Awards received this year.

Nearly 40 nominations were submitted for the annual competition, one of the best showings in the program's history.

More important than the quantity of nominations was the quality. Some of Connecticut's most well-known and accomplished family businesses were put up for the awards, including several whose histories date back to the 18th and 19th centuries.

The competition was fierce.

Indeed, despite challenging headwinds, Connecticut remains home to a diverse array of family businesses, many of which are thriving by adding jobs and investing in their future.

For the 2018 Connecticut Family Business Awards, we highlight some of the best family businesses in the state, from a wide range of industries.

They include farms, bakeries, manufacturers, wealth and insurance advisors, technology companies and even breweries. In the pages that follow, we highlight our top winners and finalists, including what sets them apart from the competition, how they stay ahead in the marketplace and how they remain true to their founding principles in a modern world.

For these companies, the key to long-term success is treating everyone like family, including employees and customers.

The Connecticut Family Business Awards honor companies that had particularly strong successes over the last 12 months: completing expansions, growing in the marketplace, fulfilling major projects and breaking new ground in the local and state business community.

We'd like to thank our independent judges — Gail Lebert, Robin Ann Bienemann and Anthony Price — for helping select our winners, who were celebrated Oct. 17, at an event at Farmington Gardens.

Please join Hartford Business Journal in congratulating this year's class, and remember we'll be back next year with a new crop of winners, so please nominate worthy companies.

Greg Bordonaro | Editor