FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contacts:
Marissa Bonarek
Family Business Center
312.915.7010
mbonarek@luc.edu

Carolyn Ogrey
Loyola Business Leadership Hub
312.915.6614
cogrey@luc.edu

2019 Illinois Family Business of the Year Award Winners Announced
Awardees to be Honored at November 21 Gala in Chicago

CHICAGO, November 18, 2019 – The Family Business Center at Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business is pleased to announce the winners of its 26th Annual Illinois Family Business of the Year Awards.

Presented in six categories, the awards recognize companies with exceptional commitment to family and family business. The center continues to recognize deserving family businesses and celebrate the family enterprise as it has for more than two decades.

An awards gala honoring the winners and finalists, as well as the tradition, dedication, and success of the family enterprise, will take place on Thursday, November 21, at 6:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago.

The 2019 Illinois Family Business of the Year Awardees are:

• Small Family Business of the Year Winner: Daprato Rigali Studios
  Finalists: United Engravers, Nexus Pharmaceuticals, and Batavia Enterprises
• Medium Family Business of the Year Winner: Rabine Group
  Finalists: FONA International, SWD, Inc., West Side Tractor Sales
• Large Family Business of the Year Winner: Magid
  Finalists: Baird & Warner, Carl Buddig and Company, Ozinga
• Community Service Award Winner: West Side Tractor Sales
  Finalists: Martin Engineering, Rabine Group, Two Brothers Artisan Brewing
• Dean’s Award Winner: Ozinga
• Century Award Winner: Michuda Construction

The awards drew nominations in six categories: Small (companies with fewer than 50 employees), Medium (50 to 250), Large (more than 250), Community Service, the Dean’s Award, and the Century Award. Those recognized have demonstrated positive family/business linkage, multigenerational family business involvement, contributions to industry and community, and innovative business practices and strategies.

The center’s inspiration for the awards program comes from its numerous nominees: successful and dedicated family businesses whose generosity, innovation, and community involvement have left powerful and lasting impressions.

“The Family Business of the Year awards is a juried competition and process that is comprised of identifying, nominating, applying for, and finally selecting the highest performing family businesses in Illinois,” said Anne Smart, director of the Loyola Family Business Center. “That jury is comprised of our sponsor representatives, Loyola faculty, and past winners. It’s no surprise that the winning companies over the years are some of the most successful businesses in Illinois.”

This year’s sponsors include BMO Harris Bank; Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP; Northern Trust, Abbot Downing Wells Fargo; Fifth Third Bank; Oxford Financial Group, Ltd.; Perkins Coie LLP, Wipfli, Bank of America, and Eli’s Cheesecake Company.

For more information on the Illinois Family Business of the Year Awards and to purchase tickets for the gala, please visit LUC.edu/ILFBOYgala.

About Family Business Center at Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business
The Family Business Center at Loyola has been supporting its member businesses and families, their employees and communities for 28 years. In 2016, the Family Business Center joined other centers of excellence as part of the Loyola Business Leadership Hub. The Loyola Business Leadership Hub connects businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies to the experts, research, and resources in Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business and the global Jesuit network of colleges and universities.

As part of the Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business, the center upholds the Jesuit tradition of excellence in education, focusing on responsible leadership and development of the whole person. For more information, visit  LUC.edu/fbc, or follow us on Twitter via @LoyolaFamilyBiz.

About Loyola University Chicago
Founded in 1870, Loyola University Chicago is one of the nation’s largest Jesuit, Catholic universities, with more than 16,600 students. Nearly 11,500 undergraduates call Loyola home. The University has four campuses: three in the greater Chicago area and one in Rome, Italy, as well as course locations in Saigon-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Vernon Hills, Illinois (Cuneo Mansion and Gardens); and a Retreat and Ecology Campus in Woodstock, Illinois. The University features 14 schools, colleges, and institutes, including the Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, Quinlan School of Business, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Stritch School of Medicine, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Communication, School of Continuing and Professional Studies, School of Education, School of Law, School of Social Work, Graduate School, Institute of Pastoral Studies, Institute of Environmental Sustainability, and Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago. Ranked a top national university by U.S. News & World Report, Loyola is also among a select group of universities recognized for community service and engagement by prestigious national organizations like the Carnegie Foundation and the Corporation for National and Community Service. To learn more about Loyola, visit LUC.edu, “like” us at Facebook.com/LoyolaChicago, or follow us on Twitter via @LoyolaChicago or @LoyolaNewsroom.

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