MANSFIELD — Richland Source and Alumni Roofing Co. were the winners Friday at the 19th annual Richland Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Awards.
The honors were presented during a luncheon with more than 180 people in attendance at the Holiday Inn in downtown Mansfield.
Richland Source won in the 14-employees-and-under category. Eberts Heating & Cooling and Wishmaker House Bed & Breakfast and Winery were the other finalists in that category.
“I want to thank Carl Fernyak, our founder, for having the vision and taking a risk in a business he didn’t know much about,” said publisher Jay Allred. “But he felt there was a need here and he was willing to take the risk.”
At three years old, Richland Source was in its first year of eligibility for the honor. The online-only news agency has seen its audience grow 2.5 times in the first 10 months of 2016.
“This is a tremendous honor for our business and we are very humbled by it,” Allred said. “Our staff has drank the kool aid, and it comes in a variety of flavors.”
There were 59 businesses nominated, with 24 semifinalists and six finalists for the two honors.
Alumni Roofing earned top honors in the 15-employees-and-over category. Carousel Works and Featheringham Orthodontics were the other finalists in this category.
Alumni Roofing is a 12-year-old company that reported its business has doubled since 2013.
“We are very, very privileged to receive this honor,” said Bill Hope, vice president of Alumni Roofing. “Twelve years ago we had the chance to buy a commercial roofing business and we had never stood on a commercial roof.
“I bought Commercial Roofing for Dummies and started reading.”
Hope noted that the Avita Tower in Ontario and the Franklin County Courthouse roof in Columbus were two major projects the company completed most recently. He said 60 percent of the company’s business is repeat business.
“A lot of our employees are from Richland County,” Hope said. “They were farm boys that came off the farm and helped us build a business.”
