The Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce honored four businesses Wednesday evening at its Annual Awards Gala. Among them, as you might suspect, was a business involved with agriculture — after all, Wyoming County has a great reputation for its many fine dairy and other farms. So it only makes sense that the Chamber should select an Agri-Business of the Year, and this year that business is Agri-Fab & Repair Inc.
Agri-Fab & Repair designs, installs and services grain handling equipment, and employs 45 people at peak operation. It was created in 1998 by Shawn Dunning, who formerly worked for Byron Enterprises, which later became Oxbo International Corporation. Oxbo decided to get out of the construction business, and Mr. Dunning seized the opportunity to get into that business on his own. Since then, the company has added electrical and crane services. The company added a 165-by-65-foot warehouse addition to Covington facility this year.
It is, said Chamber President Laura Lane, “a prime example of the many amazing agriculture support enterprises in business supporting the needs of our county’s No. 1 industry — agriculture.”
Agriculture may be the No. 1 industry, but, as the Chamber awards illustrate, it is not the county’s only industry. Also earning awards this year were Five Star Bank as Large Business of the Year, Drasgow Inc. as Manufacturer of the Year, and Warren’s Carpet Cleaning as Small Business of the Year.
Five Star Bank is a home grown bank. It was started by Wolcott Humphrey as Wyoming County Bank. His great-grandson, Peter Humphrey, is the current CEO. Over the past few years, Five Star Bank has weathered some tough economic storms and continued to grow and serve the people of Wyoming and surrounding counties. It has more than $2 billion in assets and has more than 50 branches spread through a 14-county region of Western and Central New York.
Drasgow Inc. makes more than 5 million small parts each year for customers in the U.S. and other nations. Karl W. Drasgow founded the business in 2003 and has made quality and service priorities. That philosophy has paid off nicely. The company now employs 10 people.
Warren’s Carpet Cleaning is one of the many small businesses that help run Wyoming County’s economic engine. It was created in 1992 by Warren Meidenbauer as a one-man part-time operation, and now employs close to 20 people in a business that has expanded from carpet cleaning to include furniture cleaning and protection, water restoration and janitorial services. His wife, Jennifer, is office manager. The secret of Warren’s Carpet Cleaning’s success may be found in Mr. Meidenbauer’s statement: “All the little things are important.”
Congratulations to this year’s honorees. All demonstrate how the American entrepreneurial spirit can flourish despite the darkest of economic times. Small businesses or large, agriculture-related or not, where there is a vision and a willingness to work, there is success.
The Daily News
Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010 12:00 am
Updated: 11:53 am, Thu Apr 8, 2010