43
Area businesses, nonprofit, civic leader receive awards
By Kalea Hall
POLAND
Trust. Ethics. Integrity.
Those are the qualities the three businesses, one nonprofit and a civic leader must exude to receive a Better Business Bureau Torch Award.
On Friday at the The Lake Club, the Better Business Bureau of Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties honored Baird Bros. Sawmill Inc. of Canfield; Millwood Inc. of Vienna; and Gettemy Drain Service of Canfield with Torch Awards for Marketplace Trust.
Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley received the Torch Award for Nonprofit Excellence, and Scott Schulick received the Torch Award for Civic Leadership.
The Torch Awards came back this year after a 10-year absence. Carol Potter, BBB CEO, said a resurgence of energy in the community showed it was time to celebrate area businesses and others.
“It really says a lot about character, and that character is vital to our Valley,” Potter said of the Torch Awards.
Matthew Baird, general manager of Baird Bros., accepted his award on behalf of his late father, Richard Baird, who started the company in 1960 with his brothers Paul and Howard. It was a logging and sawmill company that built pallets for local steel mills.
Today, the company with 135 employees provides fine-quality millwork. Baird ships product nationally and to Canada.
“When it comes to our business and practices we want to be as ethical as we can,” Matthew said. “We are very proud.”
Vienna-based Millwood has 28 facilities in the U.S. and about 1,500 employees. The pallet-producing and package company provides more than 150,000 new pallets a week and recycles the same amount.
Gettemy Drain Service of Canfield began in the 1970s with more than 80 percent in repeat business. The company offers residential, commercial and industrial drain services.
Sharon Hrina, vice president of Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley, accepted the nonprofit’s Torch Award. Hrina, the first employee at Akron Children’s Mahoning Valley, oversaw the transformation of an eight-bed pediatric unit into a full service, 32-bed free-standing pediatric hospital.
“Here in the community, we are working outside of our walls in neighborhoods [and elsewhere],” Hrina said. “We want to be known as a good citizen.”
Receiving the Torch Award, Hrina said, enforces that. “We are energized by the spirit of service above self,” she said.
John Moore accepted the award for Millwood Inc.
Last to receive his Torch Award was Schulick, also known as “Mr. Youngstown,” who served nine years on Youngstown State University’s Board of Trustees, and continues to serve on at least a half-dozen boards, including the Mill Creek MetroParks Board. He also is a financial adviser for Stifel Nicolaus in Canfield.
Five local students received the BBB’s Ethics & Integrity Scholarship. The recipients were Alyssa Kidd, Austintown Fitch High School; Zachary Sperling, Howland High School; Rachel Rafoth and Natalie Larich, both of Canfield High School; and Emily Partika, Lowellville High School.