Kreinik Manufacturing was the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2023 West Virginia Exporter award and the SBA’s 2023 Mid-Atlantic Regional Exporter of the Year. From left, on the occasion of the award presentation: Karen Friel, Small Business Administration West Virginia District Director; Doug Kreinik, former owner of Kreinik Manufacturing; Ngozi Bell, SBA Office of Advocacy Regional 3 advocate; and John Fleming, SBA Mid-Atlantic regional administrator. (Photo Provided)

* Alice Harris, certified public accountant, received the 2011 Woman/Minority Owned Business of the Year award from the chamber.

Harris said she was honored when she received the award. During the years she spent operating her own business, she said she met a lot of wonderful people and worked with many local nonprofits.

“It’s all been a wonderful experience,” she said.

A few years after receiving the award, Harris sold her firm and accepted a job in the finance department at West Virginia University at Parkersburg in 2014.

She felt the years she spent working with nonprofits would fit well with the work she was doing at the college.

From left, Tanner Minnite and his grandparents Judy and Pat Minnite pose with Richard Adams of United Bank at the 2022 Sour Mash Golf Tournament. Pat and Judy Minnite of the PM Company were the 2022 honorees of the Sour Mash Golf Tournament, chosen for their philanthropy. (File Photo)

She later became executive vice president of finance and administration at WVUP.

In August, Harris retired from that position to focus on teaching, which she has done for the last three years. She is now a full-time associate professor of accounting at WVUP.

“That’s what I’m focused on now,” she said.

* Kreinik Manufacturing was the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley’s Small Business of the Year in 2012.

The world-renowned maker of fine threads began as a family-operated business from home in 1973 by Estelle, a professor of couturier design whose hobby was needlework, and Jerry Kreinik, an inventor and engineer. It made needles and threads for crafts.

The Dawn Injury and Wellness Sign at 923 Emerson Ave. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

The company grew, its products used worldwide in the fashion, film and fly fishing industries, among others, including for costumes in “Game of Thrones” and “Hocus Pocus 2.”

Doug Kreinik, Jerry and Estelle’s son, got involved in 1983 and became the company owner in 2008.

In 2023, the company received the U.S. Small Business Administration’s West Virginia Exporter Award and was the SBA’s 2023 Mid-Atlantic Regional Exporter of the Year.

In April, Kreinik and his wife retired and sold the company to Rainbow Gallery in California.

* The 2012 winner of the chamber’s Family Owned/Home-Based Business of the Year award, Waters Insurance Agency is marking its 60th anniversary this year as it continues under a third generation of family ownership.

The providers from Dawn Injury and Wellness in Parkersburg. (Photo Provided)

Bob Waters founded the agency in 1964. In 1979, he was joined by his daughter and son-in-law, Beth and Ray Fanta. Now, their children, John Fanta and Amy Fanta Caruthers, are agents in the independent business providing home, auto and business insurance from a variety of companies.

Ray Fanta said it’s been rewarding to be part of a longtime family business and work with his children.

“A lot of people unfortunately don’t have that opportunity, so it’s neat to see them grow into it and flourish,” he said.

Waters has locations in Parkersburg, Ripley and St. Marys and a team of 10 agents.

“It’s inspiring,” Caruthers said. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about my family, my grandfather (and) what he started.”

Waters Fanta Insurance is marking its 60th anniversary this year and is now in its third generation of family ownership. Pictured are, from left, Amy Fanta Caruthers, agency principal; Ray Fanta, account executive; John Fanta, agency principal; and Elizabeth (Waters) Fanta, account executive. (Photo Provided)

Caruthers noted giving back to the community has been an emphasis for the family and business, with her, her parents and brother serving on a variety of boards for foundations and organizations. They have also been recognized for their business performance, receiving Westfield Insurance’s top Propel designation for the seventh consecutive year.

* The PM Company received the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley Community Involvement Award in 2014.

The founder of the property management company was Pat Minnite, the son of Italian immigrants.

In 1980, Minnite started doing business as the PM Company and purchased its first rental property.

The company has since been involved in numerous developments across the Mid-Ohio Valley. Among those are the PM Center, Fairfield Inn and Suites, Comfort Suites in Marietta, Wings Etc., Chipotle, Starbucks, The Rivers and the Rosemar Center.

It is developing Chipotle Mexican Grill in Marietta.

The legacy of the company and the Minnite family is its Spirit of Giving Program, which was established in 2007. The program benefits local charities and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years, including more than $120,000 in 2021.

* Dawn Injury and Wellness, which won Best Curb Appeal 2014, has continued to grow since that time. Since 2014, the business has expanded into a new building at 921 Emerson Ave., next door to its original location at 923 Emerson Ave. The new building houses its massage therapy and physical therapy services.

In 2014, the business had one chiropractor and two massage therapists.

Now, it has two chiropractors, two physical therapists, two physical therapist assistants and six massage therapists.

“We have grown a little bit,” Office Manager Chelsea Miller said.

The business is looking at the possibility of bringing in a physician’s assistant. They have a pediatric chiropractor who comes in on a part-time basis.

The new building opened in September and a grand opening ribbon cutting is being planned.

* In a Jam, the chamber’s Women/Minority-Owned Business of the Year in 2018, has grown but remains a family affair in the years since.

What started as a greenhouse business in 2010 shifted its focus after owner Andrea Duke got a positive response selling jams at a farmer’s market in downtown Parkersburg.

The business was licensed in 2016 and Duke received her West Virginia-grown certification for most of the fruit being grown and picked in the Mountain State.

Today, the products are sold in more than 100 locations across 12 states, as well as in West Virginia state parks.

Duke continues to make the jam but she has turned all other aspects of the business over to her son Robert. Along the way, the name was changed to Clara’s Gourmet Jam, in honor of Duke’s grandmother, who is also part of the operation.

“She actually still processes a lot of that fruit for us,” Duke said.

Duke now works as the membership and communications specialist for the chamber and said she uses her own experience as a small business owner to assist others.