There’s one thing that all seven of our 2009 Central Mass. Family Business Award winners have in common: If you call their offices, a living, breathing human being answers the phone. Sure, a lot of businesses today give lip service to being customer-oriented, but a company that makes answering the phone a priority clearly puts clients first.

And that focus on the humanside of business is what makes our seven honorees so remarkable. While they care about making money, they put people ahead of profits. Wall Street has yet to fully recover from the market upset last fall, but these local family-owned businesses — selected from the more than 50 nominations we received — are putting one foot in front of the other to support their extended employee families.

- Christina H. Davis, WBJ Editor

You can view video clips from the awards event below:

WBJ coverage of the June 25 awards event
Photos from the event
Video profiles of the winners
Written profiles of the winners

Honorees:

Creedon & Co., Worcester

Fair & Yeager Insurance, Natick

Ahearn Equipment, Spencer

Masterman's, Auburn

Barrett Distribution, Franklin

Dunn & Co./Legacy Publishing, Clinton

Consigli Construction, Milford

Judging Panel

Meet the Judges