Petersen Industries, Inc. was honored as the recipient of The 2014 Carl F. Durso Excellence in Business Award presented by the Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development Council. The award is named after a former Executive Director of the Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce and is dedicated in his memory to continue the goals he set forth for the City of Lake Wales. Carl F. Durso was a pillar of the Lake Wales community who was dedicated to enhancing the growth and economic development by providing outstanding leadership qualities.
Criteria for this prestigious recognition for a company includes: the length of time in the community; the number of residents employed; the significant capital investments that the company has made to improve their operations locally enabling them to better serve their customers, community residents, and their employees. One of the most important criterion, which is also the hardest to judge, is the company’s involvement in and contributions to various community organizations and the leadership provided by key management in local and statewide civic and professional organizations. Roger Ingley of Bunting Tripp & Ingley, a previous Carl F. Durso Award winner, presented Petersen Industries’ owners, Casey Hardee and Sam Petersen, the award along with previous owners, Nancy and Lee Rathbun. “We were recently asked by one of our employees who is attending college if her class could write a paper about our company. I responded, why on earth would your class want to write a paper about Petersen Industries with all the companies out there? She replied because we want to write about a positive company. Her response spoke volumes to us as to how our employees and others view our company. Today we are proud to be further recognized as a positive company by being presented with the Carl F. Durso Award.” Sam Petersen said.
For more information, visit www.petersenind.com.