Carmen Transportation runs on passion, sincerity, and a great love of performance. Here, value is added to transform clients’ operations in sweeping and lasting new ways. President and Owner Vince Tarantini listens to clients’ messages rather than their words – a priceless skill in a world of information overload. The company is reimagining transportation through its acute awareness of how its decisions impact all stakeholders.

Briway Carriers’ innovative approach to hauling everything from agricultural materials to glass has secured its reputation for thinking out of the box in an industry that is every bit as tough as it is rewarding. From big, multinational corporations to private individuals, Briway Carriers is always ready to move.

In 1994, Ted Kaplan started his wholesale produce, packing, shipping and distribution company in what has become a family tradition. Professional Produce is located in Vernon, California, south of Los Angeles, from which it serves markets on both coasts and abroad.

A carrot is a carrot, right? Not quite. As Americans celebrate their love affair with this vegetable’s starring role in sweets during National Carrot Cake Day on February third, there is nobody better than Jason Stallaert to tell us more about his company’s next-generation carrot cultivation.

Larry Larson peered out the window as he sat sipping a small roast coffee in his favorite smoke-filled café. Beatnik movements were abounding against sexism, racism, homophobia, and big business at the peak of grunge’s heyday that was Seattle in the nineties, and he fit in the scene in his wire-framed glasses and a goatee. Larry had graduated university and was on his way to North Carolina to continue his studies. Even though he was saying goodbye to the Seattle scene, he was carrying the values he learned with him.

At Braswell Family Farms in Nashville, North Carolina, there is no argument about whether it was the chicken or the egg that came first because there, goodness always comes first – from the company’s farm-fresh eggs and superb animal feed to its culture.

Since 1912, when Paul C. Bragg began his lecture tours promoting healthy living through diet and exercise, his name has been synonymous with health foods, especially the powerful cleansing, healing and germ-fighting qualities of organic apple cider vinegar.

The world of beverages can be a complex and confusing one. From product development to production, sourcing to logistics, the question of how to turn ideas into reality is one fraught with challenges. Yet the rewards – seeing a successful product come to fruition and reach an audience of satisfied consumers – can be well worth it. The team at BevSource makes it their mission to help clients reach that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

Kemco Systems is the process specialist when it comes to industrial water and energy solutions. The company is ever in pursuit of its mission to provide the world with the most efficient, effective, cost-competitive and enduring systems.

While the world has made great strides in recent years to be more conscious of environmental impacts, it should come as no surprise that in the – often ahead of the times – state of California, such effort has been exerted for over fifty years. Though Los Angeles is more commonly associated with the glamour of Hollywood, it was here, in the City of Angels, that a progressive recycling company was able to see the value in what others so easily discarded.

As a licensed producer of cannabis in Canada, James E. Wagner Cultivation Corporation grows high-quality medical cannabis using a proprietary growth system called GrowthSTORM™ which is based on the technology of aeroponics. The system offers unique advantages for agriculture of all types, and it results in a cleaner, more consistent, first-class finished product while guaranteeing a low cost of production.

As Executive Director of the Wapakoneta Area Economic Development Council, Greg Myers has spent much of his professional career involved in projects that build the community. The county seat for Auglaize, Wapakoneta is ideally situated at the intersection of I-75 and US 33, in the heart of West Central Ohio.

As one of the visionaries behind Hometown Opportunity, which helps to connect businesses to great local talent in Ohio, Mercer County’s Community and Economic Development Director Jared Ebbing is proud of Mercer County’s history, its agricultural heritage, its strong work ethic, and its can-do attitude.

With a stable population of 49,243, Ohio’s Shelby County has everything businesses need to be successful. Located on the I-75 corridor near the I-70 Interchange and with ready access to road, rail and air, the county is home to two certified shovel-ready sites – the Amos Industrial Park, and the Sidney Ohio Industrial Park – and home to two of the three top manufacturing employers in the Dayton Region. Ready for the future with modern and dependable fiber optics networks and strong utilities, much of the area’s success is due to a labor force with a strong work ethic and efforts of the Sidney-Shelby Economic Partnership (SSEP) to leverage the area’s strengths.

Welcoming to business, Ohio’s Darke County Economic Development is guided by the experienced hand of Mike Bowers. Named to the position of Economic Development Director in mid-2016, Bowers left his previous position as Mayor of the 13,000-strong Greenville for over eight years to focus on economic development, which was his focus as Mayor.

West Central Ohio is a remarkable combination of agriculture and manufacturing. Four of the region’s counties – Auglaize, Darke, Mercer and Shelby – consistently rank as the highest agriculture producing counties in Ohio. They are truly the “breadbasket” of the state. And yet, they are also home to more than 22,000 manufacturing jobs. Their stats for manufacturing jobs per capita are remarkably high – among the highest in Ohio and the U.S.

The retirement of the baby boomer generation is causing a crisis in the available labor pool combined with a loss of knowledge and experience in the workforce. This has created many challenges for a variety of industries in the United States. The Grow Ashland Economic Development office partners with numerous organizations in the Ashland, Ohio area to share ideas and resources for innovative ways to attract, retain, and train the workforce required to support local business.

One year ago, Business in Focus was proud to feature Morrow County, looking into the history and many unique aspects of this county in central Ohio. Morrow County is just north of Delaware County, which is the fastest-growing area in the state, and Morrow is seeing ongoing growth as a result of its lower land prices and proximity to its rapidly-growing neighbor. We followed up on the happenings inside Morrow County with County Commissioner Tom Whiston.