Hartford Business Journal

36 Hartford Business Journal • October 28, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com FAMILY BUSINESS AWARDS 2019 5 TH PLACE — 25–75 full-time employees category Baronet Coffee Inc. B aronet Coffee is an importer, roaster and seller of coffee. Recent accomplishments: After 47 years in our last build- ing we embarked on a move to our new facility that tripled our size and increased our efficiency by 50 percent through design and tech- nology. Baronet has invested in our quality and sustainability by becoming SQF — Safe Quality Food certified as well as USDA Organic certi- fied. We con- tinue to grow organically through new customers who believe in our quality products and world-class service. On a sentimental note, Bar- onet has celebrated two major milestones in the past year. We completed our first 100 years in the coffee business and had Alex Goldsmith, our fourth generation, join the Baronet team. How do you remain competitive in the market? Over the past 100 years, the cof- fee industry has evolved in ways our founders never could have imagined. Through those years, our focus on technology and innovation has ensured that we remain at the front of a dynamic marketplace. This is achieved through constant product development, rigorous quality control and an unyielding commitment to quality. What are the top two goals for your company over the next 10 years? First, we want to capitalize on the investments made in Baronet over the past 10 years: Moving to a state-of-the-art facility, Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification, acquisition of two new roasters, five packaging lines, and our part- nership with the National Coffee Association (NCA). Second, we want to continue our commitment to quality and service. As we continue to grow, it is im- perative that we preserve the key principles of quality and service that Isedor and Nathan Goldsmith built this company upon 100 years ago, which have earned us the loy- alty of our customers. 5 TH PLACE — Less than 25 full-time employees category Richards Machine Tool Company Inc. R ichards Machine Tool Compa- ny Inc. specializes in computer numerical control (CNC) ma- chining for the aerospace, medical and commercial industries. What is the biggest challenge to your business in the coming year? The aerospace industry is very active and busy right now and the challenge is recruiting and retaining a trained work- force. Everyone has similar chal- lenges no matter what industry, but our chal- lenge continues to be balancing business devel- opment with the available workforce. In an industry that is so active, we find that the larger companies are flexing their financial muscles and enticing our trained hires to go work for them and this creates a challenge for small employers. This opportunity keeps us on our toes with finding creative ways to recruit and retain workers to grow to a mid-size business and we are fully prepared to take on this challenge. How do you instill your family values in your employees? As a family, we are very involved in the day-to-day of our business. We work side-by-side with our employees, getting to understand them as individuals. By doing this, we are able to share our family val- ues and help the employees grow in their jobs and life in general. We have employees of all ages and we encourage teamwork with the older machinists to assist in the training of the newer machinists to reduce the skill gaps. We find that sharing our values and demon- strating them daily through our actions, creates a very respectful work environment. We also allow for employee flextime to accommo- date work-life balance. Baronet Coffee Inc. Headquarters: Windsor Industry: Coffee Year Founded: 1918 Founder: Isedor and Nathan Goldsmith Generation Currently Running Company: 4th No. of Full-Time Employees: 36 No. of Part-Time Employees: 6 Family members employed: Bruce Goldsmith, President, Father; Laurie Goldsmith, Director of Purchasing, Mother; Alex Goldsmith, Director of Supply Chain Management, Son. Company Website: https://baronetcoffee.com/ Richards Machine Tool Company Inc. Headquarters: Newington Industry: Aerospace, Medical and Commercial Year Founded: 1980 Founder: Richard and Sophie Bartkowicz Generation Currently Running Company: 2nd No. of Full-Time Employees: 13 No. of Part-Time Employees: 6 Family Members Currently Employed at Company: Children of Richard and Sophie: Lillian Bartkowicz, President; Dorothy Bartkowicz Weber, Vice President of Business Development; Thomas Bartkowicz, Logistics and Purchasing. Company Website: www.Richardscnc.com Three generations of the Goldsmith family: (from left) Alex, Leon and Bruce. Sisters Lillian Bartkowicz and Dorothy Bartkowicz Weber.

• Cover