Published: November 04, 2009 09:46 pm         

Daniels honors Vigo County businesses

TERRE HAUTE — Gov. Mitch Daniels honored several Vigo County businesses Wednesday in Indianapolis for their community service and longevity.

In a ceremony at the Statehouse, Daniels, along with Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and Mitch Roob, CEO of the Indiana Economic Development Corp., presented awards to three Vigo County businesses that have been operating for at least 100 years. The state officials also presented awards to four other Terre Haute-area businesses with at least 50 years of service in the community.

Receiving 100-year “Century” awards were Callahan & Hughes Funeral Home, Forsyth Brothers Concrete Products Inc. and the law firm of Wilkinson, Goeller, Modesitt, Wilkinson and Drummy.

Receiving 50-year “Half Century” awards were Koenig Scale Company Inc., Novelis Corp., Poplar Flower Shop Inc. and Williams Associates.

According to a media release issued by the governor’s office, Callahan & Hughes has been in business the longest of the seven Vigo County firms recognized Wednesday. The funeral home was founded as Ball Undertaking Company in 1847 and remains a family-owned and operated business.

The Wilkinson Law Firm, which has been in business for 111 years, grew from the 70-year legal practice of George O. Dix, who founded the original firm in 1898, the media release states.

Forsyth Brothers Concrete Products has been in business 102 years and was established in Terre Haute in 1907 by three brothers as a coal, lumber and underground vault manufacturing company. The company left the coal business in the 1960s. However, it remains involved in the business of manufacturing underground burial vaults, underground tanks and other concrete products.

Of the companies noted for at least 50 years of service, Poplar Flower Shop has been operating for 89 years, Williams and Associates for 71 years and Koenig Scale and Novelis for 50 years.

Mack and Myrtle Randolph founded Poplar Flower Shop in 1920 as Randolph’s Greenhouse at 21st Street and Seabury Avenue, according to Jim Sitarski, grandson of the Randolphs and owner of the business today. The shop moved to 1361 Poplar St. in the 1930s and later to its current location at 18th and Poplar.

Williams and Associates, founded in 1938 as Branam-Williams, is a family-owned real estate company. The company now employs 30 Realtors, seven staff and serves 600 customers per year, according to the governor’s media release.

Koenig Scale, a sales and service supplier of a wide variety of high-quality weighing equipment, was founded in 1959 by Clarence and Roxine Koenig. The family-owned business is a distributor for Premier Mettler Toledo and many other scales today.

Novelis Corp. was founded in 1959 as an aluminum sheet and extrusion plant. Today, the company produces a variety of consumer and industrial products. From its Terre Haute location, Novelis makes foil stock for aluminum foil containers, household foil and other aluminum products.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.