Family businesses play a crucial role in Connecticut’s economy and society, a role too frequently overlooked as the public's eye is directed to public corporations. To emphasize the tremendous and positive contributions provided by family firms, large and small, the UConn Family Business Program holds the annual Connecticut Family Business of the Year Awards ceremony - a prestigious way to recognize and honor those family businesses that embody core family values and the best of American free enterprise.

Each year, over 300 business owners, entrepreneurs, academicians and industry experts join the UConn Family Business Program in paying tribute to Connecticut's most successful family firms through the Connecticut Family Business of the Year Awards. Held each November at the flagship campus of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, the Connecticut Family Business of the Year Awards ceremony recognizes successful family firms in three categories: small-sized businesses, medium-sized businesses and large-sized businesses. Winners are chosen by a panel of outside judges and are evaluated for:

• Business success
• Positive family and business linkage
• Multi-generational family involvement
• Dynamic contributions to community and industry
• Innovative business practices or strategies