The McCaffrey, Bonadelle, and De Young families have been recognized for building upon the family business legacy of the late John Bonadelle Sr., who founded Bonadelle Neighborhoods nearly 80 years ago. Photo by Devon Jacoby/Backstory Creative

Family business excellence was on full display on Tuesday at The Business Journal’s fifth-annual Family Owned Business Awards (FOBA). Pardini’s was buzzing as three well-deserving families took top awards in their categories — and one earned “The Family Legacy Award” for firms with at least three generations in business.

The winners in their respective categories are Lars Andersen & Associates, Inc. (small), Fresno Equipment Company (medium) and Nichols Farms (large). Caglia Environmental took home the “Family Legacy” Award. And there was a special award — the first and possibly last time ever given in the FOBA program — called the “Family Heritage” Award. That went to Bonadelle Neighborhoods, De Young Properties and McCaffrey Homes. Each company is run by the child of Fresno homebuilder John Bonadelle, Sr., and each is three generations into their craft.

This year we received over 40 applications for the program. The Business Journal’s leadership team narrowed the group to about 20 companies that met the qualifications for the awards and offered a compelling narrative for their family business.

The next round of judging was conducted by our Publisher Gordie Webster; Managing Editor Gabriel Dillard; Ken Ramos, executive vice president, regional executive, Community West Bank; Scott Miller, CEO of The Fresno Chamber of Commerce; and Nathan Gilbert, regional director, Better Business Bureau.

In addition to stories about the winners featured in the Friday, Aug. 22 paper, you’ll also hear about the honorees whose family stories compelled the judges and resulted in a tight race. In addition to De Young Properties and Bonadelle Neighborhoods, the honorees include Dee’s Plumbing, Selma Auto Mall and Toca Madera Winery.

Running a multi-generation family business isn’t for the faint of heart. Thanks to all of the companies for representing the heart of the American economy.