Niagara Bottling highlights the checklist of winners for KABA’s annual Ovation Awards, which acknowledge high performing Kenosha County companies and enterprise leaders, and their help of the group. Winners are chosen by a range committee, which incorporates earlier Ovation Award winners, KABA workers and board members, BizTimes Media, and representatives from the College of Wisconsin-Parkside, Gateway Technical Faculty and Carthage Faculty.

The Ovation Awards winners might be acknowledged at a banquet occasion on Feb. 8, 2024. Registration will open in mid-December. BizTimes Media is the media sponsor for the occasion. Different sponsors embrace Johnson Monetary Group and Gilbane.

Based in 1963, Niagara Bottling is a personal label bottled water and gentle drink supplier, based mostly in California. The corporate constructed a highly-automated 377,000-square-foot facility in Nice Prairie in 2014. Since then, the corporate has expanded its manufacturing strains and added one other facility in Kenosha for distribution operations. Its enlargement in 2021 added bottling line gear for 2 manufacturing strains and three injection molding machines, ensuing within the addition of 40 new jobs with a mean minimal annual wage of $55,000.

Different Ovation Award winners:

Keith Smith, president and CEO of Salem Lakes-based Vonco Merchandise is the Entrepreneur of the 12 months. He acquired Vonco Merchandise in 2013. The corporate manufactures versatile packaging merchandise. Smith has led the corporate by three profitable acquisitions. He moved the corporate from Lake Villa, Illinois to a brand new 80,000-square-foot facility in Kenosha County in 2017, and added a 36,000-square-foot enlargement to the power in 2022.

Blue Home Books is the Small Enterprise of the 12 months. Blue Home Books is Kenosha’s solely full-service unbiased bookstore and has been working since 2017. It started as a pop-up retailer promoting used books at group occasions and native companies. It grew right into a micro bookstore open 5 days and week, and opened its first everlasting brick-and-mortar location in downtown Kenosha in 2020.

Ahead Award winners (firms or organizations which have expanded, invested or developed applications or initiatives that assist transfer Kenosha County ahead):

Centrisys, a producer of decanter centrifuges for sludge dewatering and thickening. The corporate got here to Kenosha in 1999 and has since grown to personal 4 buildings within the Kenosha Enterprise Park. It’s increasing with a 66,000-square-foot addition to one of many buildings.

Haribo, a Germany based mostly gummi sweet producer that opened a brand new 500,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Nice Prairie in late 2022. It’s the firm’s first manufacturing facility in North America and one of many largest investments of latest operations by an abroad firm in Wisconsin within the state’s historical past.

Kenosha Frequent Markets, which operates Kenosha HarborMarket, a European-style market in downtown Kenosha. Based in 2003, the market attracts greater than 8,000 clients when the climate is nice on a Saturday. Greater than 180 small companies participated within the 2023 outside season of Kenosha HarborMarket.

Kenosha Group Well being Middle, which offers inexpensive, high quality well being care providers for people and households in Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties. KCHC opened its first location in 1995 and now has 5 clinic areas in Kenosha County. KCHC affords medical, dental and behavioral well being providers.

Shalom Middle, a nonprofit group that’s Kenosha’s solely homeless shelter, largest meals pantry and longest operating nightly meal program. It obtained a $2.4 million donation so as to add a disaster and group useful resource heart referred to as, Hope Hub, which can open in November and supply a one-stop store for people who should be linked to sources.