|
FAMILY
OWNED SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
2008
The Rocky Mount Chamber
of Commerce is pleased to announce a new award in 2008 – the Family
Owned Small Business of the Year Award, which honors a family owned
and operated business which has been passed on from one generation
to another. Nominees must serve as a majority owner and operator
and bear principal responsibility for operating a small business
with at least a 15-year track record. We are particularly pleased
to have our first business, one that was founded by the recipient’s
grandfather, honored in this new category.
Rocky Mount native
Godfrey Giddeons, who was the area's primary radiator repairman,
founded Rocky Mount Radiator in 1927. He worked from a 2 bay,
corner station in downtown Rocky Mount. Most of his income came
from automotive radiator repair and service to the local community.
After Giddeons' passing
in 1962, son-in-law Charles L. Braswell, Sr. took over the business,
and in 1968 built and moved across the street to a modern, 3 bay
shop with room to accommodate 8 cars for service. Braswell groomed
the business to include truck and industrial repair, and also became
the leading mobile air conditioning repair center in the area.
Rocky Mount Radiator became incorporated, and later became a
distributor for radiators and cooling system parts for Eastern North
Carolina.
In May 1993, Braswell
moved from the cramped downtown building to a brand new, state of
the art facility on Highway 301 Bypass in Rocky Mount, NC. This
18,000 square foot facility is where Rocky Mount Radiator and Air
Conditioning operates today. One of the finest cooling system
centers in the country, this shop contains 18 service bays, a
waiting room, warehouse, an order desk area, as well as a spacious
radiator shop.
Today, Rocky Mount
Radiator and Air Conditioning, Inc. is operated by Vice
President/Operations Manager Chuck Braswell and his mother, June
Braswell. Family owned and operated since 1927, Rocky Mount
Radiator features factory trained technicians, a NARSA Certified
Heavy Duty radiator and heat exchanger facility, and also this
area's most extensive stock of cooling system parts to be found.
The air conditioning
technicians at Rocky Mount Radiator and A/C, Inc are fully certified
for any mobile air conditioning repair, whether we're talking large
trucks, compact cars, or new A/C installations. The radiator shop
is NARSA certified, which means that the staff is trained and
equipped to handle the largest, most complex, or the smallest made
heat exchanger. Rocky Mount Radiator and A/C is also OSHA and EPA
friendly, recycling all CFC's and disposing of all wastes properly.
Chuck has held a number
of positions both locally and nationally in the automotive repair
field, and serves on the Nash Community College Automotive Advisory
Committee, with June’s expertise “running a tight ship”
behind the scenes. Braswell has been a great friend of the
community over the years through involvement in Rotary, membership
in The Chamber and through his longstanding support to youth
athletics.
Please join me in
recognizing the legacy this third-generation family has built by
welcoming Chuck Braswell as recipient of the Family Owned Small
Business of the Year Award.
|
