Hartman Independent Company, based in Lawrence, Pennsylvania, is being honored with the 2019 Family Business Award presented annually by the Pittsburgh Business Times.
The award honors multigenerational, family-owned businesses in the Pittsburgh area for overall excellence, innovation, ethics, and philanthropy. To win the award, judges also look for successful businesses or nonprofits that have made a significant contribution to the local Pittsburgh community, and its civic organizations.
Hartman, which is an AFFLINK member, distributes packaging materials, power tools, and fastening equipment used in the construction and industrial markets. The company was started in 1948 and has grown significantly over the decades. Today Hartman has expanded to New York and Ohio and is recognized as one of the leading industrial distributors in this area of the country.
According to Gretchen Friedrich, marketing manager with AFFLINK, Bob Hartman started the company and "sat at the helm of Hartman for 35 years. Allen Hartman took over in 1983, and today the third-generation President and CEO is Andrew Hartman."
Andrew says his family's company "was founded on family values and the importance of relationships. We have been changing the company in recent years so that it reflects how our customers shop and what they look for in a distributor today, but our core values remain intact."
The awards ceremony took place on May 8, 2019, at the Westin Convention Center in Pittsburgh. The event included a reception for the winners and provided them an opportunity to discuss their companies, along with the products and services they offer.