Gov. Paul LePage presented eight Maine companies with a 2014 Governor’s Award for Business Excellence during a reception Friday at Southern Maine Community College in South Portland.

The awards, administered by the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, recognize successful Maine businesses.

“All eight of these companies are committed to quality workmanship, maintaining a loyal and dedicated workforce, and giving back to the communities they do business in,” LePage said in a news release. “Their leadership and direction is solid and I am honored to recognize their efforts and I thank them for doing business here in Maine.”

The recipients are:

n Priority Real Estate, Topsham: A commercial real estate investment and development company that built, owns and manages over $100 million in commercial real estate. Ninety percent of its charitable donations go to organizations that support children, provide heating assistance and address hunger prevention.

n Kepware Technologies, Portland: The software development company offers a portfolio of software services to help businesses connect diverse automation devices and software applications. It serves a wide range of customers in a variety of international vertical markets, including manufacturing, oil and gas, building automation and power distribution.

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n Winxnet, Portland: The information technology services company helps organizations reduce their IT costs, lower risk and achieve greater return on investment on technology initiatives. It works with corporations, health care organizations, nonprofits and public sector entities.

n Hall Internet Marketing, Portland: The company builds and markets retail and business-to-business websites. A national player in search engine marketing, Hall was a founding member of the Casco Bay Technology Hub, which supports startups throughout Maine.

n Huhtamaki Inc., Waterville: Huhtamaki, which develops, manufactures and distributes molded fiber articles, has its finished goods distributed across the United States and Europe. The company, which employs nearly 500 full-timers, developed and makes Chinet brand products.

n GAC Chemical Corp., Searsport: GAC Chemical manufactures and distributes industrial, specialty, and fine chemicals, especially in the pulp and paper, power, manufacturing and treated water industries. In 2013, GAC partnered with a manufacturer based in Mexico, and brought a multimillion-dollar project to Maine.

n Fluid Imaging Technologies, Scarborough: A manufacturer of a proprietary digital-imaging particle analysis system called FlowCAM, the company has experienced rapid growth. Last summer it moved to a new facility in Scarborough that is equipped with a state-of-the-art testing laboratory, a dedicated product development area and expanded production capability.

n Haven’s Candies, Westbrook: A nearly 100-year-old maker of chocolates, Haven’s Candies operates out of a chocolate factory in Westbrook, with satellite retail stores in Portland and Scarborough. It was recently sold by Andy Charles, the sixth owner of the company, to Erin Collins, a Freeport entrepreneur.


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