
M. Conley Entrepreneur of the Year Award Nominees

2018 Nominee Twelve: Canton Aluminum
Jerry and Marty Ortman fit together like two well worn slippers. Jerry is the former aerospace project manager who can solve any technical problem. Younger brother, Marty, loves people and is welcome anywhere he goes….
2018 Nominee Eleven: Tower Industries, Inc.
When Todd Werstler’s father was in his 50s, health problems forced him to sell his Ace Hardware store and take a straight commission job selling cultured marble. During five years as the company’s only salesman,…
2018 Nominee Ten: Studio Arts & Glass
It’s a story as old as time, with a twist. Boy meets girl in a downtown bar. He’s an artist, she’s a business student. They both love handmade things and start a business where she…
2018 Nominee Nine: DeVille Developments
Sitting in the Stark County Courthouse in the early 1960s Roger DeVille had an epiphany. He noticed that although 3,000 couples a year were marrying in Stark County, an equal number were divorcing. 3,000 suddenly…
2018 Nominee Eight: Waikem Auto Family
In 1930, somewhere around 4th St. and Mahoning Ave. in Canton, the 13-year old son of Lebanese immigrants bought a beat up old bicycle for 5¢. After fixing and shining it up, he sold it…
2018 Nominee Seven: Coastal Pet Products, Inc.
As children, Jim Stout and his siblings were given pigs by their father. The others quickly sold theirs for a profit at the Wayne County Fair. Jim turned his pig into a breeding business that…
2018 Nominee Six: ForeverLawn
In their second year as artificial grass dealers, Brian and Dale Karmie thought they’d already made every beginner’s mistake possible. Business was starting to boom, their best friend had put his own career on hold…
2018 Nominee Five: Canton Chair Rental
Thousands of area brides have enjoyed their wedding days because Bob Maloney hated selling cars. He hated it so much he sold his house to buy a rental franchise although he didn’t know a Bobcat…
2018 Nominee Four: Canton Food Tours
When Barb Abbott talks people listen … and eat. As the founder, visionary and creative light behind Canton Food Tours, Barb has turned the dinner hour into story time for thousands of Canton visitors and…
2018 Nominee Three: Waggoner Chocolates
When young Joe Waggoner and his two sisters visited their grandmother, Iola London, she sat the youngsters in front of the fireplace with whiskey and cigarettes to pass the time while she played cards with…
2018 Nominee Two: A-Quality Facility Services
Chris Paxos can barely remember a day he wasn’t working. When other kids were hanging with friends after school, Chris was working in the tiny Massillon restaurant owned by his Greek immigrant father. At 16…
2018 Nominee One: The Schroer Group
Every day the Schroer family and their employees touch the lives of over 7,500 people when they are most vulnerable. The family’s love affair with caring for the elderly began when Jerry Schroer Sr., a…