The Cy-Fair business Consolidated Mills was named small business of the year in November by Lone Star College.
The business, owned and run by Scott and Keith Vrana, offers food packaging and manufacturing services in addition to producing beverage concentrates, syrups and foods items such as salsas and sauces. They were selected for their efforts in supporting community organizations, including the school district, chamber of commerce the nonprofit organization Cy-Hope.
"Words cannot express how proud we are," said Keith Vrana, executive vice president. "We worked very hard to get where we are, and this validates a lot of hard work and effort to this point."
Vrana said part of the vision when he and his brother bought Consolidated Mills 10 years ago was to be active members of the community.
"Our kids all go to Cy-Fair schools, and the Cy-Fair Education Foundation and Cy-Hope are two organizations we support," he said. " We've donated 400 cases of custom label salsa to [Cy-Hope]. We tried to do something different and unique, and they were able to raise more than $12,000 from selling it."
Vrana said he and his brother also made supporting the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce a priority. He participates on several committees, including as the chairman of the transportation committee. He said some of the long-standing members have served as role models for how businesses can support the community.
"We want to follow them and keep moving forward," he said. "We're here for the long haul. We want to be a part of this community for a long, long time."
Every year, LSCS names a small business of the year for the areas covered by each of its six campuses. The other winners this year were: Shank Wealth Management in Kingwood, The Woodlands Learning Rx in Montgomery; Karen K. Abramski, P.C. in North Harris; Country Air in Tomball/Magnolia; and Kwik Copy Business Center in the University Park area.
The two other finalists in the Cy-Fair area were Molen & Associates as well as Pella Windows and Doors of Houston.