TUCKER PAVING, INC., has won its share of big awards this year, most notably three Excellence in Construction (Eagle) awards we received during a special Central Florida Chapter ABC (Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.) banquet on Oct. 7. (Please see our earlier blog article about this here.)

A few days earlier, we learned that we were almost the winner of a very prestigious Polk County business award. It was a tremendous honor for us just to be nominated in the Success in Large Business category for the Central Florida Development Council’s 2017 George Harris, Jr., Economic Development Award.

Taking home the award, presented during the CFDC Annual Meeting on Oct. 4 at Haus 820 in Lakeland, were leaders of a very deserving Florida Southern College in Lakeland.

Other Harris award nominees in the large business category were Arr-Maz, for its facility expansion in Mulberry; Aldi, for their facility expansion in Haines City; Crown Linen, for its facility expansion in Haines City; and Florida’s Natural, for its impressive leadership in the citrus industry. Our company, Tucker Paving, was nominated for our nicely sized catalog of construction projects in 2016-17.

Six/Ten, LLC, a very active Winter Haven downtown commercial development company, was the winner of the CFDC’s Harris award in the Success in Small Business category. Also nominated for the Harris small business award were The Lunz Group, for its architectural design and work to land a new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hurricane Hunters squadron in Polk County; and DSM Technology Consultants, for its many Central Florida technology projects.

According to the CFDC, the Harris awards are presented each year to businesses that have “helped shape Polk County through expansion or job-growth activities. The recipients are honored for their promotion of free enterprise, community service, economic stability, and quality growth.”

A Tucker Paving party led by company President Larry D. “Chip” Tucker attended the CFDC Annual Meeting, with Chip and the others praising the keynote speech by Winston Scott, a retired U.S. Navy captain and former NASA astronaut.

Capt. Scott shared his inspiring professional story and talked about the positive future he sees for many industries, including aerospace, logistics, transportation, and automotive technology. He described Polk County as “an incredible place with diverse industries, and where the quality of life is good.”

“The future is exciting and bright, and I can’t think of a region more poised to embrace that future,” Capt. Scott told the gathering.

We at Tucker Paving are poised and pleased to embrace that future, too.