Correspondent photo / Sean Barron
From left, Herb Washington, founder and chief executive officer of HLW Fast Track; Mark Lamoncha, CEO of Humtown Products; Alexander Zoldan, vice president of Phantom Fireworks; J.C. Kocjancic, chief operating officer with the Cubbison Co.; and Joseph Kerola, president of PI&I Motor Express Co., hold awards their businesses were given during the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber’s fourth annual Family-Owned Business Recognition dinner Thursday at The Lake Club in Poland.

POLAND — Everyone knows that fireworks explosions result in radiant pyrotechnics and colors that fan out in the sky — a motion you could say also describes the business model Ron Zoldan intends to continue to spread.

“I’m grateful I had two parents with two values — family and giving back to the community,” Zoldan, Phantom Fireworks’ vice president, said. “Youngstown has supported us from the beginning.”

The second value also went a long way in paving the way for allowing Zoldan to take home a special recognition award he was handed during the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber’s fourth annual Family-Owned Business Recognition dinner Thursday evening at The Lake Club in Poland.

The three-hour, sold-out gathering recognized and honored 20 locally-owned businesses in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties for their successes and contributions to the region’s economic vibrancy, as well as efforts to better the community. The businesses continue to succeed in the entertainment, manufacturing, food, event planning, apparel, technology, electronics and residential treatment sectors.

Also introduced at the event was a CEO Forum, a new program that is planned to be rolled out this year in the Mahoning Valley.

One business each was given a recognition award in one of five categories: Social Impact Award, Humtown Products; Local to National Presence Award, Phantom Fireworks; Success in Succession Award, Cubbison Co.; Growth Story Award, PI&I Motor Express; and Family-Owned Business Advocate of the Year Award, HLW Fast Track.

Zoldan recalled that his father, Bruce J. Zoldan, who founded Phantom Fireworks in 1977, went from selling his first fireworks from his vehicle to having “100 brick-and-mortar locations.” The younger Zoldan also praised his father for his entrepreneurship and dedication to giving back to the community, a trajectory Ron Zoldan plans to carry on while continuing to grow and provide more local jobs, he said.

The business, formerly known as Blue Angel, opened its first store in Columbiana, he added. Today, Phantom Fireworks operates 88 retail stores in 15 states, with plans to grow in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Acting as the dinner’s master of ceremonies was Tim Petrey, HD Growth Partners’ chief executive officer, who pointed to the challenges many of today’s family-owned businesses face in a time of aging baby boomers and retirements.

“The small business was a pillar of my life as far back as my memories go. Running a family-owned business is hard, period,” Petrey said in his remarks, adding that an estimated 70% of family businesses don’t make it beyond the second generation.

In the 1990s, about 12% of the population was of retirement age; by 2030, that figure is expected to be more than 20%, he noted.

The evening also included a panel discussion about the planned CEO Forum, a main goal of which is to offer business leaders in the Valley peer-to-peer networking opportunities with those committed to scaling their operations while helping other like-minded peers succeed.

The panel consisted of Petrey, along with Guy Coviello, the Regional Chamber’s president and CEO; Robert Shenton, the CEO Forum’s executive director; and Steve Stivers, a former U.S. congressman who is the Ohio Chamber of Commerce’s president and CEO.

The four discussed the importance of brainstorming and networking, as well as the pivotal role short- and long-term business relationships with one another will play moving forward — both of which come at a time when more baby boomers are retiring and the erosion of many small businesses, a trend over several decades, continues. Also discussed was the value of businesses learning from others’ successes and failures.

Given that grim backdrop, many such businesses are merely trying to survive day to day and without much consideration for the future, Petrey said.

As important and central as keeping current with technological changes may be, doing so is not a substitute for networking and cultivating in-person relationships, Coviello added.

Regardless of how expansive and sophisticated technology and business partnering may become, certain core values remain embedded in the formula for continued success, Ron Zoldan said.

“The community builds you up when you work hard and do the right thing,” he added.

2025 Family-Owned Business Recognition award recipients

• Success in Succession Award: Cubbison Co.

• Social Impact Award: Humtown Products

• Growth Story Award: PI&I Motor Express

• Local to National Presence Award: Phantom Fireworks

• Family Owned Business Advocate of the Year Award: HLW Fast Track