Lima Ohio Area NAWIC Chapter 374 Receives 2018 Best of Lima Award

Each year, the Lima Award Program identifies companies  that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Lima area a great place to live, work and play. 

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2018 Lima Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Lima Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Lima Award Program

The Lima Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Lima area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Lima Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy.

Holiday Safety Tips

By: Renell Grantham, CHST | Safety Committee Chair 2018-2019 

With the holiday season fast approaching there are items that sometimes get overlooked during all of hustle and bustle of family time, cooking and gift buying: the hazard of food borne illnesses, kitchen fires, or even house fires caused by the lights on your Christmas tree. I hope that I can give you some information in this article to prevent you and the employees at your company from experiencing the tragedy of these types of things from ruining your holiday season. I am going to concentrate on food safety since that is where the most misconceptions seem to lie and the least amount of information seems to be put out every year.

1.The top shelf of the refrigerator is the worst place to store your raw turkey or ham. As they thaw, the juices can drip down onto the food that is on the lower shelves, contaminating them.                                                                     

2. It is important to wash your fruits and vegetables, even if they are going to be peeled, to prevent bacteria that may be on the skin from contaminating the knife or peeler and getting onto the peeled item or counter tops. The best way to clean your fruits and vegetables is to use cold running water.

3. Believe it or not, the U.S. Department of Agriculture does not suggest washing/rinsing your raw turkey before cooking. It can cause germs to spread in small water droplets around the kitchen that contain bacteria, but if the turkey is placed in the oven as is, then the bacteria will be killed during the cooking process.

4. Most people think that leaving the food on the table for grazing is safe. The thing is that for 2-3 hours it is, but time tends to get away from you when you are having a great time with your family, so the sooner you put the food away the safer your family is. You can always pull the food out as people get hungry or have a second meal after Black Friday shopping.

5. One thing to remember and maybe one of the biggest things to remember is that food does not have to smell bad to be spoiled. Yes, that can be an indication, but the smell is not always present. The best way to keep your family safe from food borne illness is to make sure that you follow safe preparation suggestions and make sure that food is not left out too long.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a Merry Christmas!