They’re the London business community’s best and brightest, and now they have the hardware to prove it.

London-based Bluestone Properties and Marketing Strategies and Solutions were the belle of the ball at the Better Business Bureau’s 2017 Business Integrity Awards Thursday, the 20th in the agency’s history

Corporate tycoons and mom-and-pop proprietors set their alarms early for the award ceremony breakfast at the DoubleTree by Hilton, which celebrates companies with exemplary honesty, integrity and fair business practices.

Bluestone Properties had no reason to be blue after clinching the top prize for businesses with 11 or more employees. The third generation property management company bested Sentry Windows and Doors and Thinq Technologies for the highly coveted award.

Vice presidents — and siblings — Colin Bierbaum and Jaclyn Pisarczyk were on hand to accept the award.

“It’s a family business. Our parents are actually in Florida right now so we’ll have to share the good news with them from a distance,” said Bierbaum.

“We’re proud to be recognized in the community, as a business in London, for our integrity and values.”

The company manages almost 900 residential units in London and nearly a million square feet of office space.

The thing that gave them the edge over their competitors, is Bluestone Properties’ community involvement, said Pisarczyk.

“We come together as a company and individually and we try to support the community in any way we can, whether it’s something as small as sponsoring sports teams or donating money to a fundraiser,” she said.

Bluestone’s big win comes just months after family patriarch Ewald Bierbaum passed away in February.

The elder Bierbaum was co-founder of ESAM, the company that developed the Cherryhill residential-retail complex and then went on to found construction giant Old Oak Properties, which has spun off Bluestone and Summit Properties, all run by his children and grandchildren.

The BBB’s second winner, Marketing Strategies and Solutions, won the integrity award for businesses with 10 or fewer employees.

The William Street company, now in its 20th year of business, beat out SmartWebPros.com and Studio H Artist Group for the top honour.

“It’s a great honour and it was a wonderful recognition of the work that we do on behalf of our clients,” said president Robert Adeland.

Marketing Strategies and Solutions has about 30 clients from different industries and has expanded its business into the United States.

Adeland said his company’s willingness to step away from the boardroom table sets it apart.

“We spend a lot of time and energy learning about our clients, hands-on,” he said.

“We have our construction boots, we have our hard hats, we have our work gloves and we do actually get in the dirt. . . . We know how our clients operate.”

Both companies will receive a scholarship presented by the Rotary Club of London Foundation. The money will go to a student or students chosen by the winner to help them pay for their post-secondary education.

jbieman@postmedia.ca

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