Awards

2015 Runner-up for Small Business of the Year by Business North Carolina:

PRESS RELEASE: CHARLOTTE (Dec. 11, 2015) — N.C. State University Professor Henry Brown​ opened Geological Resources Inc. in 1971, but it is the second generation who has transformed the environmental consulting firm into a business with 28 employees and projected 2015 revenue of $5 million. John Brown and Terry Kennedy acquired GRI in 1996, adding two additional partners and a business-development officer since 2004. But it wasn’t until after the most recent recession that the company found its firmest footing. The N.C. Department of Commerce selected GRI for its Biz Boost program in 2010. The N.C. Small Business and Technology Development Center connected GRI with teams of graduate students at UNC Charlotte and Wake Forest University. In the last year, the company moved into a new headquarters in Monroe. It was selected as the 2015 vendor of the year by the N.C. Petroleum and Convenience Marketer’s Association. Judging the competition, sponsored by Southern Pines-based First Bank, were Scott Daugherty, executive director of the N.C. Small Business and Technology Development Center,​ ​ Business North Carolina Publisher Ben Kinney and Oscar Wong, founder of Asheville-based Highland Brewing Co., last year’s winner. This year’s winner is National Wiper Alliance Inc. of Swannanoa. Other runners-up are: Club Canine, a doggie day care in Granite Falls, and Raleigh-based Color Masters Painting Inc., which holds commercial painting contracts in 45 states. The companies were honored at a luncheon at the Ballantyne Hotel in Charlotte. Business North Carolina​ is a Charlotte-based monthly magazine that focuses on the people, events and trends that shape business in North Carolina.

2015 Vendor of the Year for the North Carolina Petroleum and Convenience Marketers:  
GRI won the Dean Cline Vendor of the Year Award from NCPCM in 2015. This award honors a member company for excellence in service in the industry or Association. It is designed to reward a member company for its service to the convenience store and petroleum industry and/or the North Carolina Petroleum and Convenience Marketers. This could include service to NCPCM (such as committee involvement or program sponsorships), service to the convenience store or petroleum industry (such as innovative or beyond-the-call customer service), or service to the convenience store or petroleum family (such as support in times of need).