Prairie Family Business Association, an outreach center of the Beacom School of Business at the University of South Dakota, presented the Boyd Hopkins Sr. Excellence in Family Business Award in Sioux Falls on Nov. 15 to the Elliott Family of A-OX Welding Supply. This award has been presented for 19 years to a Sioux Falls area family business. The evening began with a family business legacy tour hosted by the first and second generations of the Snyder Family of VIKOR Teleconstruction.

A-OX Welding Supply was founded in 1959 by Harold Elliott as Dakota Welding Supply. Now in their fourth generation of family business, A-OX has grown to be one of the largest, most complete distributors of industrial gas and welding supply in the upper Midwest. Today, A-OX Welding Supply comprises 7 locations in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Iowa with a headquarters and central warehouse in Sioux Falls, SD.

The Boyd Hopkins Sr. Excellence in Family Business Award was established in 2003 to acknowledge and celebrate the importance of family-owned businesses to the economy and the region. This award recognizes multi-generational family businesses with practices and policies that positively impact local business, as well as the neighboring community. It has been named in honor of Boyd Hopkins Sr. since 2010.

“Our mission is to help family businesses thrive through generations, and this year’s recipient, A-OX Welding Supply, displays a great example of what it means to continue a tradition of excellence through four generations.” said Stephanie Larscheid, executive director of Prairie Family Business Association. “We are grateful to the Hopkins Family of CorTrust Bank and their desire to recognize and celebrate family businesses in the Sioux Falls community in honor of their founder, Boyd Hopkins Sr. Congratulations to the Elliott family of A-OX Welding Supply.”