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2022 Vicki Clarke Family Business of the Year Award

The Benders have long been members of the Prairie Family Business Association in South Dakota. The began their tenure with the organization when it was founded back in 1992. At the time, Don and Carol joined the association to help with transitioning ownership of Falcon Plastics from first generation to second generation.

Since joining the Prairie Family Business Association, the Falcon ownership group has fully leaned in to the organization and its efforts to provide family businesses with the tools to grow, engage, transition, and prosper through high-quality education, networking, and collaboration.

This year marks a milestone anniversary for the organization as it reaches its 30th year in existence.

On Thursday, April 28th, a few members of our management team joined the Prairie Family Business Associations annual conference and luncheon.

During the conference, Prairie Family Business Association recognized an exceptional family with the Vicki Clarke Family Business of the Year Award. The Vicki Clarke Family Business of the Year is given in memory of Vicki Clarke, a former advisory board member of the Prairie Family Business Association.

This year’s 2022 recipient of the prestigious Vicki Clarke Family Business of the Year Award, is the Bender Family of Falcon Plastics headquartered in Brookings, South Dakota. Jay Bender and Guy Bender, second generation owners, along with Jenn Barlund and Kyle Bender, third generation leaders, accepted the award. The late Vicki Clarke’s son Steve and his wife Whitney, of County Fair Foods, presented the award to the Bender Family.