Mary’s Chickens takes top honor at California Family Business Awards

Sanger-based Mary’s Chickens, and the Pitman family, are the 2017 winners of the California Family Business Award bestowed by the Institute for Family Business at Fresno State. The Institute for Family Business (IFB) hosted the awards presentation Wednesday night at the Satellite Student Union at Fresno State, honoring 11 family businesses culled from 112 nominations submitted. The third-generation family business traces its roots to 1954, when Don Pitman started raising turkeys in the Madera area. Son Rick Pitman took over the operations along with wife Mary, and today the couple’s sons David and Ben are also involved in the business, which has expanded rapidly with its line of organic, free-range poultry. Read more