For this year’s SDM Systems Integrator of the Year, family is everything. Not only was it founded as a family-owned business back in 2005, but each and every employee — 155 of them and growing fast — is treated as a member of the family as well. Which is a good thing, because company president, Shaun Castillo, has the lofty goal of building a multi-generational company that someday his grandchildren, or the children or grandchildren of his employees will still own many years from now.

Preferred Technologies LLC, or Pref-Tech, started shortly after Castillo finished his U.S. Army service and was searching for the next step. His parents, who had owned and operated a structured cabling company, were looking to start a new venture after a merger with another company didn’t go as they had hoped. Shaun Castillo had planned to go back to school, and at first wasn’t interested in joining them. “Then a mentor of mine said he thought it was a rare opportunity to own a small business,” he recalls. “He said, ‘Give it a shot and if you don’t like it, school will still be there waiting for you.’”