Piston Ring and Machine Company was recently named Beaufort County Farm Bureau’s Agribusiness of the Year for 2014.

Washington-based Piston Ring and Machine Company has been in business since 1961 and owned by the Gerard family since it opened. Richard Gerard runs the shop today, which services cars and trucks, marine engines, logging equipment and industrial farm machinery.

“It made us feel real good to be able to be recognized as the Agribusiness of the Year for eastern North Carolina,” Gerard said.

“It means a great deal to us because we try real hard to meet their needs because we open every day at 5:30 every morning, “ Gerard said. “We do this because the farmer gets up early and goes early every morning.”

When the shop opened in 1961, the eastern North Carolina economy was based on farming. The Gerards’ shop was one of the biggest things in the farming industry because they could fix engines on farming equipment, he said.

This isn’t the first award Piston Ring and Machine Company has won. They have won awards from Automotive Aftermarket Association of the Carolinas and Tennessee for meeting or exceeding the needs for their clientele.

It just isn’t the farming industry Piston Ring and Machine Company takes care of. They want to service any vehicle that comes into the business. They also sell parts to garages and independent accounts, according to Gerard.

“We cover a pretty good area — Beaufort, Martin, Hyde, Craven and Pitt Counties,” Gerard said. “We cover a pretty good-size area, and the agriculture trade in our area and eastern North Carolina is a huge part of our local economy.”

One of the goals for Piston Ring and Machine Company is to tailor their inventory to the need of the customers. The business puts forth a lot of effort to whatever the farmers’ demands are, Gerard said.

“A lot of customers, they have everything from an automobile to a tractor or several tractors or logging equipment, and it’s just a lot of things that we do to try and separate ourselves from our competition,” Gerard said. “It comes from having a very knowledgeable staff.”