Honc named Women of Distinction award winner
Pine Islander Donna Honc of Honc Industries was recently presented the Women of Distinction award, in the business category.
Honc received her award at the 4th annual Women of Distinction Lee County gala held at the Cape Coral Yacht Club.
A typical workday for Honc covers a great deal of Honc Industries financial matters, as she handles areas such as accounting, taxes, legal and financing of equipment. Although, she said, she does not usually handle a lot of the day-to-day obligations and likely couldn’t tell you who many of the customers or employees are.
“I arrive after everyone else has come in and left,” said Honc, “and I’m usually gone before a lot of them come in.”
Honc said many people may not be aware of her having worked the family business since 1997, since she mostly stays behind the scenes. Her preference to stay private is likely why most awards and accolades, thus far, have gone to husband, Dan Honc, and son Steve Honc, who she suspects nominated her for the Women of Distinction Award.
Generally not having recognition, she says, is fine with her, adding that she is not a public person.
“When I was nominated for this award I was very humbled and very honored…it’s not really my thing,” Honc said. “It did mean a lot to me that people within our industry recognized the work that I’ve done here, even though it’s not a flashy job — I’m not out meeting contractors, or customers, but it’s a job that needs to be done.”
Among the awards given, Honc said it meant a great deal to her to have won in the business category, explaining that it’s a tough industry, especially for women, since people tend to see construction as a man’s domain. She recalled her own mother-in-law keeping the books via handwritten ledger, hardly able to imagine what that must have entailed, especially while raising nine children.
“Today, we have so many conveniences, like cell phones and even before cell phones we had radios in the trucks,” said Honc, “so my life has not been anything compared to what it had to have been like for her to work alongside her husband.”
At the end of the day, Honc said, she wears many different hats. Although she feels greatly honored by this award and especially enjoys working with her husband and son, she said at heart she’s found her reward in being a mother and grandmother to 12 grandchildren to whom she’s known as “Marme.”
“The heart of who I am is a mother and grandmother,” said Honc. “Family and my faith in God are very important to me. Passing that on to my children and grandchildren is really what I live for.
The annual Women of Distinction winners included:
• Donna Honc as the Woman of Distinction – Business
• Lizbeth Benaquisto as the Woman of Distinction – Elected Official
• Jazmin Clark as the Woman of Distinction – Health & Wellness
• Deputy Donna Daiossa-McNally as the Woman of Distinction – Hometown Hero
• Linda Fuller and Katie Bohanon as the co-Woman of Distinction – Humanitarian
• Karen Scott as the Woman of Distinction – Mentoring/Education
• Angela Melvin as the Woman of Distinction – Not For Profit Business Leader
• Amira Fox as the Woman of Distinction – Trailblazer
• Doris Cortese was honored with a Lifetime of Leadership Award
• Amira Fox as Woman of the Year.