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The Winchester Chamber of Commerce is giving its first Business of the Year award to G.R. Nowell & Son.
The company has been a Winchester staple for almost 100 years. Many in the community know it by its orange trucks.
George Russell Nowell started the company in 1928 as a junk removal and field clearing business. As it grew, it expanded its services to furniture moving and trash removal.
G.R. Nowell & Son has been in the family for five generations. It’s the norm that every family member works at the business for at least a little bit. At least 30 relatives have worked for the company since it started.
“To be able to carry on a family tradition, it’s pretty special,” said George Nowell Jr., who runs the business with his parents, George Sr. and Judy.
The employees and customers are also multi-generational. Employees who’d worked for the company years ago will often hire G.R. Nowell & Son for moving jobs, said Nowell Jr.
Left, George Russell Nowell with the first automotive truck he purchased for the company. Right, from left: The new generation of company owners, George Nowell Sr., Charlie Nowell and George Nowell Jr. in front of one of the company’s orange trucks. COURTESY PHOTOS/GEORGE NOWELL JR.
For Nowell Jr., part of the joy of the business comes from the memories of working alongside his close friends and family as a teenager. He said he always had a blast working with them especially when they’d close down the En Ka Fair.
Aaron West, who grew up with Nowell Jr., started working for the Nowells on and off as a teenager and found the experience formative.
“For me, it made me from a boy to a man,” said West, who now owns his own construction company. “I would never change my path in life and working for them made me a better person growing up.”
West remains close with the Nowell family and said many of the former employees formed bonds while they worked at the company. West describes Nowell Sr. and his wife as second parents to many.
A Chamber first
The Winchester Chamber has named a Citizen of the Year for 47 years, but this is the first time it has named a Business of the Year.
The idea for the business award came about because not all Citizen of the Year winners were business owners, and the chamber wanted to recognize the town’s business community, said Dana Garmey, the chamber’s executive director.
Anyone can go onto the chamber’s website and nominate a business for the award. The only requirement is that the business is a chamber member. The board of directors assesses all the nominations and selects a winner.
G.R. Nowell & Son was unanimously voted the winner.
“It was such a huge surprise and a huge honor to be recognized,” said Nowell Jr.
Garmey has used the moving company for over 21 years and said she has always had great experiences with them.
“There’s no job too small that they won’t do,” Garmey said. “There’s no job too random that they won’t do. And they do it with kindness.”
G.R. Nowell & Son and Rich Muzzi, the 2026 Citizen of the Year, will be celebrated at the Business and Community Awards ceremony on May 20 at the Griffin Museum. The event is open to the public.
Tavishi Chattopadhyay is a journalism student at Boston University. This story is part of a partnership between the Winchester News and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
