(KNZA)--Three businesses based in the local region receive honors, named among a total of 20 earning Regional Business Excellence Awards from the Kansas Deparment of Commerce. 

Included is the Bradken castings foundry, based in Atchison, earning the honor in the maufacturing/distribution category. 

Hiawatha based Janelle and Company, LLC is awarded in the retail category, while the Leavenworth County based Cushing Memorial Hospital is recognized in the hospital/non profit division. 

Six other locally based businesses are included among the 79 Merit Award Winners. 

They include Hiawatha's Ken Babcock Sales, earning the honor in the manufacturing/distribution category. Hiawatha's Little Hands Day Care and Development Center is awarded in the hospital/non-profit division, while Shultz Enterprises LLC, doing business as the Astro 3 Theatre in Marysville, is recognized in the retail category. 

Atchison County's StressCrete Group is awarded in the manufacturing/distribution division, while two Lansing-based businesses, in Leavenworth County, also receive Merit Award recognition.  They are Daylight Donuts, in the retail category, and Persnippity Hair Salon, awarded in the service division. 

Meanwhile, five out of area businesses are now in the running for the Governor's Award of Excellence, the top award given to a business in the state. The winner will be announced June 11th during ceremonies in Emporia. 

All of the awards are presented in conjunction with Business Appreciation Month, the Department of Commerce's annual celebration of Kansas businesses and their contributions to their communities and the state economy.