Despite owning their own real estate business for 22 years, Linda and Craig Bridgewater, of Bridgewater Real Estate, began their careers in entirely different fields.

Craig said he spent 19 years in the banking industry while his wife, Linda, worked as a social worker.

However, after Linda lost her job, she was convinced by a friend to apply for her real estate license. Not too long after that, Craig also found himself looking for work, and the two decided to strike out on their own with a local real estate practice.

While the company faced some hardship during the Great Recession, Craig said the team is still going strong, and he and his wife enjoy the work.

“I never wanted to be just the broker in charge,” Craig said. “I didn’t want to just manage people, I wanted to do something hands-on.”

He said as a local firm, customer service is a vital part of the firm’s success. Much of Bridgewater’s client base comes from word-of-mouth referrals from previous customers, and the husband and wife team are active in the community and have each been president of the Winchester-Clark County Chamber of Commerce.

“We kind of do things the old fashioned way,” Craig said. “We don’t rely too much on the computer.”

The Bridgewaters took part in the Winchester-Clark County Chamber of Commerce’s Community Partner Program and earned a three-star rating. The program establishes a rating system (one to three stars) to recognize local organizations, businesses and industries that go above and beyond in their investment, promotion and contributions to the community, according to a chamber news release.

In order to take part in the program, businesses must meet several requirements. They must be a member of the chamber of commerce in good standing, display a clean, organized and well-maintained facility, offer health and wellness programs to employees, establish recycling programs to reduce their environmental footprint, have employees who volunteer at local community nonprofit organizations and/or mentoring programs, they must participate in community events, meet a certain percentage of employees who live in Clark County, participate in local training and professional development opportunities and actively seek employees who have the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) as well as veterans.

Applications for 2017 community partners are currently being accepted. Applications are available at the Chamber of Commerce office, 2 S. Maple St.