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William F. Peel Jr., founder of Red Coats of Bethesda, a commercial cleaning company that has developed into an umbrella company that also includes Datawatch Systems and Admiral Security, will be honored as this year's winner of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce's Emeritus Business Leader award at the chamber's annual awards dinner Tuesday in North Bethesda.

Peel founded Red Coats in 1960. In 1979, a security company acquisition became Admiral Security Services, which provides unformed security services. Then in 1987, Peel formed Datawatch Systems to provide building access control, burglary and fire security systems and monitoring services, and closed-circuit television systems.

From a small two-person cleaning service, the Red Coats family of companies now includes more than 6,500 employees in 22 states and Canada, according to chamber information. The company also has offices in Baltimore, Tampa, Fla., and Richmond, Va.

Also to be honored at the chamber dinner are former MedImmune CEO David Mott as Business Leader of the Year and Sterling Crockett, CEO of Sterling Construction Services, as Small Business Leader of the Year.