Local entrepreneurs and dignitaries from across the region came together last week as the Bonnyville and District and Cold Lake Regional Chambers of Commerce hosted the first-ever Lakeland Business of the Year Awards.
All year round, the local business communities in Bonnyville and Cold Lake strive to deliver the best service possible to local residents and, according to Bonnyville Chamber President Robyn Ducharme, this annual ceremony gives those residents a chance to show how much they appreciate everything the local business sector does for the community.
Speaking to the Nouvelle at the event, Ducharme also said she was delighted with how the awards ceremony went in what was the first time the Bonnyville and Cold Lake chambers had partnered up for a joint ceremony.
“I'm very happy with how the event went overall, we had a lot of local businesses in attendance and I think it made for a great night,” Ducharme said. “The way I see it, it's always awesome to be able to recognize and appreciate our fantastic business community – this awards ceremony gives us the perfect chance to do that.”
The event saw four businesses from Bonnyville and five from Cold Lake awarded for their hard work, success and dedication both in the community and business sector. The big winners of the night were those from Mr. Mike's Steakhouse Casual, with the local restaurant taking home the Community Involvement, Customer Service Excellence and Most Promising New Business awards.
Part owner of the restaurant Mike Naim said he was “humbled” to see Mr. Mike's walking away with three of six Bonnyville-based awards.
“This is extremely humbling – to be presented with three different awards tonight is absolutely incredible,” Naim said. “The support from the community and the recognition afforded to us from the business sector really means a lot. We certainly weren't expecting this, but I think it really goes to show how much we care about the community. We love what we do and we love serving the community as best we can – thank you (for honouring us) with these awards.”
The Tangled Threads Quilt Guild walked away with this year's Most Outstanding Not for Profit business award, while Tech Check Automotive Repair was named Bonnyville's best small business. URS Flint was named Most Outstanding Large Business following several years of operation in the Lakeland. Operations Manager at Flint's site just outside Bonnyville Martin Belisle said it was an honour to see the engineering and construction firm recognized by the local community.
“What's so great about being a large business in this area is that we have a great community with some great people in the background supporting us and helping us to be the company we are today,” Belisle said. “All of our employees are locals that live here and are a part of this wonderful community. Without our employees, we would not have gotten this award – they are the ones up front and getting the job done on a daily basis, so this award is for them.”
He added, “It means a lot to be recognized by the business community, by the chambers and by the people, so thank you very much for appreciating the work we do (here in the Lakeland).”
On the Cold Lake side of things, the Margaret Savage Crisis Centre was presented with the Non Profit Organization of the Year award, while Boston Pizza received recognition for Exemplary Customer Service.
Bean Trees Café was named best business with nine employees and under, with Lake City Motors winning the award for best business with ten employees and over. Waterfront Harbour Bed and Breakfast was named New Business of the Year.
Although only nine of the 42 nominees left with an official award, Ducharme said every business nominated should be feeling “incredibly proud”.
“I would like to say a big congratulations not only to tonight's winners, but to every business nominated for an award tonight,” Ducharme said. “The fact that your business is here tonight means that somebody from the community took the time to go online, fill out a form and say ‘hey, this business is good at what it does', so just being nominated alone is absolutely huge, and you should all be incredible proud of your work (over the past year).”