BONNYVILLE – The Bonnyville and District Chamber of Commerce wanted to recognize resiliency in local businesses and the community didn’t disappoint.
The chamber’s inaugural Our Resiliency Runs Deep Awards saw 90 nominations put forward ahead of the May 27 virtual event.
“Some of those were duplicates,” noted Serina Parsons, executive director for the local chamber. “It represented about 35 businesses and a couple of individuals in our area.”
Parsons noted that was the most submissions they’ve received for any of the events that they’ve held in the past.
“Surprised would be the wrong word because our community continually steps up and right now when there’s time to show appreciation and for a positive and happy spin on those businesses that have persevered so much,” she expressed. “Our community always rallies together and they knew it was time to show that appreciation to the businesses.”
The idea for the awards, which were only open to Bonnyville businesses, came from Parsons watching local entrepreneurs struggle to adapt to how to provide their services during the COVID-19 pandemic and how many changed the way they do things.
“I looked around and saw a lot of strengths that came out of it,” she said. “It’s because of that strength and because of that willingness to keep going, a lot of positives happened. People learned how to pivot their business models, people learned how to engage in social media, and people learned how to keep their businesses competitive during this hard time and so I thought ‘this needs to be rewarded. This needs to be recognized because it wasn’t easy.’ It’s never easy to change your business model, but especially not in the face of a pandemic, public health restrictions, lack of business and finances, and these people still did it.”
The categories included internal leadership, adaptation award, social media presence, courage to come back, the giveback award, emerging entrepreneur, and pandemic perseverance.
Gouda and Brie Charcuterie is among those who had their name put forward in the emerging entrepreneur section. Owner and head food stylist Katelynn Gordon said she went onto the chamber’s website and nominated some of her fellow entrepreneurs.
“There’s just so many other businesses. As a business owner now, you collaborate with a lot of businesses and you get a deeper level of understanding of what goes into it,” Gordon expressed. “You have a new appreciation. There’s Underground Barre and Mythik Games, just businesses that have been struggling, but you see them fighting through the pandemic just doing what they can.”
When asked to describe Gouda and Brie Charcuterie, Gordon noted they provide pre-made boxes that can be shared with family and friends.
“Charcuterie is actually a term for the meat and it’s just become this trendy thing that people have used to describe the whole thing,” she detailed. “It's really like a meat and cheese board. It has meats, cheese, cracker spreads, edible garnishes, dried and fresh fruits, nuts. I also put some edible flowers in there.”
Gouda and Brie is “super new,” Gordon stated, as she only launched six months ago, and are in the process of opening a location at the Bonnyville Business Centre that will be a “Subway-style charcuterie so people can come in and choose what pieces they like.”
Gordon offered her appreciation to the Bonnyville community.
“I want to thank you for nominating and supporting us.”
Booster Juice also joins Gouda and Brie in the emerging entrepreneur category. The Bonnyville location officially opened their doors on Feb. 13 and have also been embraced by their customers.
“The people are enjoying it, I believe,” noted co-owner Darcy Skarsen. “It’s something that we’ve been waiting for to open up for quite a while around town. We had a lot of compliments from people coming in from St. Paul to try it and some people were mentioning it feels like a bigger city atmosphere because it’s not something that we’re used to seeing around here.”
The local juice bar also received a nod for the giveback award, which was an important distinction for Skarsen.
“We made it our mandate to make sure that we’re very community-driven and we’re just about ready to celebrate our three-month anniversary and we have already held several fundraisers for different groups.”
Some of those include the Bonnyville SPCA, Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) grad class, Premier Academy Cheerleading and Tumbling Bonnyville, and the Iron River School playground fund. First responders who come into the store in uniform also get a tasty treat for free.
“It’s very important to us that (fundraising) is part of what we’re doing.”
Skarsen was appreciative to the chamber for putting a focus on the great things the businesses in town are managing to do during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“People don’t mind letting you know when you’ve done something wrong, so it’s nice to hear when you do things right.”
Along with businesses, essential workers also had the opportunity to have their name put forward to be recognized. Parsons said they received about five people nominated in the frontline hero category and the field they work in ranges from healthcare to retail and everything in-between.
“I don’t think we can have an awards ceremony about the perseverance and resilience throughout the pandemic without acknowledging the very important people that are on the frontlines and are working every day,” stressed Parsons. “These people don’t have the flexibility in their jobs. If their child is sick, they can’t just stay home for two weeks. Those people are the ones that are really holding it together for everyone and they need to be recognized as well.”
The virtual ceremony will be streamed through the Our Resiliency Runs Deep Awards event page on social media and the chamber will be posting spotlights of all the nominees online beforehand.
Robynne Henry, Bonnyville Nouvelle
