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Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce Business & Community Awards
The Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce hosted their annual Business and Community Awards in October at Shell Place in MacDonald Island Park. This event recognized businesses and community leaders who make the Wood Buffalo Region a great place to live, work, and play. This year the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce introduced one new award and saw over 50 businesses recognized for their outstanding contribution to the business community in Wood Buffalo. The Chamber would like to thank everyone who nominated or voted for this year’ awards. Over 13,000 votes were cast and those votes were used in conjunction with the nomination package to help the Chamber decide on the award recipients.
The Chamber would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the award recipients and thank our award sponsors for their generous support.
The Business of the Year award, sponsored by Harvard Broadcasting, Mix 103.7fm and 100.5Cruz fm, strives to recognize a Wood Buffalo business employing 21+ people which has made an outstanding contribution in the combined areas of business success, innovation and community service. This year’s Business of the Year award recipient is Home Hardware.
Small Business of the Year is designed to recognize a Wood Buffalo business employing up to 6-20 people which has made an outstanding contribution in the combined area of business success, innovation and community service. This award is sponsored by ATCO limited. This year’s recipient of the Small Business of the Year award is K9 Clubhouse.
The purpose of Micro Business of the Year award is to recognize a Wood Buffalo business employing up to 5 people which has made an outstanding contribution in the combined area of business success, innovation and community service. The Micro Business of the Year is sponsored by Balsom Communications. This year’s winner is Kathy’s Fibre Arts.
The Female Business Leader of the Year, Sponsored by Canadian Tire, recognizes a businesswoman who demonstrates leadership and vision; continually invests in the development and growth of herself and those around her; and consistently gives to her community. The recipient of this year’s Female Business Leader of the Year Award is Staci Millard.
The Aboriginal Business of the Year award is sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada. The Aboriginal Business of the Year award recognizes an aboriginally owned and operated company that has demonstrated an outstanding contribution to the Wood Buffalo business community. The recipient of the Aboriginal Business of the Year award is Dreamline Canada.
The Artpreneur Award is sponsored by Snapd Wood Buffalo. This award recognizes individual artists, crafts people, and arts-based business which have made an outstanding contribution in the combined areas of business success, innovation, and community services, and have added value to the local creative economy. This year’s Artpreneur recipient is Theatre; Just Because.
The Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award is the newest Chamber award. It recognizes entrepreneurs under 30 for their contribution to the Wood buffalo business community. The sponsor of this year’s Young Entrepreneur Award is Nexen-CNOOC. This year’s recipient of the award is Melinda Richter of YMM Dance.
The Chamber has also amalgamated with the Gold Star awards. These awards recognize businesses for outstanding customer service. This year we were pleased to present six awards in this category.
The Gold Star Award for Accommodations was presented to the Best Western Plus-Sawridge Suites.
The Gold Star Award for Food and Beverage Business of the Year was sponsored by Arsenal FX. The winner of this Gold Star award was STACS Fine Food.
The Gold Star Award for Professional Services Business of the Year was Hines Health Services.
The Gold Star Award for Personal Services Business of the Year was sponsored by the Oil Sands Community Alliance. The winner of this Gold Star award was Achieve Wellness Spas.
The Gold Star Award for Media Business of the Year was Aurakey Digital Agency.
The overall Gold Star Award for outstanding customer service was sponsored by the Fort McMurray International Airport. The winner of this Gold Star award was The Sprouting Fawn Children’s Boutique.
The Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce would like to extend congratulations to all the nominees and the award recipients. We would also like to thank all of our sponsors for their contribution to the event. The Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce strives to be the voice of action for business in our region and events like our awards gala would not be possible without the support we receive from our members, local businesses and the community. Thank you!
