Morinville Chamber recognizes its roaring successes

Magician and comedian John Charles does a little rope magic with realtor turned flapper Linda Getzlaf. - Stephen Dafoe Photos

By MorinvilleNews.com Staff

Morinville – Small Business Week in Morinville ended with a bang Thursday night as Morinville and area’s business community got together for an evening of fellowship and recognition. Once again the Morinville and District Chamber of Commerce held its annual award’s night gala, this year at the Morinville Community Cultural Centre. This year’s event carried a 1920s theme and the tagline Celebrating our Roaring Successes. A total of 27 local business and organizations were nominated for seven awards.

Business of the year was once again divided into four categories: home-based, small, medium and large.

Nominees for home-based business of the year included J’Lynn Esthetics, Morinville Blind Designs and Premium Food Services. This year’s winner was J’Lynn Esthetics.

Battling it out for small business of the year are Entheos Wellness Centre, Professional Realty Group, Technical Automotive and MorinvilleNews.com. This year’s award went to Entheos Wellness Centre.

There were five nominees for medium business of the year: Hunters Print and Copy, Morinville Shell / White Rose Diner, Morinville Subway, Career Employment and Counselling Services and Integra Tire. This year’s awards committee deemed Morinville Subway worthy of the honour of medium business of the year. The Patels, owner of the Morinville franchise were selected by their company as 2010 North American Franchise of the year.

The large business category saw three nominees this year: RV City, Home Hardware / Bumper to Bumper, and Alliance Pipeline, the latter of whom took the honour.

This year’s award ceremony added a new category of award for businesses – a legacy award for a company’s long-standing reputation and commitment to the business and residential community. The award was presented to Home Hardware / bumper to Bumper, who were nominated alongside, Sturgeon Foundation and Champion Petfoods.

“The Legacy Award is really important because we wanted to find a way to recognize the businesses that have had longevity and been a mentor for other businesses in the community,” said Chamber Manager Jaye Parrent, adding all the nominees had a record of helping the community and other businesses where they can.

Always happy to help in almost any situation are the area’s non-profit groups who are once again recognized with their own category of award this year. The Morinville Food Bank Society, Morinville Public Library and Morinville Fish and Game Association were all acknowledge as being worthy of the award; however, only one could receive the award. This year’s non-profit award was presented to The Morinville Food Bank Society.

This year non-profit and for-profit businesses and organizations were once again eligible for a community service award, a category introduced last year and open to Chamber and non-Chamber members. Five nominees were included for the awards committee to weigh: Hunters Print and Copy, Higher Grounds Espresso Bar, Premium Food Services, Morinville Fish and Game Association, and MorinvilleNews.com / Monday Morning News. The award was presented by Champion Petfoods to MorinvilleNews.com / Monday Morning News.

Another new entry this year was a First Nations Spirit of Business Award. The recipient, selected by Alexander Band Council, was Timberwolf 2000, a company started by Harley Arcand, an entrepreneur who lost his life fighting a fire a month after the business began to blossom. The business is continued on by Harley’s family who continue to grow his dream in his honour.

Thursday night’s business awards gala included a banquet and entertainment as well as a special recognition of Cole Dribnenky, a 13-year-old Georges H. Primeau student who recently won the Communities ChooseWell Iron Chef Competition in Edmonton. The Georges H. Primeau student impressed Morinville’s business community and received a well-deserved round of applause.

Floral centre pieces in a 1920s style, designed and donated by the Flower Stop, were auctioned off at the end of the evening with proceeds going to the Morinville Food Bank Society. Amount raised was not available by MorinvilleNews.com deadline.

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