SWCC hosts Business Excellence Awards

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Strathmore Wheatland Chamber of Commerce (SWCC) hosted their annual Business Excellence Awards, Oct. 25, at the Strathmore Civic Centre, celebrating local business within the local community.

“It is to recognize the business excellence in Strathmore and Wheatland County. There are so many businesses … it is nice to be able to recognize (them) for their hard work and it is just something to break out of the norm,” said Tyler Hill, director and treasurer for the SWCC. “As a business owner, it is awesome when you get that recognition, that unexpected pat on the back and it comes straight from your clients and your customers in the community, so I think it is very impactful in that sense.”

He explained the estimated count of total nominees approached 300 between the array of awards up for grabs.

An assortment of categories made up the available awards, which were decided by a bipartisan panel of judges, so as to remove any potential for bias. 

Categories included but were not limited to small business, medium business, large business, agricultural business, and youth entrepreneur. 

Anyone within the local community was able to nominate any business for an award. The nominator was responsible for selecting which category their nominated business was placed in; however, adjustments were able to be made in case of user error.

“It is a lot of different organizations, and a wide spectrum of different types of businesses too, from agriculture to home-based businesses, jewelry making, to large businesses like Canadian Tire and Walmart type thing,” said Hill. “It is a pretty wide spectrum; there are a lot of different businesses in the county in general … it is really cool seeing the amount of support pour in and the nominations come in for different businesses. Seeing businesses obviously having made an impact on their clientele or on their customer base in order for this many people to want to nominate them is pretty cool.”

Hill added the Business Excellence Awards as an event was sold out, with the SWCC even going so far as to add additional seats to accommodate some last-minute tickets after regular sales had closed.

He explained he anticipates the event to continue its trend of annual growth as Strathmore and Wheatland County continue to expand and attract new businesses, entrepreneurs and enterprises.

“One of the reasons why we do what we do as a chamber is to give recognition and to support local businesses and this just feels like a great way to support local businesses and all the hard work that goes into building and running a business,” said Hill.

Winners of the SWCC Business Excellence Awards in their various categories include:

Small Business of the Year – Lil Hoots Children’s Boutique

Medium Business of the Year – Remedy’s RX Pharmacy

Large Business of the Year – Strathmore Canadian Tire

Downtown Business of the Year – Willow Tree Laser & Esthetics

New Business of the Year – Mountain Peak Advanced Foot Care

Individual Customer Service – Paul Wyman, Southern Stars Custom Woodwork

Social Media Pioneer of the Year – Agra Risk Wheatland Kings

Wheatland Business of the Year – Early Bird Air Ltd

Business Customer Service – The Ranch Dental

Nonprofit Business of the Year – Strathmore Municipal Library

Ag Business of the Year – More Than Just Feed

Youth Entrepreneur of the Year – Hayley’s Space Pantry

Home Business of the Year – The Piano Studio of Carolyn Steeves

Next on the docket for the SWCC is the upcoming annual Cookie Walk which will be taking place in downtown Strathmore.