Business Excellence Awards return
By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter
The Strathmore Wheatland Chamber of Commerce (SWCC) is hosting the annual Business Excellence Awards at the end of the month and is excited to once again be hosting the event in person.
Though the last iteration of the annual awards ceremony was never fully canceled due to concerns surrounding COVID-19, it was moved to an online format to meet provincial health restrictions at the time.
Acting chair of the SWCC, Hayley Poirier, said the event is an important one to hold as it recognizes businesses and entrepreneurs who set a standard of excellence in the local community.
“It has been an interesting year … we took on the Business Excellence Awards as something that we felt was important to all of our local businesses and we continue to believe that celebrating, especially in challenging times that we’re in … it’s important,” said Poirier. “What we did last year is … we followed the lead of going virtual and we did a zoom presentation of the Business Excellence Awards. Everything was, for the most part, pre-recorded and the live components were two co-hosts on site being filmed.”
The awards will be hosted live and in person this year with 50 per cent occupancy at the Muirfield Golf Course. For those who will not, or are unable to attend in person, the event will be streamed live over Zoom.
Poirier added there’s an element to hosting a live award in person that simply is not felt when everyone is isolated behind their computer screens.
“The hope is that we’ll be able to have 50 people in the room and those people will be the presenters of the awards and the winners. The winners will each be able to come on to the stage and accept their award,” said Poirier. “It does add a level of intimacy … and to be able to recognize people in person – we all miss that. We are really excited to be able to create an atmosphere that will be one of a lot of energy and celebration.”
The Business Excellence Awards will be operating under Alberta’s restriction exemption program and will require presentation of a vaccination record QR code, as well as ID at the door.
As of Dec. 30, 2021, Poirier said there had been 140 nominations across the 13 award categories. Nominations for businesses or individuals were left up to the public to nominate and those who were asked to judicate the event were selected as non-biased parties.
“We didn’t put criteria on the nomination other than they have been proven to be in business for more than two years and they are a business in good standing,” added Poirier.
Though it is possible for a business or individual to be awarded more than one commendation, it is uncommon. According to Poirier, not a single nominee has yet to walk away with more than two awards on a given year.
“It’s ramping up, for sure. There’s always this little bubble of excitement in January, which was one of the reasons why we picked January. Everybody needs something to be able to look forward to and celebrate,” said Poirier. “It becomes a beacon of what you’re trying to strive for. When people see an award that says business excellence … I believe that customers and clients really look at that and go, ‘hey, that’s excellent.’ And there’s a little bit of pride for that business that won it.”
The award ceremony will be hosted on Jan. 28, starting at 6:15 p.m. Tickets are available to purchase online through Eventbrite.