The key words of the night were innovation, resilience, and community when the best and brightest in Burlington’s local business community were welcomed to the Burlington Performing Arts Centre for the Burlington Chamber of Commerce’s Business Excellence Awards Gala, presented by RBC earlier this week.

After two years of hosting a virtual awards event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was plenty of excitement amongst the attendees. Food stations were set up in the foyer, offering guests options like fajitas, pulled pork or chicken wraps and rice bowls to eat while catching up with each other and networking.

The proceedings continued in the auditorium, where the event emcee, local fashion designer and entrepreneur Joseph Tassoni, charmed the crowd — and, fittingly, had no less than four outfit changes throughout the event. Presenters and speakers included representatives from some of the event sponsors, which included large companies like RBC, Bell, and Cogeco, and local businesses including Beaux Florals, who provided the beautiful flower arrangements that decorated the event space.

Twelve awards were presented in total. The Chamber of Commerce Task Force had a difficult job in choosing out of the 21 finalists for the eight Business Excellence Awards, and were judging on criteria including innovation, growth, employee welfare, and environmentalism.

Many of the award winners made sure to highlight the accomplishments of their fellow finalists and their employees in their acceptance remarks, underscoring the feeling of belonging to a community in Burlington’s local businesses.

Socially- and environmentally-conscious businesses did well in the awards: TipTapPay, which provides devices that allow contactless and immediate donations for charities, aims to “make Burlington the most giving city in Canada,” said CEO Chris Greenfield. Stratus Building Solutions, a green-certified commercial cleaning company, offers franchise opportunities, and ensures franchisee success through extensive support. President Shafiq Mohamed notes that many franchisees are newcomers to Canada, often highly-educated in their home countries, and end up in low-wage jobs once they settle in Canada. Stratus supports them in their new endeavour, so that they go from $1000/month wages to $10,000/month, allowing them to thrive in their new country.

Another of the businesses highlighted was EcoSynthetix Inc.: in a business landscape where companies aim to be carbon-neutral in 10 or 15 years down the road, EcoSynthetix is already climate-positive. Food for Life rescues good food and makes sure it gets to people who need it; clients have said to Executive Director Graham Hill, “My life is richer for you being in it.” And the Burlington Denture Clinic, with owner/denturist Peter Iapichino’s goal to “give Burlington the best smiles around,” is one of the few denturists who accept Ontario Disability Support Program patients. Worthy winners all.

The winners were as follows:

• Hospitality & Tourism: QB Sports Bar Grill Games
• Manufacturing: B.S.B. Manufacturing Limited
• Not-for-Profit: Food For Life
• Retail: Joelle’s and Jeff’s Guyshop
• Service, Business-to-Business: Stratus Building Solutions
• Service, Business -to-Consumer: Burlington Denture Clinic
• Service, Large: TipTapPay Micropayments Limited
• Young Entrepreneur: Joe Apps Technology Support

The other four awards and winners were:

  • Burlington Chamber of Commerce 2022 Mayor’s Award: The Platter Company Gourmet Market
  • 2021 Tourism Burlington Ambassador Award: Burlington Taxi
  • 2022 Burlington Economic Development Award for Excellence in Global Business: Astound Group
  • Burlington Economic Development Award for Excellence in Innovation & Technology: EcoSynthetix Inc.

Congratulations to all finalists and winners of Burlington Chamber of Commerce awards: keep up the good work, Burlington!