This week, the Burlington Chamber of Commerce presented its 2023 Business Excellence Awards at a sparkling gala event at the Burlington Convention Centre to celebrate the city’s best and brightest in business.
Local dignitaries and business owners gathered for a three-course dinner and drinks before settling in to hear the names of the night’s big winners. The emcees for the event were financial advisor and former mayor of Burlington Rick Goldring and fashion designer Joseph Tassoni, who ably kept things moving along. Tassoni broke out his light sabres for the second year in a row to much applause, in order to direct award winners on their journeys from speech to trophy acceptance to official photo op. Goldring sagely reminded potential winners to “Be bright, be brief, and move on,” advice that many winners took to heart and mentioned as inspiration in their short and sweet acceptance remarks.
MP Karina Gould delivered the night’s land acknowledgement, followed by welcomes from MPP Natalie Pierre, and the Chamber Board Chair Randall Smallbone. Pierre described both Burlington and the atmosphere in the room when she noted, “Behind every successful business is…a supportive community.” The presenting sponsor, RBC, was thanked, alongside the Business Award Task Force, the team responsible for investigating the nominated businesses and making the difficult decision of who the would be given each award. Task Force Chair Diana Tuszynski announced that this year had seen a record number of nominations; a fittingly successful note to end her tenure as Task Force chair.
The first award of the evening, presented by Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, was the eponymously-named Mayor’s Award. Meed Ward explained that the award this year was dedicated specifically to a business that had excelled in honouring equity, diversity, and inclusion — and, given the importance of equity, diversity, and inclusion, that it would remain thus for the remainder of this term of office.
The deserving winner of this award was the Pink Project, whose two founders, Olivia Netto and Iman Nemar, were on hand to accept their award for their work towards menstrual equity. These two young women began this work when they were in high school, with the simple idea that if toilet paper and soap products were free to use in public bathrooms, why shouldn’t menstrual products also be there, free to use? Behind that is the fact that the unexpected appearance of a period can result in losing a day of work or school if menstrual products are not readily available — and more days can be lost if those products are out of financial reach. Nemar and Netto collaborated with the City of Burlington in a pilot program offering free menstrual products in city facilities, starting with the Burlington Public Library; the city then committed to continuing this practice in all public washrooms in Burlington. They are continuing in their mission of menstrual equity; their goal is “to change reality to celebrate and honour menstruation for what it is — life.”
Next up was the Retail and Wholesale Award. Finalists were Bocana Boutique, Carol Boyko’s Pearl Street boutique selling lingerie, swimwear and clothing; glamjulz, Monica Graves’ long-running jewelry design company; and She’s Got Leggz, Inc., Donna Pinsonneault’s online fashion company known for its leggings. All three finalists were featured in a video shown on big screens in the venue before She’s Got Leggz was announced as the winner.
The Not-for-Proft Award was then presented to the Burlington Soccer Club, who took home the trophy despite tough competition from fellow finalists Burlington Public Library and Drury Lane Theatrical Productions Inc.
Tassoni brought the light sabres out to help introduce Cogeco’s Tim Caddigan, who presented the Service, Small Award. Competition was fierce for this award, with five finalists: Bartimaeus Inc.; Hearing Well Matters!; Oakstone Wealth, Shifra Homes Inc., and The Dance Station. The winner was Oakstone Wealth, whose co-owner Leah Brouwers was on hand to accept the award. She suggested that “small business owners should all stop to appreciate where they are in their unique journeys,” noting that the nomination for this award had reminded Oakstone to do just that.
The Service, Large Award was next on the agenda with a diverse list of businesses chosen as finalists: Baumer Canada, with their “passion for sensors”; Carson Law Office Professional Corporation; Spectrum Airways; and the Healing Path Chiropractic and Wellness Centre. Spectrum Airways picked up the win for this award, and whose president, Chris Kovachik, expressed surprise at winning (“Thanks, guys! I didn’t think we’d win!”) before briefly noting the problems COVID brought to their airline business: “We were temporarily diverted by COVID, but stayed true and now we’re back on track.”
Backed by Bees won the award in the Food, Beverage & Tourism category; other finalists were Boston Pizza Burlington North and Mandarin Burlington. Said beekeeper Dave Stotesbury, “It feels kind of out of place not being in my overalls,” garnering big laughs from the audience.
The set of three Burlington Economic Development awards were given next. ABS Machining won the Excellence in Global Business Award; Innovia GEO won the Excellence in Innovation and Technology Award; and Stillwater Float Centre won the Excellence in Retail Innovation Award. All described feeling honoured to receive the awards, reaffirming each business’s commitment to excellence. Andrew Lee of Innovia GEO, whose work focuses technology to make environmentally-friendly and sustainable heating and cooling systems that are more affordable, noted that it was “validating that we’ve done something important,” that climate change was top of mind for others too.
The 2023 Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year, Al Taylor, of Taylor Moving and Storage, presented the Young Entrepreneur Award next. The finalists for this award, whose nominees must be aged 35 or younger, were Dale Gray, of Creature Comforts HVAC Inc.; Kristin Wootton, of Balance Integrative Health and IV Therapy; and Mike Salisbury, of Strong Private Wealth of Raymond James. Dale Gray, after stating in his finalist video that Creature Comforts was “Burlington’s best” (“If you don’t believe me, come on down and ask my mom yourself!”), took home the Young Entrepreneur Award, followed by an impromptu testimonial by emcee Goldring.
The Heritage Award, given to a legacy business in Burlington, was awarded to Burlington Public Library. CEO Lita Barrie accepted the award with gratitude, stating the library’s continued commitment to “ignite curiosity and foster compassion in Burlington now and for years to come,” before offering to library cards to anyone who happened to not already have one.
The Women Business Leaders Award was given to Nancy Romic of Shifra Homes, whose emotional acceptance speech honoured Shifra’s Board President Deacon Randy Matters, who passed away earlier this month and was one of Shifra Homes’ founders. Romic noted of Matters, “I believe I’ve made him proud.”
The final award of the night was the Employer of the Year Award. Ritestart Limited was the winner; the other two finalists were Continuum II Inc., and LJM Developments. Darryl Edmonds of Ritestart, after congratulating the other nominees (“You keep pushing us to be better.”), stated his gratitude for the award: “It makes us very proud, and reminds us to keep improving for ourselves and our great community in Burlington.”
Closing remarks were given by Burlington Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Terry Caddo, saying, “[we at the Chamber] spend everyday thinking about how to encourage and promote a strong business community.” That theme of community and support amongst businesses was strong throughout the night; Young Entrepreneur Dale Gray left the stage with a message fitting for all of us to take to heart — “Together we’ll create a future brimming with possibilities.”
