The 37th Annual Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce Awards saw five recipients take home prestigious awards.
The event, which was held at the Red Deer College Arts Centre, saw 300 business and community leaders on hand to celebrate the success of local business.
“It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of long days and I know that from doing it myself,” said Interim CEO of the Chamber Rick More. “Business has also become such a key role in volunteering for associations and I’m so excited to have a new category with our non-profits because they mean a lot to what we do in Red Deer.”
The Awards, presented in five categories, go out to exceptional businesses within the Red Deer area.
Taking home this year’s Business of the Year Award for 1-10 employees was Master Rim’s Taekwondo.
Taking home the award for 11-20 employees was Woodmaster Cabinets Ltd. while Red Deer Orthodontics came first for the 21+ Employee category.
“I’m so honoured to be standing up here today. It’s all about abundance. It’s abundance of love. I love sharing the energy with everybody and anybody I interact with. I really want to thank everybody that’s been a support network of mine because I definitely couldn’t have done it without you,” said Owner Vivek Cheba.
The Young Entrepreneur Award went to iSupply Stock.
“I’d first like to say thank you to my parents. They’ve done a huge job in supporting me and my sister in all the decisions we’ve made. They’ve done an amazing job. They’ve raised me and my sister to be strong and independent and they’ve supported every decision I’ve made and my sister to this day,” said Co-Owner Cierra Carpenter.
She also thanked their investors and the community for supporting their decisions.
And new this year, the Not-for-Profit award went to the Central Alberta Sexual Assault Support Centre.
“An important thing to say is sexual violence is a crime and the crime is preventable. We are more than the perpetrators, we are the majority. We can end this problem. We need to work together and we can do it. I’m almost positive that we can do it, but we need all of you and let’s do it,” said Executive Director, Patricia Arango.
The annual Business of the Year Awards are organized by the Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce and are held in conjunction with BDC’s Small Business Week.
All companies, both Chamber and non-Chamber members, are eligible to be nominated for an award. Finalists are then selected by an independent judging panel.
This year, the Chamber received a record of 65 nominations, including 14 for the newest award – the Not-for-Profit category.
