Chamber hands out annual awards

BUSINESSES HONOURED IN 12 CATEGORIES

Prime Catering won Business of the Year Thursday night as the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce had its 2018 Business of the Year Awards at the Coast Hotel and Conference Centre.

The event, held during Small Business Week, recognizes the top businesses in Lethbridge in 12 categories. Nomination forms for the awards were circulated throughout the community from June until August with close to 80 nominations were received, some in more than one category, the chamber said in a release Friday.

A judging panel for each award, consisting of members of the Chamber of Commerce, ranked each nominee numerically with the highest overall score winning the award.

The Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce also presented two $1,000 scholarships to two students: Sarah Jorgensen, Lethbridge College Business Administration– Management Diploma Program; and Ryan Hubble, U of L/Dhillon School of Business Bachelor of Management Program.

“We have lots of fantastic businesses doing great things in our community and this is an opportunity to highlight and showcase what’s happening in our community that makes Lethbridge a great place to live,” said Karla Pyrch, executive director of the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce, in the news release.

“We were very excited to have over 400 people out to celebrate each other and the great things that are happening in our community. All of the nominees are great businesses doing great things that people see a reason to recognize them, so although it’s nice to award an overall winner, we think that it’s great that we have so many businesses we can honour.”

The full list of winners is as follows:

• Business Ethics Award: D.A. Electric Ltd.

• Business Leadership Award: Carefree Kitchens & Lighting

• Business Legacy Award: Cornerstone Funeral Home

• Environmental Stewardship Award: Flexahopper Plastics Ltd.

• Excellence in Customer Service Award: Martin Brothers Funeral Chapels

• Indigenous Engagement Award: Aoowahsin Catering & Teddi Cakes

• Innovation & Advancement Award: Great Excavations Inc.

• Outstanding Employer Award: Bridge City Chrysler

• Spirit of Lethbridge Award: Lethbridge Vehicle Licensing & Registry

• New Business of the Year: Fee Simple Law

• Business of the Year: Prime Catering

• People's Choice Award: Adaptive Technologies Inc.

• Top 40 Under Forty: Adriana Mercader