Business best saluted with SCBEX Awards
Swift Shoe and new owner Amy Tynning earned the SCBEX in the Small Business award category. Swift Shoe has now earned awards by two generations of owners, as back in 2011 Swift Shoe Repair won the Members Business of the Year Award.
Taking home the Medium Business award was Buffalo Brew Pub. This is the second SCBEX for Buffalo Brew Pub, who were previously saluted in 2009 when they won in the Growth and Expansion category.
SWT was selected as the winners of the Large Business SCBEX award. The inland grain terminal began operations in January 1997 as the first producer owned terminal in the Southwest, but they have expanded beyond that scope over the ensuing years.
“Over the last few years we’ve spent a lot of time and effort expanding our crop inputs business and expanding outside of our grain terminal and trying to get to farther reaches of the Southwest area,” explained SWT General Manager Monty Reich.
“We’re also engaged right now in expanding our tracks so we can handle more railcars that we can keep up with the railroads expansion of bigger and longer and faster trains.”
“And we have many other things on the go that we’re looking to grow and expand the business so we have a future that involves growth and we’re excited to be part of that.”
SWT employs 75 employees and operates at their Antelope Terminal as well as Crop Inputs locations in Hazenmore, Shaunavon, Cabri, Wymark and Kyle.
The Center (Swift Current Community Youth Initiative) is now a two time winner in the Not for Profit SCBEX category to add to a win they enjoyed in 2015.
The Employer of Persons with Disabilities SCBEX went to Imagine Early Learning Centre
Taking home the SCBEX in the Home Based Business category was Brandon Wiebe Graphic Design. Wiebe submitted the winning design for the medals presented at the 2019 Western Canada Summer Games, helped re-design the Swift Current Broncos current jerseys, and is the well known designer of Farm Life Apparel.
He admitted it is humbling to be recognized by the Chamber and his peers.
“For me as a designer, in an artistic field, you go through ebbs and flows… it’s a very personal thing. So this award is going to sit somewhere I can see it so when I’m questioning if I’m good or not, I can look at this and say ‘hey, some people think I’m good.’ So it should be helpful,” he chuckled.
Wiebe also reflected that he is now the third generation winner of a SCBEX. In 2012 Great West Auto and his grandpa George Wiebe was selected for the Business Hall of Fame. Just this past year, the family run Great West Auto Electric/bumper to Bumper earned the Medium Size Business of the Year honours.
“It is really cool that there is kind of a line there. I don’t have to wonder can I achieve this for another decade or something. It’s there.”
Wiebe noted that having a business based in Swift Current ties into the city motto of Where Life Makes Sense. Earlier in his work career he lived in Calgary where he designed promotional material for Samaritan’s Purse Canada.
“I didn’t like living there (Calgary). I don’t like being in traffic for two hours a day. The scenery is beautiful, but Swift Current has something special. It has these wonderful connections, and it has family, and it has short commutes. And you can prioritize life instead of work, and life doesn’t have to become work. You’re not going to make as much here, but who cares.”
The final two SCBEX awards were presented to the previously announced Member Business of the Year Saskabilities, while the Dr. Noble Irwin Regional Healthcare Foundation was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Karla Wiens, the CEO of the Swift Current and District Chamber of Commerce, said the 21st annual SCBEX Awards was another special event.
“It’s an evening of celebration, of great emotion. People are very thankful to be nominated, and then when they win and are recognized…there’s lots of emotions,” she explained following the awards ceremony.
She said this heartwarming event is an important opportunity for the mix of businesses which receive recognition by simply being nominated.
“The number one reason I think to continue these awards is I don’t think people thank each other enough for the good things that are going on. Business people don’t do what they do to win any awards,” Wiens said. “An event such as this brings a lot of like minded people together in one room…and celebrate with each other.”
“An evening like this provides that venue for them to celebrate, which I don’t think they get to do as often as they should.”
“At the end of the day what makes the evening different very much is the award winners and the various different perspectives that they bring. So it’s always really nice. I love this evening every year.”