Award Nominations are Now Being Accepted for 2010

Lunenburg Queens – April 26, 2010  Andrew Button, Chair of the organizing committee for the Lunenburg Queens Business Excellence Awards, announced today, that nominations are now being accepted for the 2010 event.  This year for the first time, there is a web site that will provide up to date information about the event. www.lqbusinessawards.ca. Nominations can be made on line at the website or a paper nomination form can be obtained from your local chamber of commerce or board of trade.

 This year’s ceremony and dinner will be held at Oak Island Resort on Monday, October 4, 2010.

“This is an excellent event that recognizes the quality of our local businesses.” Button said. “The committee is looking forward to receiving a record number of nominations.”

Every year the Committee puts out calls to the public to nominate businesses for awards under a number of categories. This year the categories will be:

• Small Business Award
• Large Business Award
• Entrepreneurial Award
• Export Achievement Award
• New Business Award
• Hospitality Business Award

Nominees and winners receive publicity during the process. The winner in each category will be presented with a beautiful award crafted by Amos Pewter of Mahone Bay to recognize their achievement.

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Local businesses hailed at gala dinner

Lunenburg Queens – 24 September 2009 – Six local businesses will be hanging plaques in their offices after receiving honours as best in their category before a packed audience at the prestigious Lunenburg Queens Business Excellence Awards dinner this evening.

Held this year at the Days Inn in Bridgewater, the Awards event, which has been running in various forms for more than six years, was expanded for the first time to include businesses from both Queens and Lunenburg Counties. The winners for 2009 are:

Small Business Award – J & H Industries, Liverpool

Large Business Award – Lighthouse Publishing, Bridgewater

Export Achievement Award - Terra Beata Cranberries, Lunenburg

Entrepreneurial Award - Kisserup Consulting, Chester

Hospitality Award - Guppy’s Place Family Restaurant, New Germany

New Business Award – Classic Granite Countertops, Bridgewater

Six of the Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade in the Lunenburg Queens region worked together to organize the awards ceremony.  Businesses were nominated by customers, employees, suppliers and owners. The winners in each category were selected by the category sponsor and they received a specially designed plaque in recognition of their achievement before more than 260 guests who attended the evening gala event.

Guest speaker John Wiles, Station Manager at CKBW Radio, told the audience when times are hard businesses should devote more attention than ever to getting their messages out to potential customers and he said they should turn to a variety of marketing mediums, traditional and otherwise. Emcee for the evening was Andrew Button, a member of the Business Advisory Team at Nova Scotia Business Inc.

Ann O’Connell, Chairperson of the Awards Organizing Committee and the Executive Director of the Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce, commented:  “It’s inspiring to celebrate outstanding businesses. One of the main reasons for the awards is to celebrate the many, many excellent businesses we have in our area and to recognize their achievements and accomplishments.”

The evening was made possible by a variety of sponsors including CKBW, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Bell Aliant, Michelin, BMO, Clearwater, Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI), and the Acadia Centre for Social and Business Entrepreneurship (ACSBE).

NSBI’s Button joined O’Connell on the organizing committee along with Heather Fralic, Branch Manager, Scotiabank, Bridgewater Mall; Sharon LeBlanc, President, The Performance Synergy Group, Andrea Zwicker, Executive Director Lunenburg Board of Trade; John Bryson, President of Safehome Security, Sharon Peripoli, Owner-Operator of Caledonia Country Hostel, and GayleWilson, President of Hoopoe Canada.

The event was organized and presented by The Chester and Area Chamber of Commerce, Lunenburg Board of Trade, Mahone Bay Chamber of Commerce, Riverport Board of Trade, North Queens Board of Trade and the Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce.

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Local businesses hailed at prestigious awards ceremony

Lunenburg County – 27 October 2008 – Seven local businesses were honored as best in their category before a sold-out audience at the fifth annual Lunenburg County Business Excellence Awards.

The winners are:

Small Business Award – Apple Berry Farm Market, Bridgewater

Large Business Award – H.B. Multimedia Studios, Lunenburg

Innovation Award – Homegrown Skateboards, Lahave

Entrepreneurial Achievement Award – Julien’s Pastry Shop Ltd., Chester

Grassroots Award – Charles Lantz Cabinetry, Garden Lots

Export Achievement Award – Lunenburg County Winery, Newburne

New Business Award – Chester Organics, Chester

More than 240 guests attended the evening gala event at the Oak Island Resort in Western Shore.  Since 2004, the five Lunenburg County Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade have worked together in organizing the awards ceremony to recognize and inspire business success in the area.  The public puts forth the nominees who are then judged by category sponsors. Winners received a plaque to recognize their achievement at the two-hour dinner ceremony.

Guest speaker Jim Reid, President and CEO of Green Solutions North America Inc., told the enthusiastic crowd about his personal business success and the opportunity he saw in the redistribution of no longer needed company assets such as furniture, supplies and equipment.  Emcee for the evening was Sharon LeBlanc, President, The Performance Synergy Group.

Ann O’Connell, Chairperson of the Awards Organizing Committee and Executive Director of the Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce, exclaimed: “What a pleasure and inspiration to have the opportunity be celebrate the accomplishments of  people who have run the gauntlet of the challenges of business ownership,and not only survived but excelled!”

The evening was made possible by presenting sponsor, Lighthouse Publishing Limited, and by category sponsors Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Aliant, Michelin, BMO, Clearwater, Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI) and Acadia Centre for Social and Business Entrepreneurship (ACSBE).  Performance Synergy Group’s LeBlanc joined O’Connell on the organizing committee along with, Heather Fralic, Branch Manager, Scotiabank, Bridgewater Mall; Andrew Button, Business Counsellor, ACSBE; Andrea Zwicker, Executive Director Lunenburg Board of Trade; Janet MacLeod, Business Development Officer, Lunenburg Queens Regional Development Agency and Gayle Wilson, President of Hoopoe Canada.

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Congratulations to all the nominees. A complete list follows:

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        Lunenburg County Business Excellence Awards October 27, 2008

Oak Island Resort

The Lunenburg County Business Excellence Awards Organizing Committee invites you to nominate a local business for the awards. The categories are listed below with a brief overview of the criteria. Upon receiving a nomination, a member of the nominating committee will contact the business owner and provide them with a nomination package to be completed and returned by August 15th. As in past years a business may be nominated by the owner or a staff member of that business.

Please note there is a new category this year “New Business Award”

Award Categories – 2008

Small Business   (Sponsored by Business Development Bank of Canada)

• Must operate with less than 16 full time employees
• Primary business operation must be in Lunenburg County
• Must have an established reputation for providing a superior level of customer service
• Must provide a brief description of the business philosophy of purchasing locally
• Provide examples of community support and involvement (employer or employees)
• List any awards or commendations received for business products or services.

Large Business (Sponsored by Aliant)

• Must operate with 16 or more full time employees
• Primary business operation must be in Lunenburg County
• Must have an established reputation for providing a superior level of customer service
• Must provide a brief description of the business philosophy of purchasing locally
• Provide examples of community support and involvement (employer or employees)
• List any awards or commendations received for business products or services 

Entrepreneurial Achievement Award (Sponsored by BMO)

• Primary business operations must be in Lunenburg County
• Has shown a unique approach to market entry or expansion
• Growth in employment
• Positive impact on local economy
• Provide examples of resourcefulness, and creative thinking
• List any awards or commendations received for business products or services

Innovation Award (Sponsored by Michelin)

• Provide examples of where the business has shown innovation and ingenuity to achieve growth
• Primary business operation must be in Lunenburg County
• List of any awards or commendations received for products or service

Grassroots Award (Sponsored by Clearwater)

• Primary business operations must be in Lunenburg County
• Business must have been in operations for at least five years
• Provide examples of growth in Number of employees, products and services and customers under the present ownership

Export Achievement Award (Sponsored by NSBI)

• Primary business operations must be in Lunenburg County
• Increase in export business during the past year (either domestic or foreign markets)
• Number of new export markets developed
• Approach used to develop new markets
• Provide information about the impact on the local economy

New Business Award (Sponsored by ACSBE)

• Business must be operating for less than 24 months
• Primary business operations must be in Lunenburg County
• Employment created
• Provide examples of how the business approach used is unique
• Brief overview of the personal vision of the owner
• List of any awards or commendations received for products or service

For a nomination form please use the following link:  Call for Nominations july 08

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Lunenburg County business Excellence Awards October 18th, 2007

 The Board of Directors of the Bridgewater and area Chamber of Commerce congratulates chamber member, Mahone Insurance Group as the winner of the

Large Business Award at the Lunenburg County Business Excellence Awards. The Awards ceremony was held Thursday, October 18th at the Wandlyn Inn in Bridgewater.

Rofhie's Mens Wear, a long time Chamber member, was a finalist in the Grassroots category. Congratulations.

The list of finalists, and the winners, in each of the categories are listed below:

Since 2004, the five Lunenburg County Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade have come together to plan and organize this gala event to celebrate business success in our community. Nominated by the public and judged by category sponsors, winners received a plaque to recognize their achievement at the two hour ceremony attended by over 200 guests at the Bridgewater Wandlyn Inn.

Guest speaker, Maurice Guitton, President and CEO of Composites Atlantic Ltd. spoke to the enthusiastic crowd about his personal business success and the benefits of doing business in Lunenburg County. 

The evening was made possible by presenting sponsor, Lighthouse Publishing Limited, and by the generous category sponsors BDC, Aliant, Michelin, BMO Bank of Montreal, Clearwater, and NSBI. Each sponsor not only made a financial contribution, but committed their time to judging and selecting a winner from an exceptional pool of nominees.

Chamber member Bob Richards, of The Home Centre was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening