Dan Rogers, Executive Director for the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce
KELOWNA – Kelowna Chamber of Commerce Board President Pamela Pearson celebrated the Chamber’s 16 Business Excellence Awards for 2021 Wednesday night at a long-awaited gala. “It was a great evening – a great opportunity to celebrate the resilience of area businesses.” said Pearson.
The Large Business of the Year, which always attracts a lot of attention, went to ACE Plumbing and Heating; the company founded in 1979 by Ray Walters. Forty years later his son Brian, with wife Corallee, carry on the tradition of quality products, exceptional service, and fair pricing. Tranq Sleep Care and Modern PURAIR took the Mid-Size and Small Business of the Year honours respectively while Young Entrepreneur of the Year went to Courtney Koga of CrAsian Foods Corp.
New this year was the Indigenous Business of the Year Award, with the award going to Moccasin Trails, who share their Indigenous culture through the experience of culture, food, ceremonies, and history. Owner Greg Hopf used his acceptance speech as an opportunity to reinforce how important the work is which his company does in building bridges through economic reconciliation. It was a message that was well received by the almost 400 that gathered for the event.
“We were pleased to be able to work with all our sponsors to finally stage this in-person event,” said Dan Rogers, Executive Director of the Chamber. “We were also delighted to pay tribute to Marion Bremner who officially received the hardware recognizing her as the 2021 Business Leader of the Year.”
“It was a night to remember,” said Ted Schisler of co-presenting sponsor Interior Savings Credit Union. “All the finalists embraced the challenges of the past two years with unparalleled resiliency.” Aaron Dow of co-presenting sponsor Farris LLP echoed the sentiment as he saluted all the businesses in attendance. The 2022 Business Excellence Awards cycle will begin in a few months with the Gala set for early November.
Dan Rogers is Executive Director of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce