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VERNON – The countdown is now underway for Vernon’s biggest business event of the year, the Chamber’s Annual Business Excellence Awards and if the volume of nominations is any indication of the interest it could be one of the biggest events to date.
The Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce received an overwhelming response to its call for nominations for the 2016 Awards with over 200 nominations received in 11 different categories. More than 70 businesses and organizations from around the Greater Vernon area were nominated in several different categories.
The Chamber has introduced a few new awards this year including the People’s Choice and the Newsmaker of the Year. The People’s Choice Award is the only award chosen by public voting as all other award categories are evaluated by a panel of judges based on their submission. The deadline to vote for the People’s Choice Award is Feb 18th and is being done online through the Chamber’s website.
The finalists in each category will be announced at the nominee’s luncheon scheduled for Tuesday February 9th.
The Awards Gala which is presented this year by Valley First Credit Union takes place Friday March 11th at the Vernon Atrium & Conference Centre. Tickets for the nominee’s luncheon are now available while tickets for the Gala, which is always a near sell-out, will go on sale soon.
“We’re trying to create a fun evening that recognizes the best of the best and this year’s theme of the sky’s the limit will be weaved into the decor and activities at the event,” says Dan Proulx, membership & events coordinator with the Chamber. “We will have a few surprises that align with the theme that will make it fun for all those attending.”
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Speaking of recognition events, the Chamber has joined Community Futures North Okanagan which is coordinating the 2016 Enterprize Challenge. This entrepreneur competition is designed to give youth and new start-up business owners the chance to ‘pitch’ their business idea to a panel of judges.
Participants are assigned a mentor to help them prepare a presentation as they compete in the initial pitch phase. The top five people will advance and deliver a final presentation to a panel of local business experts. The grand prize winners are eligible to win nearly $30,000 in cash and prizes! The winners will be announced in early April. The challenge is meant to fuel the next generation of entrepreneurs in the North Okanagan.
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In other news from the North Okanagan, the latest population figures from BCStats have officials at the City of Vernon pretty pleased as those estimates show Vernon as the fifth fastest growing community among cities with a population of 25,000. At 3.4 per cent, the City of Vernon was just behind Langford (7.2 per cent), West Kelowna (5.3 per cent), Chilliwack (4.8 per cent) and Langley (3.5 per cent) for the greatest rate of growth.
“2015 was a very strong year for development in Vernon, which was led by the residential and commercial sectors,” says Kevin Poole, Manager of Economic Development & Tourism for the City of Vernon. “As a result, we are not surprised to see such strong population growth in Vernon.”
Population growth is one of the key pieces of information that investors, developers, businesses and often new residents look at when determining where to invest, develop, expand or relocate. High population growth often signals strong investor confidence and opportunities for additional business services to meet the needs of new residents. 2015 marks the first time in several years that Vernon’s growth rate has been substantially higher than that of the province as a whole, which was estimated at 1 per cent.
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Finally a welcome to the newest members of the Greater Vernon Chamber, VantageOne Realty, Papa Murphy’s Take & Bake Pizza, Liberty Tax Service, 27th Street Florist, Armstrong Regional Cooperative, VantageOne Financial Corp, MP Mel Arnold, Nightingale Medical Supplies Ltd., Shoppers Drug Mart Polson Place Mall, and Printer World International Inc.
– Dan Rogers is the General Manager at the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce and can be reached at manager@vernonchamber.ca.