The Bulkley Valley Credit Union was named Business of the Year at the annual Smithers District Chamber of Commerce Community and Business Awards gala Nov. 16.
Winners were determined by a vote of chamber members.
The other top award, Business Person of the Year went to Avi Ranjan, owner of Subway.
The gala itself was a record breaking night for the chamber.
The event, dubbed the “Blue Carpet Gala” saw more people attend than ever before and the chamber received more nominations for awards than they ever have.
Chamber manager Sheena Miller was happy with how the evening turned out and pleasantly surprised with how many younger faces were in attendance. She said more than 200 people showed up. Last year, 140 attended.
“The gala has never seen more than 150 people before,” she said.
Chamber board President Greg Wacholtz said they also had a record number of nominations. There were more than 100 hundred nominations and Wacholtz said it was very difficult for the chamber to narrow it down.
Aside from the awards, the evening also featured silent and live auctions, a halftime show with Mark Perry and band, prizes for best dressed and best dance moves and the evening ended with a DJ Dance and glow stick party.
There were 12 awards presented and three special awards.
The Major Contributor to Arts and Culture went to Dolly Alfred for her Witsuwit’en Wednesday, a Facebook page dedicated to the revitalization of the Witsuwit’en language. Every week she shares a word and its translation from her traditional language.
“I’m excited, bubbly and so overwhelmed,” Alfred said after winning the award. “When they called my name, it took a second for it to sink in.The most important reason I started doing this is to reach as many people to teach them the richness and beauty of the language and culture, especially people who are away from Witset and not surrounded by fluent speakers to teach them.”
The Young Entrepreneur of the Year was handed to Jennah Gainer of Telly’s Grill. She co-owns the restaurant with her husband and runs the front end.
Gainer said she was very humbled to win.
“Everyday motivates you to do things differently, you learn so much dealing with different people and customers and having your staff, it is a constant learning experience,” she said. “We’ve been open for two years and you can just hope to get better all the time.”
OTHER AWARDS
Home-based Business of the Year:
Rustica Wood Fired Bakery
Family Friendly Business of the Year: Bulkley Valley Bright Beginnings
Environmental Business of the Year: Nature’s Pantry
Citizen/Volunteer of the Year: Mark deHoog
Public Service Excellence: Smithers Fire Rescue
Tourism Excellence: Smithers Brewing Company
Customer Service Excellence for an Individual: Duane de Vries of Bulkley Valley Credit Union
Customer Service Excellence for a Business: Bulkley Valley Wholesale.
