Kelsi Bissonnette, the owner of Breathe Studio in the Watermark Beach Resort in Osoyoos, was named the Business Person of the Year during last year’s South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards. This year’s awards will take place on Friday, Jan. 24 at the Watermark Beach Resort. Tickets for the event are now on sale. (File photo Richard McGuire)
Business owners from across the South Okanagan will gather next Friday evening in Osoyoos to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and honour several businesses that have enjoyed success.
The South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce (SOCC) will be hosting its annual SOCC Business Excellence Awards and Annual General Meeting on Friday, Jan. 24 at the Watermark Beach Resort.
Between 80 and 100 people are expected to attend with business owners from Osoyoos, Oliver and Okanagan Falls expected to attend what has quickly become a popular event, said chamber president Holly Plante.
“We used to hold an awards banquet several years ago, but then things sort of slowed down and we held an in-house business excellence awards as part of our annual general meeting,” said Plante. “Last year we felt that we had so many amazing businesses operating across our region that we felt it would be a great idea to bring back a big awards night and we had excellent response with more than 80 people showing up.
“We knew then that we had to continue this and we will once again be honouring business excellence across the region. You have to do amazing things to stay in business and succeed in the South Okanagan and we look forward to recognizing several businesses that have done remarkably well.”
A new board of directors will also be selected during the annual general meeting, but that will be a very small part of the evening’s events, said Plante.
“We will still be conducting our AGM as part of the event, but that won’t take a long time and those who aren’t running for the board can step up to the bar and relax for a few minutes while we take care of that part of the agenda,” she said.
“The business excellence awards are, by far, the most important part of the evening.”
Robert Linttell, the chamber’s director of transportation, will also be making a presentation to update chamber members and everyone in attendance about the status of the proposed shuttle service between Kelowna International Airport and communities across the South Okanagan, said Plante.
A Request For Proposal (RFP) is very close to being finalized and the chamber is very much looking forward to hiring a transportation company to transport residents from the airport to communities across the region, hopefully by this summer, she said.
Once again, there will be three different business excellence awards handed out, including Entrepreneur of the Year, Best Small Business (three to six employees) and Best Medium to Large Business (seven or more employees).
The nominees for Entrepreneur of the Year include Jack Bennest, the owner and operator of the Oliver Daily News website, Len McLean, co-owner of HW McLean Construction in Osoyoos and Scott Linttell, owner of Linttell Projects.
Nominees for Best Small Business include Amos Realty, the Osoyoos Coyotes Junior Hockey Club, Lakeside Travel and Sarson’s Mechanical.
Nominees for Best Medium to Large Business (seven or more employees) include JoJo’s Café in Osoyoos, Osoyoos Home Hardware, Sun Valley Dental and the Osoyoos Times/Oliver Chronicle newspapers, both of which are part of Aberdeen Publishing Limited.
Eastlink Cable is the major sponsor of the Business Excellence Awards and they have prepared biographies of all the nominees and senior administration from that company will be handing out the major awards, said Plante.
While the majority of those in attendance will be business owners and their family members and friends, members of the general public are more than welcome to attend, said Plante.
“We expect most of our chamber members to be in attendance, but we’ve opened up the event so anyone who is interested in supporting local businesses are more than welcome to attend,” she said.
Running a successful business takes a lot of time and effort and it’s nice to take one evening each year to recognize businesses that are succeeding and doing well across our region, said Plante.
Tickets are on sale for $49 and this includes dinner and transportation to and from the event, said Plante.
Unveil Shuttles will be providing the transportation and anyone who needs a ride can call the SOCC head office in Oliver to make arrangements at 250-498-6321, ext. 1
Tickets are on sale by calling the same number.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
