Do you appreciate their contribution to our community? Let everyone know
There are a huge number of amazing local businesses in our area that give back to our communities in many different ways and the upcoming Selkirk Biz Awards aims to acknowledge their hard work.
The event is hosted by the Selkirk Biz which is the local and district Chamber of Commerce. They’ve been around since 1901 and they partner with businesses in the communities of Selkirk, St. Andrews, St. Clements, West St. Paul and East St. Paul to promote local business.
“[The Biz Awards are] all about celebrating businesses and their accomplishments. There are about ten different categories that businesses can be nominated in. They could be celebrated for anything from customer service, to new business [of the year], to philanthropic work or the woman entrepreneur award. It’s all about celebrating, Selkirk, St. Andrews St. Clements, West St. Paul and East St Paul. We have a lot of amazing businesses, and it’s just really good to highlight them,” said Jim Pelletier, president of the Selkirk Biz.
The first step in the process of getting your favourite local businesses acknowledged is filling out a nomination form and telling the judging panel why this business is so near and dear to you.
“We always want to know who is being nominated and why they are being nominated. Tell us the story. It’s really easy to say ‘Because they’re great,’ but what makes them great?” said Pelletier.
An example of this is the business that won last year’s Women Entrepreneur of the Year Award which was Lockport’s Shawna Petofalvi of The Vine Tattoos and Apparel. Petofalvi and her business make a difference in our community in so many ways. She supports community initiatives and is a member of our local Business and Professional Women’s organization but even more than that she provides a healing opportunity in our community through self-harm scar coverups and cosmetic tattoos for breast cancer survivors. These are the kinds of stories that set businesses apart when being considered for Biz Award nominations.
Pelletier says that it’s really important to take time to acknowledge our local businesses because they are invested in and contribute the most back to our communities.
“Local businesses, they’re the ones that donate their time and money to everything local… They’re owned by your mom and dad, cousins, aunts and uncles. For the most part, we all know who the owner is. They tend to live in our community as well, so they have a vested interest in the community,” explained Pelletier.
He encourages people to take a step back and look around at the businesses in our community and consider who deserves to be acknowledged for the hard work that they do.
“It takes five to ten minutes to nominate someone and it doesn’t have to just be one business if you feel that somebody’s doing a great job [nominate them and let them know,]” said Pelletier.
The link to nominate businesses is available on the Selkirk Biz’s Instagram and Facebook pages. You might also be able to spot posters up around at local businesses which will have a QR code to the online Google Form submission form. You can also go to forms.gle. The deadline for submissions is October 1.
