{"id":25289,"date":"2019-11-22T20:15:44","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T01:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=25289"},"modified":"2019-11-29T15:31:31","modified_gmt":"2019-11-29T20:31:31","slug":"business-excellence-awards-honour-difference-makers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/business-excellence-awards-honour-difference-makers\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Excellence Awards honour difference-makers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whether they employ ten or one hundred, are just starting\nout or have been long-standing members of the community, think local or think\nglobal, the best of Aurora\u2019s businesses were recognized last week at the Aurora\nChamber of Commerce\u2019s Business Excellence Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognizing businesses in the commercial in non-profit\nsectors, businesses and individuals that place great emphasis on their\ncommunity involvement, and even give a hand-up to young entrepreneurs looking\nfor opportunities, the event represented a cross-section of the community,\nshining a spotlight on individual and team achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTonight\u2019s event is a celebration recognizing the\nsuccesses of the local businesses and organizations in this room tonight. It is\nalso about learning about them \u2013 from their exemplary performance and ensuring\nthat the spirit of enterprise and community continues to evolve and thrive here\nin Aurora,\u201d said Mayor Tom Mrakas at the start of the evening. Economies and\nsocieties are not static; they rely on progress and are driven and shaped by\nideas and contributions of individuals just like yourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur Town currently has over 2,200 businesses and many of\nthose are homegrown success stories which are not only vital to the success of\nour community, they are also inspiring up and coming entrepreneurs to launch\ntheir own businesses. The Town of Aurora is committed to creating the\nconditions in which many more entrepreneurial dreams can be realized so that\nthey too can enjoy the success that we are celebrating here tonight. When you\nsucceed, we all succeed. We honour your hard work, innovation and achievements,\nand we also celebrate your journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evening began with special recognition, an award not\nlisted in the program: The Aurora Chamber of Commerce Youth Engagement Award,\npresented by Sandra Ferri, Executive Director of the Chamber, to realtor Lenard\nLind of the Lind Realty Team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUTH ENGAGEMENT AWARD \u2013 Lenard Lind<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all acknowledge how important it is to immerse our\nyouth in the business community at an early age so they can build their\nconfidence and ability to engage and network with business leaders,\u201d said Ms.\nFerri, before announcing the winner. \u201cOver the last year and a half, this\nindividual has supported the Chamber\u2019s efforts to engage the high schools and\ntheir students in Chamber activities and events. This individual is and has\nalways been a big supporter of Aurora\u2019s youth. In fact, we have students and\nteachers attending tonight and they have been sponsored by this individual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Ms. Ferri announced the winner, Mr. Lind stepped up\nto receive the award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have much of an awards speech here or anything,\nbut I think we all have to give back to the community, and giving back to the\ncommunity is helping the youth get involved in the business community,\u201d said\nMr. Lind, encouraging other businesses to get involved in supporting youth as\nwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW BUSINESS VENTURE \u2013 Tie: Addison Marketing Solutions \/\nMaple Teahouse & Bakeshop <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a first for the Aurora Chamber of Commerce\u2019s Business\nAchievement Awards, a tie was reached in the category of New Business Venture.\nHonours were shared with Addison Marketing Solutions, a local ad agency\nspecializing in online sales, as well as Maple Teahouse & Bake Shop,\nlocated at the northwest corner of Bayview and Wellington, which is owned and\noperated by new Canadians \u2013 both local success stories!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Nominee: Air Riderz Adventure Park<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AWARD \u2013 Key Advantage Team<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Community Involvement Award recognizes a business or\nemployee which\/who shows a strong commitment to give back through participation\nin numerous business and community organizations and\/or charitable events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s winner was the Key Advantage Team, a realty\ncompany led by Susie Strom and Caroline Baile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just want to thank the Chamber for this award and I\nwant to acknowledge our fellow nominees because I know how much they do for our\ncommunity,\u201d said Ms. Strom. \u201cOne of the things that happened when Caroline and\nI merged our teams, I can just say it was seamless and amazing because I share\nthis award with an amazing group of women who work really hard for their clients\nand they understand the importance and the value of giving back to the\ncommunities they live in. We\u2019re so honoured. I want to acknowledge Caroline\ntoo, because\u2026she is on trek right now\u2026with 120 Royal LePage agents who are\ndoing a 100km trek across the Sahara. Collectively, they have raised over $1\nmillion for women\u2019s shelters across Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional nominees: Wellington Aurora Dental, The Lind\nRealty Team<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NON-PROFIT OF THE YEAR: The Aurora Cultural Centre<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embarking on its tenth anniversary season, the Aurora\nCultural Centre was honoured with the Non-Profit of the Year Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an incredible honour for us,\u201d said Suzanne\nHaines, Executive Director of the Aurora Cultural Centre. \u201cWe have an\nincredible group of dedicated volunteers who have been involved with us since\nwe started, on the board, who take you to your seat when you come and see a\nshow with us. Also, a very dedicated staff team who you saw on stage here, most\nwho have been with us since our doors opened. An incredible group who just really\nbelieve in the passion and what arts can do for our community. I am so blessed\nto be working with this team of volunteers and staff. Thank you to everyone who\nhas made the last 10 years incredible, including our founding Executive\nDirector Laura Schembri who set up a foundation of business excellence with the\nboard initially and allowed us to really stand on this platform today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Nominees: Yellow Brick House, St. John\u2019s\nAmbulance<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INNOVATORS AWARD: Mission <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mission, a digital media company which bills itself as a\n\u201cvalues-driven creative organization, focused on delivering amazing fundraising\nresults\u201d while shining a light on important social issues took home the\nInnovators Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to take this opportunity to congratulate all the\nnominees and thank you to whoever nominated us,\u201d said company president\nMichelle Carter. \u201cThis is a great honour. I would also like to thank the Aurora\nChamber of Commerce. If you\u2019re wondering what we do, we basically work in the\ndigital space for the not for profit sector, but we focus on moving pictures. A\ncouple of years ago, as everyone was starting to move online and the internet\nchanged our world, we saw a real gap in the philanthropic sector in terms of\nusing video content in the digital space. We\u2019re super honoured to use our\npowers for good and we\u2019re super-honoured to have this award.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Nominees: Rap Riderz Innovation Centre, STEM\nMinds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR \u2013 A2Y Dance Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A family-run dance studio founded by Aly and Yossi Niznik,\nA2Y offers kids a variety of dance lessons aimed at the improving the whole\nself, whether it is their fitness and health or imparting valuable creative and\nleadership skills, they offer a full slate of recreational and competitive\ndance programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional nominees: Kustom Contracting Inc., Braceland\nStudent Painting<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR: The Millionaire\u2019s Daughter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The local consignment shop The Millionaire\u2019s Daughter\ntook home top honours in the Small Business category. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were just so happy to be nominated, and I am so proud\nof our staff,\u201d said Maureen Barnes. \u201cI have been doing this for almost 11 years\nnow with three other locations and you never get up here without the people\nbehind you. Of course, thank you to the Chamber for nominating us, but\nhonestly\u2026I am so happy for everybody\u2019s hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Nominees: Wood Brothers Drywall, Glow Medi Spa<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LARGE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR \u2013 CleanRiver Recycling\nSolutions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking plastics out of the waste system and transforming\nthem into a variety of products designed to make recycling easier, CleanRiver\nRecycling Solutions took home the evening\u2019s final honour, recognized as Large\nBusiness of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is an absolute honour and privilege,\u201d said company\nfounder Bruce Buchan. \u201cWhat does it take to be an entrepreneur for 30 years?\nAnyone in this room who is an entrepreneur, I am sure they can have all kinds\nof stories and there\u2019s no shortage, but I want to boil it down to three points.\nThe first is integrity; integrity is the foundation. Then there\u2019s the team:\nteamwork is what drives growth, but, most importantly, it is the culture within\nour organization because culture is the glue that binds\u2026and prevents the wheels\nfrom falling off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like to propose a toast to everyone else here. This is for all the entrepreneurs in the area tonight. The reality is you\u2019re all winners here because you\u2019re the risk takers and the visionaries that are really the backbone of our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether they employ ten or one hundred, are just starting out or have been long-standing members of the community, think local or think global, the best of Aurora\u2019s businesses were recognized last week at the Aurora Chamber of Commerce\u2019s Business Excellence Awards. Recognizing businesses in the commercial in non-profit sectors, businesses and individuals that place […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/2019-11-21-02.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6zT","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-05 10:33:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}