Aurora\u2019s business community came together at the Royal Venetian Mansion on October 22 for the Aurora Chamber of Commerce\u2019s annual Business Excellence Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a chance to not only celebrate some of the key businesses that help provide the backbone of the local economy, but celebrate long-standing Champions and emerging names on the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the course of the evening, the Chamber recognized its annual Chamber Champion and announced this year\u2019s recipients of their grant programs, that help emerging businesses take their operations to the next level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recognized as this year\u2019s Chamber Champion was Brian Roberts of Roberts & Co., a long-standing contributor to the Chamber in various capacities, including its Board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur 2026 Chamber Champion is a man who proves that accountants can have personalities, and not just during tax season,\u201d joked Alison Mumford, Executive Director of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce, in her presentation. \u201cYou may know him as the owner of Roberts & Co. Professional Corporation, your go-to guy when the CRA comes knocking. Perhaps you know him from his volunteer work with 100 Men Who Give a Damn, the Aurora Sports Hall of Fame, or his many years of service to the Aurora Chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe’s a former Chamber Board Director, who now sits on our Finance Committee, generously volunteering his time every month to make sure our finances are in good shape, and perhaps more importantly, that myself and our Treasurer can confidently explain them to the rest of our Board! He’s also a long-time Street Festival volunteer, alongside his wife Trish\u2026. Outside of his community commitments, he’s a devoted family man, husband to Trish, father of three, avid Blue Jays fan, and still finds time to help out on his family farm outside of Tillsonburg \u2013 because apparently crunching numbers, raising a family, volunteering across Town, and cheering on the Jays aren’t enough to keep him busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe’s generous with his time, incredibly dependable, and somehow manages to make accounting seem like a social activity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each year, the Chamber presents a Rise Up Grant, recognizing promising new businesses that are \u201cbuilding their foundations and taking exciting steps towards growth.\u201d This year\u2019s grant recipients are Lanette Ware-Bushfield of A WWB Production Inc. (A Work It Ware-Bushfield Production), and Swing Core Golf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second grant, the Scale Up Grant, which supports established businesses take the next big step, \u201cwhether it\u2019s expanding their operations, reaching new customers, or investing in their futures,\u201d were Attuned Relationships and Aizadfood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The third grant, facilitated in partnership with Addison Marketing Solutions, is the Media Grant, which helps local businesses \u201celevate its marketing and reach new audiences.\u201d This boost went to Aurora Family Martial Arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the greatest privileges that we have at the Chamber is the opportunity to recognize and support the incredible businesses in our community,\u201d said Mumford. \u201cIt’s not every day that you get to hand a cheque to help bring their ideas to life. Behind every business is someone who has taken a risk, worked incredibly hard, and believed in what they’re building. Being able to play even a small part in their success is something we’re incredibly proud of. And we’re excited to see what these businesses accomplish next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Brock Weir <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Aurora\u2019s business community came together at the Royal Venetian Mansion on October 22 for the Aurora Chamber of Commerce\u2019s annual Business Excellence Awards. It was a chance to not only celebrate some of the key businesses that help provide the backbone of the local economy, but celebrate long-standing Champions and emerging names on the scene. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":39247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-05-04.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39246","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=39246"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39248,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39246\/revisions\/39248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n