This year one local business is in the running for an award at the 2013 Alberta Business Awards of Distinction in Edmonton.
Neerlandia business Neeralta Manufacturing Inc, a manufacturer of equipment such as grain baggers and grain extractors, is one of four finalists nominated for the Small Business Award of Distinction.
Neeralta was founded by Bert Wierenga in 1984. The company is now owned by Bert’s sons Rob and John Wierenga, though Bert continues to work within the business.
The brothers head to Edmonton at the end of January for their competition interviews, where they will discuss what their business is about. However the Alberta Business Awards gala, where the winner will be publicly announced, isn’t held until March 8.
Businesses nominate themselves for the awards, where judges then decide on a small number of finalists.
In the beginning there were about 24 other nominees in the small business category. The award is given to the small business owner who best reflects the outstanding spirit and success of the province’s small business community.
There are a number of requirements a business needs to have in order to enter, ranging from operating for a minimum of three years in Alberta, to employing Albertans.
Businesses also need to be independently owned and operated, and demonstrate significant achievement in business.
Neeralta originally began as a small manufacturing company when there was high demand for repair work. As demand grew, more employees were hired over time.
John joined the business in 1991, and Rob soon followed in 2000.
Rob and John said without a doubt they have a really great crew. In fact, they were sure to emphasize how important their employees are, saying they would be nowhere without the hard work of their team.
“We’re really pleased with the crew that we have,” said John. “They’re a great bunch of guys and they get a lot of work done. Without them it would have been impossible.”
Not only are Rob and John thankful for those working for them, but the community they’re working for. From the beginning the community has been supportive of the business.
“What built this business is the community too. Very much so,” said John. “Community support and community involvement, that supports our business.”
Though Neeralta eventually expanded and now has quite a large cliental, they continue to maintain a lot of local cliental.
Rob said this started when his father received a high amount of local repair work around seeding or harvest season, and that is something Neeralta will continue to do now and in the future.
“We moved over to manufacturing as well and I think some people misinterpreted that, that we moved away from repairs,” said Rob. “But that’s very much not the case. That’s not something we’re going to stop doing. This business was built up on that.”
There have been times when the community support has gone beyond a simple customer relationship. In Feb. of 1998, a fire devastated the company. All that founder Bert was able to save from the flames was the company truck and the unpaid bills. Everything else was lost.
However, this wasn’t the end for Neeralta. With no hesitation, members of the community rushed to their side to help. In just 35 days after the fire, John said they were moving equipment into the new building.
“There were days when our mom was making lunch for between 20 and 25 guys, all volunteer labour,” said John. “That’s something we’ve never forgotten. We often talk about that. People in the community were there for us when we were down and out.”
Now, 15 years later Neeralta, is heading down the road to success. There is a growing demand for their grain baggers, which they began to produce in 2008.
Rob and John said being one of the finalists for the small business award is exciting for them on both a personal level and a professional one. Both agreed the publicity is an important thing from a marketing perspective.
“When you’re doing marketing all over North America like we’re doing for these grain baggers now, we’ve really expanded our advertising budget in order to get that product out there,” explained Rob. “When you have potential clients coming to you and they see things like [an award], it’s really a positive thing.”
“Not that it’s necessary, but in a certain sense it gives you more credibility,” added John. “We’re a recognized company.”
The small business award is not the first award Neeralta has been nominated for. In 2011 they were nominated by someone locally for GROWTH Alberta, where Neeralta was the winner of a Business Excellence Award.
The brothers said they had no idea they were nominated for the GROWTH Alberta award, and it was a nice surprise.
Now all the brothers can do is wait to see if they have won a second award.
“They probably had a lot of tough choices to make when it came down to the four finalists,” said Rob.
“Of course a person would like to win,” added John. “But there are a lot of great companies out there.”
