WESTLOCK – The nominations are in and the Westlock and District Chamber of Commerce is just days away from honouring the best in local business at its first Business Awards Gala April 23 and it’s nearly sold out.
The gala is set to take place at the Westlock Community Hall and will include a supper, awards presentations and a dance with a live band.
The evening will recognize local businesses from across Westlock County in several categories including business of the year — for 1-10 employees, 11-29 employees and 30-plus employees categories, exceptional customer service — both in the individual and business categories, as well as present the renovation/restoration award, innovation award, digital marketing award, community ambassador award, new business award and pioneer award.
This is the first gala for the chamber as the original date for the event was scheduled for April of 2020 but was cancelled due to the pandemic.
“We’re delighted to be able to do it for the first time here this year,” said chamber president, Graeme Harrington. “Our businesses have shown remarkable resiliency and adaptability to deal with those challenges (during the pandemic) and have come out of it remarkably well, all things considered.
He noted the impact the pandemic had on local businesses and the challenges they now face as they emerge from a difficult two-year period, particularly in certain sectors.
“Service and retail industries have had a lot of adjustment throughout and coming out of (the pandemic) but everybody’s handled it really well,” he said. “There’s definitely an excitement — people and businesses are happy to be interacting again and are doing really well.”
Harrington said the event is a great way to celebrate local businesses and the community in and around Westlock and recognize the important contributions they make to the town and county.
“It’s a great opportunity. We’re hoping to make it our flagship event of the year for the chamber. There’s a lot of really deserving businesses,” said Harrington. “We’ve come up with a set of awards that we think reflects well on this kind of marketplace. We’re looking forward to doing the first one and then continuing every year.”
