A trio of Prince George businesses are semi-finalists for the 12th annual Small Business B.C. Awards.
Game Quest is up for Premier's People's Choice, Playgrounds Caf for Best Concept, and Shiraz Caf and Restaurant for Best Immigrant Entrepreneur.
From Oct. 1 to Nov. 30, British Columbians were asked to nominate and vote for their favourite small businesses.
This year was the biggest year yet with over 460 nominations received from upwards of 70 communities across the province, including six nominations from Prince George.
Nominated companies were given two months to gain as many votes as possible through word-of-mouth, social media, e-communications and other creative means.
Those who activated their communities and received the most votes have been named top 10 semi-finalists.
They will now face a panel of judges, who will review their applications, and based on the award criteria, narrow down the competition to the top five finalists in each category which will be announced Jan. 30.
They will then be invited to give a Dragons' Den-style pitch in front of a panel of judges on why they should be named the best in B.C.
The will be announced Feb. 26 at a ceremony in Vancouver.
