The largest and most significant night of local business celebration will happen October 25, 2014: The Prince George Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards (BEAs). It is at this annual event that the best and brightest local businesses are honoured in ten categories of excellence including 'Outstanding Corporate Culture', 'Service Excellence', 'Environmental Leadership' and 'Community Impact'.
While the big event is still 4 months away, preparations have already begun which require your input; feedback that you only have one week left to provide.
The chamber is calling for nominations of Prince George businesses that you deem worthy of one of the top ten awards. So take a moment to seriously consider this call to action...think about the businesses you've visited multiple times over the past year. Which businesses have gone out of their way to support your children's activities and fundraisers? When out-of-town visitors ask for your recommendation on where to eat/visit/stay in Prince George where do you send them? Do you love where you work? If so, nominate your employer for the Outstanding Corporate Culture Award.
If you believe that making time to nominate worthy businesses is an elitist exercise in back-patting, think again. There are so many good reasons to recognize the contributions of local businesses but the primary reason is that businesses do not often receive public praise for the significant impact they make in our community.
We have some awesome celebrations for individuals like Citizen of the Year or the City's Community Service Awards which are both worthwhile and necessary events. But businesses often go beyond expectations while employees put profit aside to support the organizations and residents of our community in ways that are often overlooked. In addition to this, local businesses fight battles every day against the tidal wave of online shopping. They choose to put their future in the hands of customers who spend their dollars locally. So as customers, giving thanks to local business for making this choice and for adding something special to our local retail and service experience is important. Like I always say, share the love.
The deadline for award nominations is Monday, June 30 at 5 p.m. This gives you the weekend to complete your online nomination form by visiting the Chamber's website: pgchamber.bc.ca where the nomination link is available on their homepage. If you'd rather make a nomination off line, visit the Chamber in person or call them at 250-562-2454 to make a handwritten or verbal nomination.
Anyone can submit a nomination and any local business may be nominated. You may choose to nominate just one business in a single award category or put forward ten nominations in all ten award categories. It is a simple process with many paths leading to the same destination...the celebration of business excellence. Don't miss this opportunity to give thanks and praise where it is due.
Until next week, stay in the black and keep coming back.
