The 2016 Community and Business Award nominees have been announced.
There was a total of 28 business award nominees and about 25 community award nominees submitted this year, which were then shortlisted for each of the four business categories and nine community categories.
The annual awards gala takes place this Friday, Oct. 14 at the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion. Doors open at 6 p.m.
“We have an excellent list of nominees this year,” said Carla Gabert, manager for the Innisfail and District Chamber of Commerce. “For our business of the year we had a dozen companies nominated.”
The full list of nominees for the business and community awards can be viewed in the news section of the Town of Innisfail website at Innisfail.ca/news.
Gabert hopes to see as many people out as possible for Friday's gala event.
“On the awards night we will name the winner of each category,” she said, noting the high number of nominees indicates strong support for local business in Innisfail.
“For the business side we have a subcommittee that looks at the criteria and the nominees. The decision is made from there,” explained Gabert. “There's a lot of deserving businesses in the community.”
Tickets are $40 each and are still available, she said, noting they can be purchased at the chamber office or at the Town of Innisfail office.
The awards gala includes a served dinner by Complete Catering.
Numbers for both business and community award nominations are up over last year, said Henry Wong, director of community services for the Town of Innisfail.
“We had a nomination subcommittee that canvassed the community for the various (categories), whether it's cultural, sport or community and encouraged Innisfail residents to recognize people in those nine categories,” said Wong, adding business and community award nominations are submitted separately. “From there the committee took all nominations and scaled it down to finalists.”
He noted the hard work of committee members and the partnership between the chamber and the town that has helped make the awards gala a success every year.
“The (increase in nominees) I think was all due to the work of the individuals on the nomination committee,” said Wong. “The awards gala has been a collaborative effort between the town and the chamber of commerce for the last three or four years.”
For more information or for tickets call the Innisfail and District Chamber of Commerce at 403-227-1177 or the Town of Innisfail at 403-227-3376.
Henry Wong, director of community services
"We had a nomination subcommittee that canvassed the community for the various (categories), whether it's cultural, sport or community and encouraged Innisfail residents to recognize people in those nine categories."
