INNISFAIL – It was a night to remember for businesses in Innisfail and the region.
Oct. 29 was also a date to salute businesses that endured enormous trials but still forged ahead anyway with strength and perseverance to become stronger and even inspirational.
“We started in the back of the NAPA Store; we started in the garage. And since then, we've grown exponentially, and now we employ 25 people,” said Nick Bell, co-owner of Dark Woods Brewing on Innisfail’s Main Street. “We absolutely love this community. We love the people of the community, and it means a lot to us.”
And that love was returned.
Bell’s business, six years after the early trials of working in a garage, was chosen by the community as the 2024 Business of the Year.
The announcement was made at the 2024 Innisfail & District Chamber of Commerce’s Innisfail Business Awards gala held on Oct. 29 before a packed auditorium at the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion Branch #104 that witnessed a record nine awards handed out, including three new Business of the Year awards for Bowden, Penhold and Red Deer County.
Bell was not alone in facing down recent business adversity. In fact every business in town had to come to terms with it during the pandemic, which hit everyone like a sledgehammer when COVID struck in early 2020.
Hal Moore was a successful businessman in town since 1987 when he owned and managed a local Bumper to Bumper franchise.
With retirement on his mind he sold it in 2016.
But retirement did not last long.
“No more retirement for me,” Moore declared at the gala on Oct. 29. “A few gallons of paint and many long hours of work, a search for fixtures, and thankfully some good connections, and we were ready to show the town that pre-loved does not mean unloved.
“Remember the ‘Open for Summer’ plan,” he said of the pandemic years. “The world had changed, got a bit crazy.
“Fast forward a few frustrating months to January 15, 2021 we finally obtained insurance and quietly unlocked our doors,” added Moore. “Through word of mouth and the power of Facebook the response was immediate.
“The people of Innisfail and area joined us in our vision and graciously donated gently used items for use to pass along to others for their next chapter in life.”
Almost four years later Moore’s new downtown business, 49th Street Emporium, is the 2024 winner of the Customer Service of the Year Award.
“This is truly an honour. We honestly never imagined this could be something our humble little enterprise would be recognized for,” Moore told the gala audience.
In the meantime, event organizers have not forgotten to honour the community’s business heroes, ones who have and still are facing adversity but nevertheless still trudge forward to seize new success.
In 2023, the Business Resiliency Award was created and Pharmasave Jackson’s was the first recipient.
This year the winner was The Gift Loft, a business located in the heart of the historical block of downtown Innisfail, and one that has faced adversity since the devastating Globe Coliseum building fire on Aug. 2, 2023.
The Gift Loft, located next door in the old Geary Building; now known as the Jackson Building, sustained damage, not as extensive as the now demolished Globe Coliseum but owners were forced to move to available space across 50 Street until repairs could be made to their longstanding home.
The gala crowd on Oct. 29 warmly saluted Melanie Melnyk-Robin, co-owner of The Gift Loft, as she graciously accepted the 2024 Business Resiliency Award.
The following day Melnyk-Robin's mother Danna Melnyk told the Albertan the award was affirmation that the 44-year-old family-owned store and its current staff are appreciated by the community.
As for moving back to their longstanding location across the street, Melnyk said that decision remains in "limbo.
"We don't know whether the insurance company will rebuild it, or whether it is not repairable," she said. "So, we're still in limbo with that. We would love to move back into our old space but that is out of our hands right at the moment."
In the meantime, Chamber president Blaine Staples said the success of this year's Innisfail Business Awards gala is proof the local business community can move forward with a strong measure of confidence.
“I think we're still just getting over COVID. People are coming out. They're supporting their businesses,” said Staples. “I know times are a little tougher right now than they were but maybe people are starting to focus more on the businesses in their community and supporting them and forming a little more community now.”
In other main awards, the Innisfail Special Events Planning Society earned this year’s Non Profit of the Year Award.
The 2024 Community Impact of the Year Award was won by Paul’s No Frills.
As for the three new Business of the Year awards, Staples said the addition made sense as the Innisfail chamber has long served the region beyond the Town of Innisfail.
“We felt that it was a good idea for us to be reaching out and involving more people from the other communities,” said Staples.
The Bowden Business of the Year Award was won by Bowden Hi-Way Golf Course, while Running Reins Guest Ranch earned the Red Deer County Business of the Year Award and Suds Station Car Wash claimed Penhold’s Business of the Year Award.
Rounding out the awards, was a special one selected by the Chamber for Partner of the Year.
The winner was VENDO Media, a company that bills itself as a leading innovator with Canada’s Out of Home advertising industry, and was the first company to launch a digital outdoor board in 1999.
