DIDSBURY - If there is a local business or organization in town that you feel has given you excellent service it's time to make your appreciation known.
The Didsbury and District Chamber of Commerce is accepting nominations for its annual Didsbury Small Business Awards banquet, to be held Oct. 18 at the Elks Hall.
“The chamber awards are to congratulate our local entrepreneurs and our local volunteers,” said Margo Ward, chamber president. “We have three classifications with the awards: one for small business. That's for someone who has been in business here in Didsbury for at least three years. We have a new business/new owner category, which is for a business that has been here for at least 18 months or been in ownership for at least 18 months up to three years.”
The third award goes to a not-for-profit registered society, she said.
“It's to give back to many of the organizations in town that do a lot of volunteer work and a lot of good work for the community as a whole,” she said.
All businesses and groups nominated will be announced in the Mountain View Gazette newspaper Oct. 18 in a special section.
The judging is done by a “secret” panel not known to anyone except one person. “They do the judging and then their final decision is put into an envelope,” said Ward. “No one sees it until the night of the awards.”
Ward said that businesses do not have to be nominated by other businesses.
“A business can be nominated by their staff, they can be nominated by customers,” she said. “So it can be nominated by anyone. If you're a customer who's nominated someone, it's always nice to be at the banquet to see who wins.”
The small business awards banquet is that evening (Oct. 18) at the Elks Hall. Everyone is welcome to come to the banquet, which includes a dinner as well as the awards and guest speaker Michelle Devlin.
Devlin, a partner in Creating People Power, will speak on her experiences with entrepreneurship by sharing a few “lessons learned” along the way. The speech, which is entitled Excuse me, is my hair on fire? will focus on planning, focus and support.
Tickets are available at the chamber office, which is open from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. each Tuesday and Thursday. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6 p.m.
The awards are part of the national Small Business Week, which runs from Oct. 16-22.
