Deadline for business nominees nearing

With the deadline to submit nominations for the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce’s business awards coming up a week from Friday (Oct. 5), more entrants are wanted for the 12th-annual event.
Chamber manager Dawn Booth said this morning that about 10 nomination forms have been returned so far.
“It’s a good sign,” she noted, though adding the deadline is coming up fast and she’s hoping to get 100 nominations in this time around.
Nomination forms are available at the Chamber office (474 Scott St.) as well as on the Chamber’s website at www.fortfranceschamber.com
Booth noted a new category has been added to the awards gala this year—Small Business Trainer of the Year, sponsored by NCDS Career Works.
“It [will be] presented to a business with 15 or less employees who consistently hire unskilled or underskilled workers,” she explained.
Other categories include Business of the Year (1-15 employees), Business of the Year (16+ employees), Employee of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, and Business Woman of the Year.
Rounding out the categories are the Abitibi-Consolidated Safety Award (business or individual), Customer Service (business and individual), Town of Fort Frances Accessibility Award, and the Tony Beyak Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award.
Businesses or individuals can nominate themselves for awards, with the only exception being the Tony Beyak Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award.
Booth stressed the nomination process doesn’t take much time and mainly involves filling out a questionnaire.
“If you’re nominating somebody for Volunteer of the Year, it is mandatory you include a write-up of why this person is being nominated, any volunteer groups they belong to, how long they’ve been involved, and why they’re worthy of Volunteer of the Year,” she noted.
“But for all other categories it’s still very simple,” she promised. “You’ve just got to fill out the basic information and then a couple sentences on why you’re nominating that business or individual.”
The business awards banquet will take place Nov. 3 at La Place Rendez-Vous.
Booth stressed although this is the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce’s awards gala, all district businesses are eligible for nomination. In fact, many businesses from Emo, Rainy River, and other communities have won awards in past years.
A total of 82 nominations, listing 75 different nominees, were received for the 2006 business awards.
For more information, contact Booth at 274-5773.