Staff
The deadline to nominate a local business for this year’s Northern Ontario Business Awards is fast approaching.
“The Northern Ontario Business Awards started 24 years ago, and it is a celebration of businesses and individuals across the north,” said NOBA event manager Kimberley Wahamaa.
Encouraging nominations for the various award categories, Wahamaa noted the deadline to enter is April 23.
Award categories include:
•Company of the year (1-15 employees);
•Company of the year (16-50 employees);
•Company of the year (51+ employees);
•Entrepreneur of the year;
•Young entrepreneur of the year; and
•First Nations business award.
Awards also are being presented for innovation award, entrepreneurial community, and judge’s choice.
As well, there is an essay scholarship contest sponsored by Union Gas.
This year’s awards ceremony is slated to take place at the Victoria Inn in Thunder Bay, with a welcoming reception on Oct. 6 and then the gala itself on Oct. 7.
“We look forward to coming out to Thunder Bay to celebrate with everyone across the north,” said Wahamaa.
The event draws 400-500 people, she noted, including dignitaries and government ministers all there to “celebrate the success” of businesses in the north.
“The winners are taken out for a private dinner [on Oct. 6] so that they can meet each other, as well, and also the winners are profiled in a souvenir magazine, and they are videotaped,” Wahamaa explained.
“We send a production crew—EastLink has been our sponsor—and they come all over the north to videotape two- to three-minute vignette of the winners, and that’s played at the awards, as well.
“So there’s some amazing recognition.
“It’s been very successful over the years, and it’s a great honour to be given this award,” Wahamaa added, noting these videos of past winners are available online at NOBA’s website.
“I know a lot of winners come into this program and they don’t realize the scale of it until they’re asked to say their acceptance speech,” she remarked.
Nomination forms are available online at www.noba.ca
“There’s various eligibility and the criteria is all there, and we ask for five unbound copies,” noted Wahamaa.
“It’s a bit of a process to go through, but we have to give the judges their work cut out for them,” she stressed.
Winners are chosen through a judging process, which includes a panel of four judges selected annually from across Northern Ontario.
Each year, the awards gala rotates among the five major cities in Northern Ontario, Wahamaa said, with their 25th year set to be held back in Sudbury.
Past winners from Rainy River District include Kish-Gon-Dug Canada, the furniture manufacturing company based out of Naicatchewenin First Nation, which won the First Nations Business Award of Excellence in 2006.
Also in 2006, the Fort Frances Times was recognized as Company of the Year (16-50 employees).
Norfab Building Components of Fort Frances has been a double winner at the awards, winning the Judge’s Choice Award in 2003 and also the Global Traders Award back in 2000.
