Gazing up from tables filled with sparkling champagne flutes, sharply-dressed entrepreneurs put their hands together for the best businesses in Squamish.
During the annual Business Excellence Awards, the Squamish Chamber of Commerce recognized local companies and entrepreneurs doing big things in this small town.
The awards were divided into several categories such as service excellence, arts and culture, green business of the year, and more.
The Chief took time to get to know some of the winners, which are presented in a two-part series starting this week.
Republic Bicycles
Service Excellence, Large Business
For Armand Hurford, it’s all about taking care of his staff so they have the resources to take care of customers.
To this end, benefits and a good work-life balance are some of the things he makes sure his employees have available to them.
“It’s an honour,” he said, reacting to receiving the award.
Hurford started his bike shop 10 years ago, and before Republic Bicycles grew into its current form, he was the one behind every sale and every tune-up.
He says preserving that one-on-one connection with customers is what helped propel his business to its current success.
And a lot of it has to do with making sure his workers have great chemistry with each other and with clients.
“We set out to be the best place to work in the Sea to Sky,” he said. “All our full-time workers have benefits.”
Another key ingredient, he noted, is creating a user-friendly environment.
Bike shops can sometimes be intimidating, as customers who aren’t very familiar with the intricacies of bike mechanics can find themselves overwhelmed, Hurford said.
“I think we do an excellent job of breaking that down for people, so it makes it more accessible,” he said.
Fergie’s Cafe and Sunwolf
Small Business & Green Business of the Year
It’s a double-win for Jessamy Freese, one of the co-founders of both Fergie’s Cafe and Sunwolf resort.
So what is it that separates these businesses from the rest of the pack?
If you ask Freese, she’ll tell you with a chuckle that it’s quite literally the location.
Fergie’s, which is situated inside the Sunwolf resort, is located a bit north of Squamish in Brackendale.
“Where we’re fortunate at Fergie’s is that even if the food wasn’t fantastic, I think people would still want to come and sit under the tree or by the river,” said Freese. “But the fact they can come and sit in this beautiful environment and eat fantastic food really sets it apart.”
She said another stand-out quality to the establishment is a vibe cultivated by having a family-run company with enthusiastic, young employees.
It’s common for staff members to pop into Fergie’s Cafe on their days off because the place feels like a cozy home-away-from-home, she said.
“It feels like you’re on vacation,” she said with a chuckle.
Sunwolf resort offers cabins and places to eat – such as Fergie’s – where the Cheakamus and Cheekeye rivers meet.
It’s an area that has a long history.
Maps dated around 1910 show a logging camp where the resort now stands.
In the early 1950s, Fergie’s Fishing Lodge was established on the site by the Ferguson family.
When the road connecting Vancouver and Squamish was completed, Fergie’s became a bustling meeting place for young fishermen.
The resort changed hands in 1995, becoming the Sunwolf Outdoor Centre, and marked the introduction of rafting trips to the resort.
Eventually the centre came on the market, and best friend duo Jess Freese and Tanya Slater stumbled across the resort when they were on the road.
In 2010, the pair and their partners moved in and got to work.
And the work seems to have paid off.
Since then, the resort has become recognized not just for its scenic views but also for its sustainable practices.
Freese and her business partners have gone to great lengths to create a closed-loop system for Fergie’s.
This means that, as much as possible, the restaurant grows its own food, and whatever food waste is generated is then quickly re-used to help cultivate the next batch of crops.
It’s a way of operating that has won the resort accolades, not just locally, but also from Green Tourism Canada, a program that rates how well a business conducts its operations in an environmentally-friendly manner.
Christian Thomson
Business Person of the Year
Christian Thomson has carved out a name for himself in Squamish as the man behind this town’s first Internet marketing conference.
Since 2015, what’s now known as the Change in the Making Conference has been bringing together experts from marketing and PR backgrounds to explore how the industry is evolving.
But while Thomson has been gaining a higher profile for himself, it appears as if he’s willing to share some of the spotlight with his group.
“It’s really down to the team at Marwick that made it happen,” said Thomson, when prompted about his award. “While it’s like an individual award, it definitely was a team effort.”
A team-centred approach seems to be suiting him well.
Recently, his Internet marketing agency was given some high-profile recognition, having been named as a Google Premier Partner.
Marwick Marketing offers services that help drive online traffic.
Whether it’s search engine optimization, website design, or pay-per-click advertising, Thomson’s team has the tools to address those needs.
And for Thomson, giving his team the support to pursue their goals is important.
To this end, he stresses that a work-life balance is important.
“A testament to that is being based in Squamish,” he said, which automatically creates a more relaxed vibe than working in downtown Vancouver, for example.
“We accommodate people’s regular lives,” he said. “As long as good work gets done, we don’t mind how it gets done.”
Bungalow 968
Arts and Culture
Collaboration is key for Meg Maclure, who’s managed to make a living cultivating creative connections.
“That’s a big premise of my business,” said Maclure.
“To just work with as many people across as many industries as possible.”
Maclure gained recognition for Bungalow 968, a Squamish studio named after the little yellow bungalow where she grew up in Calgary.
While initially she was interested primarily in working with furniture, Maclure realized Squamish residents needed a place for their creative endeavours.
Once she had the epiphany, she started renting out portions of Bungalow 968.
Now, it’s place where numerous artists and creators have set up their workshops, and it’s blossomed into a space where people from disciplines and industries can come together to work and play.
And there’s a large variety of things to do as you walk across the space.
Learn French in one workshop, and entrepreneurial skills in another. Watch potters mould clay with hands in one corner, and observe people weave delicate textiles across the studio.
Maclure likes to emphasize that the space also allows her to serve artists, a group she considers to be underrepresented in Squamish.
“We might not be climbing up mountains all day long on our bike, but we still appreciate the beauty of our surroundings in a different way, ” said Maclure. “We express that through our art.”
