On Dec. 2, the Squamish Chamber of Commerce celebrated the successes of local enterprises at the Squamish Valley Golf & Country Club.
"It was amazing. I have to say, the number of businesses that stepped up to support the event this year was quite incredible," said Louise Walker, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce. "And they helped us make the evening very special."It was a smaller affair than usual, as attendance was limited due to COVID-19 precautions.
Things were also a little quieter, as dancing wasn't allowed, though there was musical entertainment from Cat Madden after awards were handed out.
However, Walker said it was great to see people face-to-face again. Last year's event was held online as a result of pandemic restrictions.Each year, the path to the awards begins with the chamber asking the community for nominations. Then, a panel from the chamber reviews all the nominations and whittles them down to a shortlist of three per category. Finally, it then goes to a vote, with chamber members picking the winners.
The lucky winners are as follows:
Service Excellence, Large Business
Service Excellence, Small Business,
Innovation & Resilience,
Young Entrepreneur of the Year,
Mike Van Capelle, Blue Water Concepts
Green Business of the Year
The manager of Pearls, a thrift store that raises funds for the Howe Sound Women's Centre, said they were absolutely thrilled to win the service excellence award."We're just so grateful to the community of Squamish for voting and for all they do for us; when they shop or donate, they support our Howe Sound Women's Centre charity," said Kate Harvey.
The recognition comes at an important time — pandemic restrictions have increased the number of domestic abuse incidents, making women's centres a more valuable resource than ever.
Economic hard times have also made Pearl's service more necessary, as less money to go around has turned many into bargain-seekers.
The first three months of lockdown were tough, she said.
"COVID was such a difficult time for us as it was for many businesses," said Harvey.
"It just cuts the community off from us and for so many people from getting the items at low cost."
She said that people come to the store, not just to shop, but also to connect.
"It doesn't matter whether you buy anything or not; it's kind of like a hub," Harvey said.
For 99 North's owner, Bryan Raiser, the recognition his business has received has been a long time coming.
"It's emotional, it's amazing, it points to the normalization of the industry and the plant, which is always amazing to see."
It's the first time the Squamish chamber has recognized a cannabis dispensary, and not so long ago, it was an honour that would've been unimaginable for Raiser.
In 2019, his business was shut down by the province after having operated in Squamish for years. It had the municipality's blessing, but no licence from the province. It had also operated for years before cannabis was legalized federally in 2018.
That didn't stop Raiser from resurrecting the store once he obtained a provincial permit last year.
It's been a little over a year since he opened up his store with the province's blessing.
"In my first year of becoming legitimate to becoming recognized by the Chamber of Commerce — it's a story that I don't know I would've believed you when I was younger," said Raiser.
"If you would have told young Bryan, don't worry you're going to be on council, then you're going to open a weed store, then the community's going to rally behind you, and the chamber's going to give you a resilience award, like, come on — that's some fairytale business there. It once again speaks to the awesomeness of this community."
Mike Van Capelle of Blue Water Concepts said that his success is a testament to the team the company has been lucky enough to put together.
The company specializes in housing construction, renovations and environmentally-friendly passive designs."It's nice to get some recognition for some hard work every once and a while, especially from the business community in Squamish — [it] means a lot," he said.
He said a big highlight was seeing the people at the event, especially when the pandemic has kept folks apart for quite some time.Van Capelle also noted how Squamish's booming population relates to his chosen industry.
"We're not into multifamily or anything like that, but the fact [is] that there's a lot of new people moving to town and are looking to do renovations or new builds," he said."It's all part of the fact that Squamish is growing. It's kind of an exciting time to be part of the construction industry in town, especially as more emphasis is put on energy-efficient construction, which is really what we care about."
The assistant manager of The Nook Refillery said recognition has been meaningful."Squamish has really opened its arms to us," said Morgan Smith.
The Nook is a place where locals can find facial, body and household cleaning products, among other things, in easily refillable containers.One of the main goals is to cut down on single-use plastics and wrapping.
"We care about the environment, and we really want to offer the community the ability to choose an alternative and think about how they can consume more consciously, and, yeah, it was really amazing to be recognized for it because we're not even a year old," Smith said.The enterprise is owned by Jessica Bertrand. She opened up the store with assistance from Aubre Miles. Smith is lending a hand with management.
The Squamish Chief reached out to Sḵwálwen Botanicals but didn't receive a response before press deadline.
