Small Business Week goes from October 17-23 in both the City and County of Grande Prairie (Photo: Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce)

By Shaun Penner

Small Business Week

Awards of Distinction nominations sought ahead of Small Business Week in Grande Prairie

Sep 20, 2021 | 12:00 PM

The Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce, along with the City and County of Grande Prairie, will be marking Small Business Week from October 17-23.

The week is meant to highlight the positive impact small businesses make on the community, both economically and within the social fabric of society.

“Grande Prairie’s small business community is integral to providing diverse, high-quality services to the region and has an immense positive economic and social impact on the community,” said Grande Prairie Mayor Jackie Clayton. “The City of Grande Prairie is proud to celebrate all of our small business owners this week and their commitment and contributions to our community year-round.”

According to the Chamber, approximately two-thirds of Canadian employees are employed by small businesses.

“The County is proud to support Small Business Week, to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of small businesses and their significant impact in our community and economy,” adds County Reeve Leanne Beaupre. “Continuing to support our local, small businesses is now more important than ever, so let’s work together to keep that momentum strong.”

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The Chamber has several events planned to celebrate small businesses during that week, including awarding its annual Awards of Distinction on October 21.

Chamber CEO Tanya Oliver says nominations are open until September 24 for residents to nominate their favourite small businesses in one of several categories.

“We are also encouraging businesses to nominate themselves,” said Oliver. “Quite often businesses are humble, and they have amazing stories to tell, and unless they have an outlet to do so, lots of people don’t even know about it.”

The awards being handed out include Small Business of the Year for businesses with nine or less employees and those with 10-50 employees.

Other awards include the Indigenous Award of Distinction, Emerging Business Award of Distinction and Legacy Business Award of Distinction, among several more.

With that, Oliver hopes the nomination continue to pour in to celebrate the local small business community.

“Our community isn’t what it is without our small businesses, so I would encourage everybody to not be shy and tell us their story, and we would really love to recognize them.”

Nominations are open until Friday. A link to the nomination form can be found here.