Best of Sudbury businesses share success stories at annual awards

26th annual Bell Business Excellence Awards The best and brightest entrepreneurs were celebrated Thursday at the Bell Business Excellence Awards put on buy the chamber of commerce.

The upper hall of the Caruso Club in Sudbury was packed Thursday night as the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 26th annual Bell Business Excellence Awards honouring local entrepreneurs.

More than 140 nominations were received for 10 award categories and organizers said it speaks to the resiliency of the business community. Three judges, consisting of two of the 2022 award winners, narrowed each category down to three finalists and one winner.

"Coming out of the pandemic and having an awards gala, being able to gather as a group and celebrate businesses and celebrate the struggles of being able to make it through the pandemic is huge," Anthony Davis, the chamber chair, told CTV News in an interview.

"And being able to be here with other businesses that went through the exact same thing you did, maybe different industries, but similar struggles... it's great. It's great to get it off your chest but to celebrate it as well."

BEST PLACE TO WORK

The three finalists for the Best Place to Work Award were the Adult Enrichment Centre, Bestech and Sudbury Credit Union.

President of engineering firm Bestech Patrick Fantine accepted the award.

"I'm humbled," Fantine said to the crowd.

"This award is all about our team, nothing more, nothing less. Winning the Best Place to Work Award is a testament to the incredible efforts of all our employees. They put into creating a culture that's all about collaboration, motivation, compassion, inclusivity and just having a good time."

BEST SMALL ENTERPRISE

The small enterprise award honours one to two-person operations that have shown significant business achievement, sustainable financial performance and a high level of customer service.

The three finalists were L. May Manufacturing – maker of the miner's lunchbox --, Raven Rising and Sound.wav Rentals.

Chef Tammy Maki, the owner of Raven Rising Global Indigenous Chocolates, was emotional as she spoke to the crowd after being announced the winner.

"My daughter was supposed to be here with us this evening, but she passed away three weeks ago, so she's not able to. But she was an integral part of my business and my voice and my ears at events out of town and was larger than life, so I know that she's 'here' somewhere," Maki said.

"I am very, very honoured to be recognized by the chamber and by Bell and the city that I have grown up in."

At the end of her speech the audience gave her a standing ovation.

BEST YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR

The Best Young Entrepreneur award honours local business owners age 35 and under.

The three finalists were Lauren Barbara Williamson of Cerealously Creamy, Ashlee Lachapelle of Respite Nurses Agency and Tiffany Yahaya of Yes Buddy Cleaning Services.

Yahaya accepted the award she said she and her husband started the business out of survival mode.

"I just had a C-section, my husband had his work permit refused, our (immigration) sponsorship got lost in the mail, we didn't have enough to buy diapers for our son," she said to the crowd.

"So two years ago we started this and it's just crazy how much we could accomplish. I am so excited to see what else we can accomplish in less time."

The married couple runs the business together.

"We were trying to support a new family of three with $600 biweekly, which is obviously not do-able. We didn’t know how we were going to buy diapers or formula for our son. If we didn’t have our family here, we would have been homeless with a newborn. We were running out of options to survive and decided to start this business and take a risk and it was the best and most important leap we could have taken," the couple said on social media.

"We’ve pulled more all-nighters at the shop detailing than anyone will ever know and being afraid that we will not be able to feed our son has given us the fuel to the Yes Buddy fire. He is our biggest motivation and what keeps us going."