The Brandon Chamber of Commerce held its 139th awards gala this past Wednesday night. It was the first in-person gala since COVID restrictions were imposed in 2020.
Bernie Whetter of The Green Spot was named business person of the year. The Brandon Sun reports that during his acceptance speech, he thanked the previous owners of The Green Spot for their work in establishing the business before he bought it in 2007. Whetter also thanked his employees, some of whom have been with the company for 20 years, and his business partners at The BloomBox and Chez Angela.
Other awards handed out at the gala included the lifetime business building award to Crane Steel Structures founder Paul Crane. The young entrepreneur of the year was Marcel Kringe of Bushel Plus.
The community impact award was handed out to Westman Communications Group, which was accepted by the business’ new chief executive officer, Tim Berube. In a media release Thursday, Berube said “The award recognizes outstanding effort and commitment to community through meaningful contributions to the well being and quality of life in Westman. Cooperatives were created to bring people together and build a better, more sustainable world through cooperation and this is just one way of recognizing the way we as an organization are doing just that.”
“Despite facing many challenges over the past year – Westman Communications was still able to give back to our membership whether it be through the #ConnectingWestman Funding Program and other sponsorships, Annual Award of Excellence Scholarships, or providing free essential long distance calling from Canada to the Ukraine,” added Berube. “A special thank you goes out to our Marketing and Promotions team for all your efforts leading us through these, and many other integral initiatives.”
Westman Communications Group is the parent company of Q COUNTRY 91.5 and 94.7 STAR FM.
Also at the awards gala, Resurrection Auto Detailing won the outstanding new business award, GEM Services received the business excellence award for small businesses and Kim’s Asian Restaurant won the same accolade but in the large-business category.
Rounding out the list of honourees were Westman’s top 4 under 40, awarded to Cassandra Jamieson of McPhail Travel Brandon, Amber White of Anytime Fitness, Nirmal Thakar of Shreem Systems & Solutions, and Ty Worthington of Pinnacle Event Rentals.
The Chamber wrap up its 2021-22 luncheon schedule on June 2nd at the Clarion Hotel & Suites.