AREA 506, Marathon by the Sea, the Memorial Cup Organizing Committee and the Port of Saint John were among the winners at the 40th annual Outstanding Business Awards held by the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce at the Delta Hotel.
They shared the honours for the Momentum Award which showcased Saint John businesses and business people who kept the momentum going in the region over the past year, with “resiliency and tenacity.”
The Chamber’s executive director David Duplisea welcomed the crowd of over 100 people to the awards gala on Tuesday evening, aiming to go for a more informal, fun, awards ceremony this year, to appeal to the young entrepreneurs that are coming on to the Saint John business scene.
“We couldn’t pick just one,” said Duplisea, explaining his rationale for having four winners for the Momentum Award, which recognizes organizations that have brought significant economic impact to the Saint John region.
Four winners of flagship award
Area 506 Concert Series/Container Village, which is also up for a Canadian Tourism Award, is a concert venue, shopping concourse and cultural hub right on the Saint John waterfront. Marathon by the Sea took place July 29-31 and attracted runners from Maine, Massachusetts, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. The Memorial Cup Organizing Committee which helped bring the coveted hockey championship to Saint John in May, saw the local Sea Dogs win the cup in front of a home-town crowd. And finally, the Port of Saint John which supports the cruise and cargo industry, oversaw a return to increased cruise line traffic, celebrating its three millionth cruise ship passenger this fall.
The Momentum Award winners were Port Saint John, Memorial Cup, AREA 506 and Container Village, and Marathon by the Sea. Image: Facebook.
Andrew Dickson, the Chief Operating Officer of Port Saint John, said “the momentum that we have right now, that we’ve been gearing up for, for a number of years, has helped us find out stride.”
“Celebrated two milestones recently, one in cruise and one on cargo. Since 1989 from a slow start we’re geared up to 200,00 cruise passengers per year and we hit the three million mark this fall, maintaining our position as the fourth largest cruise port of call in Canada. Second largest on the east coast.”
“As of the middle of September we surpassed 100,000 TEUs in container throughput,” he says of the cargo milestone reached this year. “We’ve been in the container business since the early 70s and we’ve never done more than 100,000 and we’ve now surpassed that in September. That’s well beyond a generational shift in container volume. We’re really pleased about that.”
He says these milestones are the result of over a decade of work with governments, rail companies, and other stakeholders to create an attractive port for clients.
“Our workforce partnership with labour has been critically important to achieving these goals,” he added.
Other businesses honoured
Razor Contract Manufacturing was the recipient of the Business Excellence Award, just a few days after receiving over $1.5 million in investment via repayable loans from the federal and provincial governments to increase productivity at its metal fabrication plant in the McAllister Industrial Park.
“It’s great to be recognized for the hard work our employees have put in and the success of our growth. We look forward to continuing to grow in saint john and strive to be the best we can be,” said company CFO Allan Morris. “We’re honoured.”
Longtime Saint John entrepreneur and community volunteer, Larry Hachey, was the recipient of the Passion for Change Award. In addition to being the president of Canlease Inc, in Quispamsis, Hachey has also held important volunteer roles on the board of governors at the University of New Brunswick, and as chair of the Saint John Airport board of directors as well as Enterprise Saint John.
“As much as I give, I get back,” Hachey said of his over 20 years of volunteerism. “Choosing to work with an organization is a huge investment of your time. But, we all need to give of ourselves… it’s very rewarding.”
Palmer Dennison of Palmer Events was the winner of The Young Entrepreneur Award in recognition of his wedding, event planning and decorating business, which just wrapped up the final wedding of its first full wedding season, last Sunday.
“What a lot of people don’t know is that we started in the middle of the pandemic, leaving many people to wonder how I could start an event business,” Dennison said. “But we stayed determined and started small, with guest counts of only 50, social distancing and making Covid operational plans for every event.”
“We are now hosting weddings of up to 220 people and events of more than 400. It’s been a wild two years, but I’m so proud of our team and the number of amazing events we got the opportunity to work on. “
The Emerging Enterprise Award was presented to ProcedureFlow, with Origins Natural Learning Childcare and TrojAI Inc also nominated.
Other winners included TD Commercial Banking for the Chair’s Award and Diana Alexander for Sculpture Saint John who received the Community Impact Award.
Alex Graham is a reporter with Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
