The nominees are in for the 2012 Williams Lake & District Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards.
Almost 100 businesses have been nominated for consideration under nine different categories, including Greatest Improvement, Food Services, Newsmaker, Hospitality/Tourism, Community Booster, Hugo Stahl Memorial, Manufacturer, Customer Service and Business of the Year.
• Greatest Improvement: AboutFace Photography, BC Liquor Store, Cameron Clinic, Cariboo GM, Juniper Trails Bed & Breakfast, Lake City Ford Sales Ltd., McDonald’s Restaurant, Stampeder Motel,The Point Restaurant, and Tickled Pink Beauty Bar.
• Food Services: Alley Katz Bistro, CJ’s Southwestern Grill, Gecko Tree, Joey’s Grill, M & M Meat Shops, New World Coffee & Tea House, Oliver Street Bar & Grill, Red Tomato Pies, Subway Restaurants, Sushi California,The Point Restaurant, and The Yellow Umbrella & Thyme for Tea.
• Newsmaker: Anna Dell, Audrey MacLise —Deni House, Dr. Asa Don Brown PhD, Dr. Ray Sanders/Thompson Rivers University, Kayla Moleschi, Kirsten Braumandl, Williams Lake RCMP detachment, the Williams Lake Golf & Tennis Club and Peter Stellato, and Welcometowilliams Lake.ca.
• Hospitality/Tourism: Art Walk 2011/BIA, Juniper Trails Bed & Breakfast, Oliver Street Bar & Grill, Spring Lake Ranch, The Green Gazette, The Williams Lake Men’s Rugby Club, and Sandman Hotels Inns & Suites/Colleen Skinner.
• Community Booster: Dandelion Living, Deborah Pickering, Dr. Tracy Brown, Horton Ventures, John Margetts, Kirsten Braumandl, Lorne Doerkson/Cariboo GM, M & M Meat Shops, Retirement Concepts/Williams Lake, Save-On-Foods, Welcometowilliamslake.ca, and the Williams Lake Central Business Improvement Area Association.
• Hugo Stahl Memorial Award: Karen Roberts and Tracey Gard.
• Manufacturer: Cariboo Saddlery, Gibraltar Mines Ltd., Pioneer Log Homes of B.C. Ltd., and Tolko Industries Ltd.
• Customer Service: Allcraft Kitchen En’ Counters Ltd., Best Buy Propane Ltd., Blacky’s Truck & Car Wash 2004, Canwest Propane, Cariboo Eye Care Clinic, Cariboo GM, Cariboo Sterling Electric Ltd., CJ’s Southwestern Grill, Clearview Accounting, Concrete Fitness Ltd., Cool Clear Water, DHL/Loomis Express, Downtown Service, Dr. Rudy Wassenaar, ESP Consulting, Fit City Athletic, Fox Mountain Automotive-Ron Rissanen, Hairdooz by Natasha/Stephanie Orr, Kids Only Dental Clinic, Kix 4 Chix Fitness, Kornak & Hamm’s Pharmacy Ltd., M & M Meat Shops, Mulberry Lane, New Waves Pool & Spa Ltd. New World Coffee & Tea House, Papyrus Printing, Pink Couture Cutting Lounge/Crystal Ryan, Save-On-Foods, Sears of Canada/Rob Harrison, Speedpro Signs, Stampede Glass, Sun Valley Gas, The Guitar Seller, The Williams Lake Golf & Tennis Club, Tickled Pink Beauty Bar, United Carpet, Walk-Rite Shoe Store, Western Financial Group/Angela Williams Western Financial Group/Christopher Douglas-Fish, WL Veterinary Hospital Ltd, and Wine Off the Vine.
Tickets to the chamber’s March 10 gala held at the Elks Hall are almost all gone.
“We have top entertainment — a comedian and a singer — and a fabulous banquet put on by the Overlander this year,” says the chamber’s executive director Claudia Blair. “We have an auction and you should see the amazing stuff we have there.
“The decorations are fantastic too. We do a drop ceiling and people show up and are wowed. It’s done in academy style. No one knows who is going to win each award until that night.”