Chamber announces finalists for People's Choice Awards

Posted Feb 9, 2012 By Theresa Fritz

EMC Business - And the winners are?

Members of the Kanata Chamber of Commerce will have to wait until later this month to find out who will be taking home the hardware from the 13th annual People's Choice Business Awards.

While the finalists have been unveiled, the winners of the awards honouring the best and brightest in business will not be announced until the gala event Feb. 23 at the Brookstreet Hotel in Kanata. Winners will be representing businesses from Kanata, Goulbourn and West Carleton.

The awards gala will be hosted once again by Kurt Stoodley, host of CTV Morning Live Ottawa.

According to Chamber general manager Rosemary Leu, there were a record number of nominees and votes right across the board.

"The response was absolutely incredible," she said. "Last year, we had a record number of votes. We had 10,000 votes. This year, we had just over 13,500 votes and close to 280 nominees."

The People's Choice Business Awards is an award ceremony for the people (customers) to recognize businesses and business people for the services they provide to the community. As the name indicates (People's Choice) the whole process is based on the nominations and voting of the people in the area.

"This (record number of votes) shows people are really getting behind the businesses," Leu stated.

West Carleton finalists in the following award categories include:

Community Support Non-Profit Organization of the Year

- Constance Creek Wildlife Refuge

- Pinhey's Point Foundation

- Venta Preparatory School

- West Carleton Country Knitter

- West Carleton Emergency Food Aid

Tourism Business of the Year

- Carp Fair

- Carp Farmer's Market

- Diefenbunker - Canada's Cold War Museum

- Penny's Fudge Factory

- Pinto Valley Ranch

Health and Wellness Business of the Year

- Carp Holistic Health Centre

- Carp Ridge Learning Centre

- Essencia Spa & Yoga

- Heather Munroe - Your Wellness Coach

- Yoga Tea & Studio

Technology Business of the Year

- A Hundred Answers Inc.

- Goodfellow Creative

- Perram Corporation

- Plasco Energy

- Senstar (based in West Carleton)

- Web Shark Media

Large Business of the Year (over 10 employees)

- Greensmere Golf & Country Club

- Senstar

Small Business of the Year (10 employees and under)

- Against the Grain

- Cappuvino

- Judy's Organic Herbs

- The Glass Case

- Yoga Tea & Studio

Restaurant of the Year

- Cheshire Cat Pub

- Heart & Soul Café

- Sammy's Pizzeria Restaurant

- The Lighthouse Restaurant & Grocery

- The Point Dining Lounge

Retail Business of the Year

- Cappuvino

- Dunrobin Meat and Grocery

- Heart of the Valley

- The Lighthouse Restaurant and Grocery

- Woodlawn Deka Home Hardware

Citizen of the Year (one winner - finalists from all three communities)

- Laura Dubois (Laura's Your Independent Grocer)

- Allan Foget (Sobey's March Road)

- Hank (Henry Jones) Constance Bay

- John Leroux (Stittsville Minor Hockey Association)

- Jim Perkins (Capital City Condors)

- Lynn Rowe (Contance Creek Wildlife Refuge)

- Sam Spataro (Visioneering Group)

- Brad Spriggs (Rotary Club of Stittsville)

- Marianne Wilkinson (City of Ottawa - Kanata North councilor)

The Citizen of the Year award recognizes an individual for the significant contributions they make to benefit the community in some exceptional manner such as in outstanding community service, charitable work, or heroism.

All nominations received for the Kanata Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Award will be reviewed by a selection committee. /There will be no vote in this category as the winner will be determined by the Selection Committee and announced at the awards gala Feb. 24.

theresa.fritz@metroland.com