Nominations for the Fernie Chamber of Commerce’s Virtual Business Excellence Awards will close at 5 p.m. on Monday Sep. 7.
“Our local business community has had an extraordinarily difficult time this year through the pandemic, and now more than ever it is important to celebrate the success and resiliency of these businesses,” said chamber executive director, Brad Parsell.
The 2020 awards have 11 categories open for nominations: Spirit of Fernie, Community Tourism Achievement, Outstanding Customer Service, New Business of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Team of the Year, Employer of the Year, Business of the Year, Citizen of the Year, Volunteer of the Year and Community Leadership.
“Anyone can nominate and we strongly encourage members of the public to do so,” said Parsell.
Parsell explained that all nominees from business categories will then be contacted once the nomination period closes and asked to submit an awards package that will be used by the judges to determine the finalists and winners. This form will be reviewed by an independent panel of judges from outside the Fernie area.
Based on the information and details provided by the business, the judges will rate the businesses against the award criteria. Highest rated business will win. Exceptions to this process are Citizen of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, and the Chamber Legacy Award – which are all judged by the Fernie Chamber board of directors. Businesses and organizations nominated in all categories will be on the ballot for the People’s Choice award that the public will vote on in September.
You can find a link to the nomination for by heading to the Fernie Chamber Facebook page.