Local businesses took centre stage at the 40th anniversary of the Business Excellence Awards (BEA) hosted by the Richmond Chamber of Commerce last week.
More than 400 guests from different industries attended the sold-out event at the River Rock Theatre Thursday night.
Out of more than 100 nominees from a range of categories, 30 companies were short listed and 10 received awards.
“We really wanted to showcase some of the best businesses in Richmond at a gala like this,” said Rob Akimow, Chamber chair.
“We had a record number of nominees and attendees this year. We think that the more light that is shone on Richmond businesses, the better for our community as a whole.”
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the awards, a short, tongue-in-cheek video, starring Akimow and the Chamber’s president and CEO Matt Pitcairn, took the audience back to 1977 when the first and only award, Businessman of the Year, was given out.
It was awarded to Gerry Culver, manager of The Bay in Richmond at the time.
“The fact that they called it businessman tells you how times have changed. You would never have that today, thankfully. There are so many successful women in business,” said Akimow.
Regardless, it remained that way for a decade until it started to grow with a couple more awards in 1987.
In 1990, The Young Entrepreneur of the Year category was added, and the Business Hall of Fame was established in 1999.
In 2004, the award name was changed to Excellence in Business, and then became The Business Excellence Awards in 2007. In the same year, the Innovation Award of the Year and the Outstanding Workplace awards were inaugurated.
In 2010, the Chamber built a more robust framework for judging and standardizing the selection process. This included a questionnaire for applicants to answer, and an interview process.
“We really focused on making sure there was a transparent selection process and that we had a criteria in place that was the same for everybody. That’s the framework the Awards are now based on,” said Akimow.
“Our job is to encourage Richmond businesses and to showcase the excellent ones. And, of course, if businesses are having any issues or challenges, we want them to call us, and we’ll try to help them.
“We want to make the awards one of the best in Canada and make Richmond one of the best places to do business.”
Read the stories of each recipient on the Business page.
