Business and opinion leaders from across the North celebrated the achievements of 10 companies and individuals at the 24th Annual Northern Ontario Business Awards (NOBA) gala, held in Thunder Bay on Oct. 8.
NOBA has become the largest annual gathering of its kind in Northern Ontario since it was first launched in 1986. The 24th annual NOBA event was co-hosted by Thunder Bay Mayor Lynn Peterson and Northern Ontario Business Publisher Patricia Mills.
NOBA is an initiative designed to celebrate successful businesses and entrepreneurs throughout Northern Ontario. The award evening provides the perfect occasion to acknowledge the efforts of those who create the opportunities that allow everyone to enjoy living and working in the North.
The event rotates annually among the five major centres in Northern Ontario.
There were nine business awards presented: Company of the Year (three categories, based on size), Entrepreneur of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Entrepreneurial Community, First Nations Business Award of Excellence, Innovation, and Judges’ Choice.
The Union Gas Essay Scholarship, worth $3,000, was also presented.
An independent panel of judges looked over more than 100 nominations from around Northern Ontario.
This year’s judges were Jeff Elgie, partner, Lucidia Ltd. (Sault Ste. Marie); Tom Fortin, director, Ontrak Control Systems (Sudbury); Louise Thomas, curator, Ahnisnabea Art Gallery (Thunder Bay); Jennifer Twigg, president, Twiggs Coffee Company (North Bay); and the Union Gas Essay Scholarship Judge Jacqueline Savoie, director of development, Science North (Sudbury).
The following are this year's 2010 Northern Ontario Business Award winners:
Company of the Year (1-15 employees) Award
RES Equipment Sales (Dryden)
Company of the Year (16-50 employees) Award
Rector Machine Works (Sault Ste. Marie)
Company of the Year (51+ employees) Award
Cook Engineering, a division of Genivar (Thunder Bay)
First Nations Business Award of Excellence
Manitoulin Physio Centre (Manitoulin Island)
Innovation Award
Century Systems Technologies Inc. (Sudbury)
Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Ahsanul Habib (Thunder Bay)
Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Krista Hedican (Timmins)
Entrepreneurial Community of the Year Award
The Township of Terrace Bay
Judges' Choice Award
Salt & Pepper Catering (Thunder Bay)
Union Gas Student Essay Scholarship
Casey Postill Howard (Thunder Bay)
For more information on any of the winners, click on their names above for a complete profile.
For more on the event, including judges and sponsors, please visit www.noba.ca.
The 25th Anniversary of the Annual Northern Ontario Business Awards 2011 will be held in Sudbury on October 6, 2011, at the Caruso Club. For more information on NOBA 2011, contact Kimberley Wahamaa, Event Manager at 705-673-5705, 1-800-757-2766 Ext. 320 or via email at kimberley@nob.on.ca
