A Morinville pet food producer took home a top provincial business award.
Champion Petfoods won the Marketing Award of Distinction this weekend at the 25th annual Alberta Business Awards of Distinction held at the Renaissance Hotel in Edmonton on Friday.
Run by the Alberta Chamber of Commerce, the awards recognize excellence in business and outstanding contribution in their community.
“This isn’t new for them,” pointed out Ken Kolby, CEO of the Alberta Chamber of Commerce.
Last year, Champion won the Premier’s Award of Distinction, which is given to a business that demonstrates outstanding leadership and consistent community involvement. The recipient is chosen from the list of finalists for all the other awards. In 2014, it took home the top export award.
This year the company was recognized for “years building trust with pet lovers.”
“Our vision is to be trusted by pet lovers worldwide and we are incessantly working to achieve this,” said Frank Burdzy, president and CEO of Champion Petfoods. “This award is a true testament to our marketing team whose dedication, leadership, and innovation made this win possible.”
Burdzy was honoured to be among so many other remarkable organizations. He believes the unwavering commitment to their mission of producing quality pet foods with fresh local ingredients that are never outsourced is what set them apart from the rest of the finalists.
Kolby said that ceremonies like these help cure the general malaise caused by the current low price of oil and the weak Canadian dollar, by highlighting some of the province’s business success stories.
“The folks that were there on Friday evening were pretty positive about being in business in Alberta. Small business folks are resilient and will do whatever they have to to succeed,” said Kolby.
He pointed to the 15- and 16-year-old brother duo, JR and Dawson Wikkerrink as an example. The pair took home the Young Entrepreneur Award of Distinction for their line of gluten-free and priority allergen-free frozen treats, under the moniker the Screamin Brothers.
“That tells me there’s a lot of hope out there among businesses that the economy is going to rebound,” said Kolby about the young brothers from Lethbridge.
Champion Petfoods beat out St. Albert women’s designer clothing store, Cerulean Boutique, which was also named a finalist in the marketing category.
Another Morinville business, Smith Music, was named as a finalist for the Employer of Youth Award of Distinction. Unfortunately, the recording studio and music store did not take home the award.
Visit abbusinessawards.com for the full list of winners.
