The 2022 Squamish Business Excellence Awards returned with an in-person celebration after a several-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
The awards ceremony occurred on Dec. 1 at Quest University, a chilly night with Squamish blanketed in fresh snow.
Over 150 people were in attendance for the Squamish Chamber of Commerce event, representing a variety of local businesses as well as showing their support for the finalists.
The winners for each category are listed below:
- Large Business of the Year: Squamish Connector
- Small Business of the Year: Euphoria Natural Health
- Green Business of the Year: Eco Living Club
- Workplace of the Year: Stark Architecture
- New Business of the Year: Little Bookshop
- Business Innovation: Penny AI
- Community Builder of the Year: Pride Squamish
- Bill Manson Citizen of the Year: Carl Halvorson
- Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Nadine Manson of BeWildHer
- Business Person of the Year: David Arnott of Stark Architecture, TAG Panels and ALBA Distribution
One of the big winners of the evening was David Arnott of Stark Architecture, TAG Panels and ALBA Distribution.
Arnott accepted an award on behalf of Stark Architecture near the beginning of the event and joked that he had not prepared a speech. When he subsequently won the final presented award, Business Person of the Year, he again joked that he still hadn’t prepare a speech.
Carl Halvorson won the Bill Manson Citizen of the Year award, which prompted a standing ovation as he stood humbly on the stage while Kirby Brown of the Sea to Sky Gondola praised Halvorson.
In his speech, Halvorson thanked numerous people and said that just that morning he was talking about how he was never home because he was out on his bike picking up litter.
“So thank you all for spreading garbage around town,” he joked, as the crowd erupted with laughter.
The Pride Squamish acceptance of the Community Builder of the Year award also prompted a standing ovation by the crowd after a heartfelt speech from Trevor Wulff.
“The Business Excellence Awards are such a special opportunity to gather to recognize businesses for their advancements over the past year, and to honour individuals for their contributions to our community,” said Squamish Chamber of Commerce president, Abby Majendie, in a news release announcing the winners.
“There were some extremely deserving recipients of this year’s awards, and we wish to congratulate them all!”
To read more about the event, see the Squamish Chamber’s website.
