The Oakville Chamber of Commerce, with the Rotary Club of Oakville West, presented their Oakville Awards for Business Excellence last night, May 29, 2024, at a sold-out awards ceremony of nearly 500 people in attendance.
This year marked the 29th annual awards, coveted by local businesses for their recognition in the local communities for their entrepreneurship, leadership, and activism efforts throughout the year.
Though the OBEs are very much an awards ceremony, the event also raises money for Rotary youth initiatives, including the Oakville Rotary Education Awards, Camp Enterprise, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, Dream Take Flight and the Nottinghill Youth Centre in Glen Abbey.
Each year there are nine competitive awards and three named categories, with the winners being presented at the Chamber of Commerce's annual gala at the Oakville Conference Centre.
Listed below are this year's winners:
2024 Oakville Awards for Business Excellence – Judged Award Category Recipients:
- RBC Royal Bank Large Business of the Year: Harvest ETFs
- O’Connor MacLeod Hanna LLP Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leader of the Year: Beloved Hair Studio
- Oakville Hydro Sustainability Leader of the Year: Minto Communities Canada Inc.
- Cogeco Entrepreneur of the Year: Sean Neville of Healthwick
- Henderson Partners LLP Mid-Size Business of the Year: Access Abilities
- Visit Oakville Tourism Excellence of the Year: Bronte Business Improvement Area
- Media Resources Service Provider of the Year: GraceMed
- KPMG Small Business of the Year: Ruff the Dog Barbership Inc.
- Sagen Next Generation Leader of the Year: Megan Arthurs of H:OM Organizing
In addition to the competitive awards, three businesses received named honours at last night's ceremony after being announced last month.
Read more here: First winners named for Oakville Business Excellence 2024
Named Award Category Recipients (Distinguished Awards):
- Bell Community Builder: Geoff Shore of M.G. Shore Restaurants (Tim Hortons 111 Cross Ave.)
- CN Not-for-Profit Award: Halton Women’s Place
- Business Icon Award: Cherry & Hoyle Roofing
"This is such an incredible night to showcase the amazing businesses that make up our town," said Cahmber President & CEO France Fournier last night.
Speaking with Oakville News, Fournier added, "It’s my favourite night, where we get to celebrate all the work that business puts in locally." She also mentioned her excitement seeing the winners together on stage and thanks thanked her staff and board of directors: "it really takes all of them to make this happen."
Chris Mei, longtime host of the awards, returned again as master of ceremonies. This year's judges were led by Lead Judge Kerry Colborne, also returning.
Additional judges for this year's awards include Lauren Canham, Samantha Cheung, Stephen Credico, James Forsyth, Melisa Gaetani, Geraldine Hewitt, George Karteros, Christine Langevin, Stew Lawson, Moatassem Moatez, Lee Munro, Richard Rizzo, Les Ross, James Smyth, Amit Virkar and Melanie Wittig.
Congratulations to all the winners!