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Prince Albert celebrates business leaders at Samuel McLeod awards

Apr 27, 2018 | 8:00 AM

The Ches Leach Lounge was packed with business leaders and dignitaries for the 28th annual Samuel McLeod Business Awards ceremony last night, presented by the Prince Albert Chamber of Commerce.

The awards presentations were packed with good-natured ribbing, while at the same time paying respect to local leaders and their successes in various industries over the last year.

Awards recognize young achievers

The Young Entrepreneur Award, honouring a young entrepreneur between the age of 18 and 35 who has achieved great success in starting or running a business, went to Erin McAuley, owner of Fringe Lash Lounge.

McAuley said her business came from humble beginnings. As a young mom, she said she waited to go back to school until her daughter was in school herself. McAuley said she chose to work in her field because it offered her flexibility. When she started her business, she ran it from her apartment.

“I had clients coming down the back alley and up the stairs into my apartment, and they trusted me and were excited to come,” she said. “I built my business from the dining room of my apartment. I moved my table and moved in a lash bed, and just went on faith that this was the best thing for me and my daughter.”

McAuley said she felt a strong need to give back, and hoped to repay the honour of winning the award by continuing to do so. She said part of the reason she started Fringe was to create a platform to give back to the community, and offered some advice to young entrepreneurs in Prince Albert.

“If you have a dream, you should go for it, and what you’re passionate about, it’s telling you something,” she said. “As you follow that path, you’re going to have people come into your life who support that.”

Local video production company recognized

Evan Jenkins, the owner of Aspen Films, was nominated in both the Young Entrepreneur and New Venture categories, and walked away with the latter. The award recognizes a business started within the last 24 months in the Gateway to the North.

He said the drive to tell stories is the main inspiration in his work.

“The technology is what drew me to video and then it became the story,” Jenkins said. “Just having great video wasn’t enough. The challenge became how do I get good enough content?”

Jenkins said he always tells people he’s proud to live and work in Prince Albert, and it’s in part due to the business community.

“There’s so many good people in Prince Albert and just the atmosphere in the different businesses, and just the way people are makes a big difference,” he said. “It makes it a pleasure to work here.”

Mental health services recognized with award

Catholic Family Services was recognized with the 2017 Services Award for the work they do to improve mental health.

Executive Director Louise Zurowski said Catholic Family Services has been working hard over the past year to get businesses to recognize the need to provide their staff with mental health services.

“To have a mental health agency recognized for this service is very important,” Zurowski said. “I’m just shocked, actually. It’s very touching.”

During her speech, Zurowski said the organization recently worked with families affected by the April 6 bus crash involving members of the Humboldt Broncos. In an interview with paNOW, Zurowski said Catholic Family Services also does work with children who have anger-management issues, those dealing with grief, or people who need help with parenting skills.

Business of the Year goes to…

Lake Country Co-op walked away with the night’s top honours, picking up the 2017 Business of the Year award. CSC/Pine Industries/SARCAN was awarded the 2017 Non-Profit Organization Award.

The 2017 female and male business leader of the year awards went to Brandi Mogg of Dr. Java’s Coffee House and Tim Longworth of Cornerstone Insurance.

Medi-Center Pharmacy was recognized with the 2017 Business Transformation Award, S.H.A.R.E took home the 2017 Community Involvement Award and A2Z Safety & Training earned the 2017 Marketing Award.

 

Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @BryanEneas