SURREY — Eight of the city’s best businesses were celebrated Thursday night (Nov. 2) during Surrey Board of Trade’s annual Business Excellence Awards gala, held once again at Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel.
The Business Person of the Year award was given to Sara Hodson, founder and president of LIVE WELL Exercise Clinic in South Surrey.
Hodson “lives to maximize her clients’ health, in spite of their health issues, and has fun while doing it,” the board said in her biography. “LIVE WELL’s three pioneering clinics (two in Surrey) specialize in helping sedentary people with health conditions such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease, and overhaul their lifestyle by offering medically-designed customized fitness programs, nutritional counselling, goal-setting and habit formatting.”
The Young Entrepreneur of the Year award went to Raveena Oberoi of Just Cakes Bakeshop.
Safe Software Inc. took home the Corporate Social Responsibility Recognition award, which was created to recognize a business working “to improve the lives of their employees.”
The New Business of the Year award went to Forte Law, which works to help employees and employers solve work-related legal problems.
Pacific Community Resources Society, which has been around since 1984, won the Not-for-Profit of the Year award.
Also honoured during the Academy Awards-style dinner were GroupHEALTH Benefit Solutions (41+ Employees award), Safetech Scaffold Ltd. (11-40 Employees) and Sew Kool Embroidery and Screen-Printing (1-10 Employees).
The list of award finalists was announced in early October.
• READ MORE: Surrey Business Excellence Awards finalists announced, from Oct. 3, 2017.
Global TV’s Jay Janower emceed the event, sponsored by BDC-Business Development Bank of Canada, TD Bank and Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
“The Surrey Board of Trade focused on the strength and innovation within every entrepreneur to take an idea and use it as the foundation for building a business,” said Anita Huberman, the board’s CEO. “They are inspirational – from the very small business to the large business to the not-for-profit service organization to the very innovative student entrepreneurs.”
• READ MORE: Fitness buff named Surrey’s Business Person of the Year for 2016.
