A senior manager at a Surrey shopping complex has been named business person of the year by the Surrey Board of Trade (SBOT).
On Nov. 14, the board held it’s annual Surrey Business Excellence Awards at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel.
Bill Rempel of vice president Blackwood Partners Management Corporation was recognized as Surrey’s Business Person of the Year.
“It’s an incredible honour to be recognized by my peers at the Surrey Board of Trade,” said Rempel. “I am fortunate to have a great team behind me at Blackwood Partners who have worked tirelessly to ensure the ongoing success of Central City.”
Rempel has been with Blackwood Partners since 2010 as Vice President and General Manager of Central City, an award-winning, mixed-use development combining 140 retail stores, restaurants and services. Touted by his employees as a “hands-on,” compassionate manager with an open door policy, Rempel has implemented a number of innovative strategies to Central City. The shopping centre is now a front-runner in the social media scene, with the second highest following of anyone in the industry within the Lower Mainland; the office tower has significantly reduced its hydro consumption in order to help reduce its corporate environmental impact; and the entire development has been fitted with state of the art security technology and practices to increase customer, employee, and visitor safety.
On top of managing this leading-edge facility, Rempel is also passionate about his community: in 2012, he was the recipient of the Certified General Accountants Community Service Award for British Columbia for his outstanding community service. He is also a past president of both the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association and the Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association.
In 2011, Blackwood Partners’ Central City Shopping Centre also received Surrey’s Beautiful City Award – an accomplishment in which Rempel was instrumental.
