Roughly 400 of the city’s business leaders rubbed shoulders last night (Nov. 3) at the 18th annual Surrey Business Excellence Awards held at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel. A total of six businesses picked up awards at the posh event honouring entrepreneurial endeavours emceed by Global News sports anchor Jay Janower.
“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 the board’s CEO Anita Huberman. “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.”
Curtis Christopherson was named business person of the year. The owner of an Innovative Fitness location in South Surrey, Christopherson also founded and owns a Denver-based company called RAD and has become a partner at Reflex Supplements in Surrey. Since his involvement with Reflex Supplements, the company has almost doubled in size and is now the most successful supplement retail chain in Western Canada.
Innovative Fitness, a professional fitness training company that offers one-on-one training with coaches, also earned the award for best medium-sized business (11 to 40 employees). Peninsula Strata Management Ltd. won for best small business (10 or fewer employees) and Bottom Line Ventures Ltd., which currently operates 14 Subway restaurants in the Lower Mainland, won for best large business. Bottom Line Ventures also won the third annual Corporate Social Responsibility Recognition Award.
Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria picked up the hardware for best new business. The Guilford location, which opened in 2015, operates a full service bar and serves up menu items that are not available at other locations while offering traditional-style pizzas prepared the same way as in Naples, Italy.
The best non-profit nod went to Options Community Services, who have supported families and promoted community health in the region for nearly half a century. They operate over 80 different services which include: employment services, family and children’s intervention services, homeless services, housing and mental health supports, a crisis line, services for immigrants, violence-prevention programs, youth and school based services, and specialized counselling services.
