Norm and Chad Jensen, owners of the Royal LePage Network Realty Corp. in Red Deer, accept their award for Business of the Year on Wednesday. (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

By Alessia Proietti

Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce

Over 225 attend 40th Business of the Year Awards to celebrate, laugh, and honour

Oct 18, 2023 | 11:36 PM

Some might say it was a night to remember at the 40^th Business of the Year Awards on Wednesday with celebration, honor, and laughter.

Hosted by the Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce and held at the Red Deer Polytechnic Arts Centre (100 College Blvd.), roughly 225 business and community leaders as well as politicians gathered at the 2023 ceremony to witness six recipients walk home with prestigious awards.

Some unique aspects to this year’s ceremony included activities during cocktails and hosts from the former local Oh Deer… podcast Ryan Lund and Ted Emmett, the latter also the morning show host for 106.7 REWIND Radio, who conducted live and comedic interviews with the winners after receiving their awards.

New Board President Mike Szyszka also shared the history of the Chamber and its incremental role in establishing cities, with the first president of the Chamber becoming the first Mayor of the Town of Red Deer. Szyszka encouraged businesses and leaders to get involved in the community.

Scott Robinson, Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, described the night as having good energy and creating a positive buzz for the community as an opportunity for members to network.

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“It’s the one time that we can collectively celebrate the business community and the successes that they have and great stories that are out there,” he said. “That’s really important for us to champion as the Chamber and to make sure that the community knows that we got great business leaders, great businesses, great non-profit organizations and we should be proud of that.”

The Chamber says that an independent adjudication committee comprised of local business leaders selected 18 finalists from more than 92 nominees in this annual celebration of business excellence.

The winners this year are:

• Business of the Year category – Royal LePage Network Realty Corp.
• Small Business of the Year category – shiftOHS
• New Business of the Year category – Johnson Spring & Trailer.
• Emerging Business of the Year category – Three Broke Sisters
• The Non-Profit Award category – Golden Circle Senior Resource Centre
• Business Leader of the Year category – Rieley Kay with Cilantro & Chive

Business of the Year winners Norm and Chad Jensen, partners of the Royal LePage Network, said they were excited to win the award as they were competing with other great businesses.

A father-son duo, Norm has been in the business for over 30 years, with Chad starting just five years later, knowing as a kid that he wanted to follow in his footsteps.

Norm says he believes they won the award for their efforts to consistently give back to the community, having donated over $500,000 to the women’s shelter over the past six years through golf tournament fundraising. He says they also purchased the first Facility Dog for the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre and recently raised another $16,000 for their second dog.

He adds that the company has also grown over the years from five to 90 agents.

“We’re always looking to improve our services for our customers and our agents that we’re working with. We’d like to grow a bit larger and there’s power in numbers. The larger we can grow, the more we can support our community, give back, raise money for charities and hopefully make a difference in Red Deer and central Alberta,” said Chad.

Every year, businesses are nominated by the public, and the adjudication committee narrow down the nominees to 18 finalists. The committee then conducts a comprehensive evaluation to determine the finalists. As an outcome of this process, the winners are also determined, with the results sealed and embargoed until the awards ceremony.

The Chamber has over 870 business and organization members with next year being their 130^th anniversary.

For more information on how to join, visit their website.