Acadian Chamber seeking at least 20 nominations for spring entrepreneurial awards

Annual entrepreneurial awards competition officially launched

SUMMERSIDE, PEI – Oct. 18, 2012 – The Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI (CCAFLIPE) is challenging its members and the public in general to nominate least 20 francophone businesses, co-operatives and business people for the five entrepreneurial recognition awards it will be presenting at its popular Entrepreneurs’ Gala on March 16, 2013.

Chamber coordinator Raymond J. Arsenault noted during the annual fall Entrepreneurs’ Luncheon, at Centre Belle-Alliance in Summerside Oct. 18, that the CCAFLIPE had received a record of 14 nominations for this past year’s awards competition. This considerably large number of nominations had helped raise the Gala’s reputation. The Chamber is therefore seeking to continue this trend.

Arsenault therefore officially launched the awards competition, whose deadline will be Jan. 18, 2013. The nomination form can be downloaded from the RDÉE PEI-CCAFLIPE website at www.rdeeipe.net under the “Concours” tab. The form explains the criteria as well as the simple process for submitting one or more nominations.

The past year’s five award categories are being retained but the coordinator explained the CCAFLIPE committee has introduced a few changes to the criteria to ensure that they are more open to allow a greater number of businesses to become eligible.

First of all, in the past, a business that had won an award was not eligible for any award for the next three years. From now on, this criterion will only apply to the category of the award that was won. This means an entrepreneur who won last year could be eligible for one of the other awards this year. In three years, the entrepreneur would again become eligible for the original award.

In addition, a major criterion for the Distinguished Entrepreneur Award has been changed. In the past, the award was reserved for business people who had retired or were about to retire. From now on, to be eligible for this award, a person must simply have been in business for at least 25 years; the person can be retired or not.

This year, the selection committee will ask for nominee biographies that are a maximum of one page in length; nominees must have written or approved these biographies before they are submitted.

Businesses and entrepreneurs may nominate themselves or may be nominated by anyone else; the nominated person or business must however grant his or her permission.

FIVE CATEGORIES

  • 2013 Enterprising Youth of the Year Award: The nominated person must be aged 25 years or younger, as of March 16, 2013, and must have shown impressive entrepreneurial and/or community involvement, especially during the past year;
  • 2013 Co-op of the Year Award: The nominated co-operative must have stood out for its accomplishments and successes, including its impact on the community, especially during the past year;
  • 2013 Business Woman of the Year Award: The nominated person must be a business woman or female entrepreneur who has at least five years of experience and who deserves recognition for outstanding accomplishments and business spirit, especially over the past year;
  • 2013 Distinguished Entrepreneur Award: The nominated person must have at least 25 years of entrepreneurial experience since this award aims to honor an entrepreneur who has distinguished himself/herself for efforts and accomplishments throughout his/her career – it’s essentially a lifetime achievement award. The nominated person can be retired or still working;
  • 2013 President’s Award of Excellence: The nominated business must have stood out by showing excellence, especially over the past year, in one or more of the following categories: innovation, quality of service, job creation, greening effort and community impact.

Arsenault said the Entrepreneurs’ Gala and its awards seek to honor entrepreneurs, businesses and co-operatives “said to be Acadian or francophone” that have distinguished themselves by the great quality of their products and services and for their contributions to the local and provincial economy.

“This means at least one of the owners, co-owners or managers of the nominated business or co-op must be able to speak in French,” he concluded.

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CUTLINE: Seen at the launching of the 2013 entrepreneurial awards competition for the Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI, Oct. 18 in Summerside, are, from left, Robert Bullen, business instructor at the Collège Acadie Î.-P.-É., Chamber coordinator Raymond J. Arsenault, and Lorraine Gallant, president of the Abram-Village Handcraft Co-op.

For more information:

Raymond J. Arsenault
Events coordinator
Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI
(902) 854-3665
Raymond@rdeeipe.org