From left: Andrew Nagy, Alyson Hill, Janet Marr, Caralee Strome and Rick Burnett celebrate winning the Large Business of the Year Award IN 2024. (Submitted Photo/Caralee Strome)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

MLBEX

MLBEX Awards back Feb. 21

Feb 20, 2025 | 8:00 AM

A celebratory mood is coming to Meadow Lake just in time for MLBEX season.

“Our big focus is going to be on the sponsors and the nominees this year, so our program will probably be a little bit longer, a little bit more in depth about the nominees themselves,” said Trevor Dignean, administrator for the Meadow Lake Chamber of Commerce.

“The wins for the community.”

The Meadow Lake Business Excellence Awards will be held at the Meadow Lake Civic Centre on Feb. 21. Last year was the first year the awards were celebrated following a decade-long hiatus and there were some additions Dignean said ended up taking away from the reason they were there.

“The focus needs to be the businesses and the members and the sponsors,” he said.

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This year, the awards were whittled down to include just the ones that resonated with the community and include “Roots of Hope”: Workplace Mental Health Award, Community Builder Award, Large and Small Business of the Year, Customer Service Award, Non-Profit Organization of the Year, Female and Male Entrepreneur of the Year, Young Business Leader of the Year, New Business of the Year, and Indigenous Leader of the Year.

One award that has gone away is Volunteer of the Year.

“That’s such a tough one because, it really depends on what a person volunteers for,” he said.

“I might be into hockey so I’m heavy into the volunteering in that, but I think it’s more than that. It needs to be quite a few different things.”

Of the award that Dignean believes is his favourite – that goes to the “Roots of Hope” Workplace Mental Health Award.

“It’s an important movement nowadays,” he said.

“Mental health has affected everybody and in business, it’s no different so that’s one that I really, really like.”

The awards serve as a celebration of community members but according to Dignean, the best part is the nominations.

“I haven’t made it real easy for people to nominate a person,” he said, adding that those who chose to go through the process, they need to invest some time in explaining the reasons behind their submissions.

“I don’t receive as many nominations because of that, but I definitely – they have a little bit more meaning – because they have a little bit more meat and potatoes with them.”

The awards are nearly sold out. For more information, visit the Chamber’s Facebook Page.

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: juleslovett.bsky.social