In a glittering award ceremony held on Friday, February 21, 2020, Small Business BC announced the eight winners of the 17th Annual Small Business BC Awards at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Alongside a room full of entrepreneurs, business influencers and government officials, we raised a toast to British Columbia’s best and brightest entrepreneurial talent and the valuable contributions they make to our provincial economy.
2020 highlighted our awards continued growth, with approximately 600 small businesses from across the province nominated in our eight awards categories. With standards high across the board our judges faced an unenviable task to select the winners.
To each and every business who participated, we thank you for making the Small Business BC Awards a true celebration of BC’s diverse business landscape.
*Drumroll Please*
Here are the winners of the 17th Annual Small Business BC Awards!
This Year’s Winners
Premier’s People’s Choice
Sponsored by the Government of British Columbia
Griottes Polyglottes
You learned French in school, but never had a chance to practice? Through their interactive workshops, Griottes Polyglottes offers to awaken the French in you. You probably know more than you think. Griottes Polyglottes’ goals are to help you recover what you learned and to overcome your fear of speaking whilst having fun. Their method is based on acting and improvisation, which will give you the chance to practice as if you were in a real-life context. At the end of their workshops, kids and adults alike have been amazed by how much they remember and can actually use.
Best Community Impact
Sponsored by Vancity
Ginger Jars
Ginger Jars exists to lessen the impact of food waste on our communities, both environmentally and financially. Ginger Jars’ goal is to curb waste from the retail and farm cycles, and process usable product into healthy, delicious food. Their packaging is zero waste, and profits are shared with local food charities. Excess product is also siphoned into farm feed or compost. They work with local school districts to help run cooking classes that educate on food waste within the school system. They believe this is the most tangible way to evoke change within our community
Best Company
Presented by Boldly Creative on behalf of Small Business BC
Twirling Umbrellas
Twirling Umbrellas is an award-winning digital agency based in Kelowna. They focus on transforming brands through best-in-class digital experiences and they’re pretty friendly too. They’ve helped hundreds of BC businesses ranging from exciting new start-ups to non-profits, government organizations, and publicly traded enterprises with global reach. This has helped them become one of the fastest growing agencies in Kelowna. They are active in their community and active supporters of several prominent charities in the Okanagan and beyond.
Best Employer
Sponsored by ADP
Emelle’s Catering
Emelle’s has been catering throughout the Lower Mainland of B.C. for 20 years. By focusing on the basics like treating their staff right and being an inclusive employer, giving clients highly-custom and personal menus, and making all food with fresh local and sustainably-sourced ingredients, Emelle’s has become a fixture in the Vancouver catering industry. With good old-fashioned hospitality, inclusivity, and sustainability at the core, Emelle’s has made a large impact on their community over two decades.
Best Immigrant Entrepreneur
Sponsored by BDC
High Beam Dreams
Originally it was a Gibsons United Church until December 2016. With sweat and love, the owners were able to successfully renovate the property and convert it into an event space that would serve the local community. Its unique character and appealing design make it a perfect location for weddings, celebration of life, art, music events, meetings etc. This property is close to Gibsons Marina, beach and Gibsons Public Market.
Best Innovation
Kinzoo
Kinzoo is a kid-friendly messenger app with an easy-to-use interface. Parents can rest assured that Kinzoo is a private space—and not an advertising engine. Your data is yours, profiles are not publicly searchable and parents approve all contacts. And, Kinzoo also lets you include the whole family. You can exchange text messages, videos, pictures and audio with loved ones on both iOS and Android. You don’t need a phone number or data plan, just a device and a WiFi connection.
Best Marketer
Sponsored by Small Business BC
Emelle’s Catering
Emelle’s has been catering throughout the Lower Mainland of B.C. for 20 years. By focusing on the basics like treating their staff right and being an inclusive employer, giving clients highly-custom and personal menus, and making all food with fresh local and sustainably-sourced ingredients, Emelle’s has become a fixture in the Vancouver catering industry. With good old-fashioned hospitality, inclusivity, and sustainability at the core, Emelle’s has made a large impact on their community over two decades.
Best Youth Entrepreneur
Sponsored by KPU
Elevate Ultimate
Elevate Ultimate provides high quality Ultimate Frisbee programs for kids aged 6-19. Their aim is greater than helping an athlete make their school’s A-team or even Team Canada (although they can help with this). Instead, their mission is to pass on skills and values that will transcend the field, such as sportspersonship, personal accountability, and open-mindedness through the sport and spirit of Ultimate. They are making better human beings one frisbee at a time.
Thank You
We would like to extend our thanks to our Sponsors, Judges and all who participated in this year’s Small Business BC Awards. Nominations for the 2021 Small Business BC Awards will open on October 1, 2020.
Here to Help
No matter what stage of business, or what problem you face, Small Business BC offers a range of seminars and one-on-one advisory sessions to suit any business.