A week of honouring some of Wallaceburg’s best is underway.
The Wallaceburg and District Chamber of Commerce is announcing this year’s Business and Community Excellence Award winners over the next four days, staring with a live announcement on 99.1 CKXS this morning.
Pretty Road Co. Farm Store is being honoured with the Agriculture Award. Owners Ryan and Sandy Duffy have been selling farm-raised meats for almost 18 years, but had to adapt their business when COVID-19 hit. The pair started an on-farm store, quickly transitioning to online orders and deliveries in both Chatham-Kent and Lambton County.
“You need to be intentional to come to our store, we’re down a gravel road, I was nervous maybe people wouldn’t come, but we see anywhere between 490-50 families every weekend,” Sandy Duffy says. “When COVID hit, things went a little crazy. I stood at the road selling meat and fudge and bread, and people came.”
The 2021 Industrial Achievement Award goes to Wallaceburg Bookbinding and Manufacturing. The company has been operating in Wallaceburg for over 50 years, and for the last two decades has employed over 225 students. Suzanne Swiers says the company is committed to the environment through using renewable, sustainable materials and recycling.
“It’s an honour to be a business recognized in the municipality of Chatham-Kent,” Swiers says. “Many people are unaware of what we do. We fix books, print books, bind books, and like many businesses COVID has not been kind to us. We’re working through that with some new products we’re launching. We advocate for the printed book beyond business.”
Cathy Cogghe from the Wallaceburg Wellness Centre has been honoured with this year’s Technology Award. The Wellness Centre is a hub aiming to support self-employed business professionals, encouraging web-based business systems, customized online booking applications, website landing pages, and social media integration. Cogghe had to shift her business at the start of the pandemic, including helping fitness and yoga instructors take their classes online to continue to serve the community.
“Because of the pandemic, we had to do lots of pivoting, just like all small businesses, we found it pretty challenging but we’re not going anywhere,” Cogghe says. “Our whole goal was to make sure our tenants, our clients, and our classmates all had something to come back to.”
More awards will be handed out as the week continues, with the winners announced live on 99.1 CKXS between 8:30-9am through Thursday.