Fort Smith welcomes 80-plus participants for 2009 NWT Chamber AGM
April 2nd, 2009
The books are now closed on the 2009 NWT Chamber Annual General Meeting and with more than 80 people taking part it was a tremendous success.
The distinguished list of speakers included Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, NWT Commissioner Anthony Whitford, Premier Floyd Roland, Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger, ITI Minister Bob McLeod, Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington, Fort Smith Mayor Peter Martselos, ITI Deputy Minister Peter Vician, the Competition Bureau’s Brent Homan and Aurora College President Maurice Evans.
“Thank you to the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce, the South Slave regional ITI office, the staff at Aurora College, all of our sponsors and local contractors, the residents of this wonderful community and everyone who joined us here,” said NWT Chamber President Ann Marie Tout. “It was your support that made our event so enjoyable.”
Fort Smith businesses and entrepreneurs dominated the 2009 NWT Chamber Business Awards capturing all three categories during the closing President’s Banquet at this year’s Annual General Meeting.
Going home with the lofty title of 2009 Business Person of the Year was Craig Browne, owner of C.A.B. Construction.
Earning the 2009 Business Family of the Year Award were Sandra and Don Jaque, who together own and operate a number of firms including the award-winning Slave River Journal newspaper and Cascade Graphics.
Rounding out the clean sweep for the Fort Smith business community was the 2009 Business of the Year winner Northwestern Air Lease.
“It speaks very highly to the entrepreneurial spirit that is alive and well in Fort Smith that all of our winners are based here in the NWT’s Garden Capital,” said Tout. “Each of our winners deserves our respect and admiration for the way they consistently demonstrate their excellence both as business leaders and as active members of this tremendous community.”
The Business Awards are open annually to the entire territorial private sector and not simply chamber members.
In association with the network of community Chambers of Commerce in Fort Simpson, Behchoko, Norman Wells, Fort Smith, Hay River and Yellowknife as well as the Northern Aboriginal Business Association, the NWT Chamber of Commerce represents the interests of more than 865 members. For more than 35 years, it has been the only pan-territorial voice of businesses across all sectors of the Northern economy.
