Nominations are now being accepted for the 18th annual Burnaby Business Excellence Awards.
Every year, the Burnaby Board of Trade organizes one evening to celebrate Burnaby’s outstanding and deserving businesses and organizations. Awards are given out for community spirit; business innovation; entrepreneurial spirit; environmental sustainability; and healthy workplace.
There are also four top awards up for grabs: Businessperson of the Year; Business of the Year (up to 50 people); Business of the Year; and Not-for-profit of the Year.
Only businesses and/or organizations that have a location in Burnaby and a valid Burnaby business licence are eligible. Self-nominations are accepted, and nominees don’t have to be board of trade members. Organizations and businesses are not allowed to win the same award more than once in three years, but runners-up are eligible to be renominated.
Finalists will be announced at the hall of fame induction luncheon in October and the winners will be announced live at the annual Burnaby Business Excellence Awards gala in November.
For more information, click here. Nominations are open until June 30.
Dust off your bike
Spring has arrived and that can only mean one thing – it’s time for Bike to Work Week. From Monday, May 29 to Sunday, June 4, folks across the Lower Mainland are encouraged to cycle to work. The week-long event is organized by HUB Cycling, an organization that advocates for cycling, and includes tons of perks, such as free bike repairs, swag and prizes. You could even win a new bike!
Oh, and if your business is part of the Burnaby Board of Trade’s Pledge for a Sustainable Community, an initiative meant to get businesses thinking about their environmental impact, you should seriously consider signing up for Bike to Work Week. It’s an easy way to go green and might even get staff cycling beyond the seven days.
After you’ve signed up your office and the week officially starts, you compete against other companies to see who can log the most trips. Go to bikehub.ca/bike-events/bike-to-work-week.
Star Wars Day
The force is strong with a Burnaby tech company that gave its staff an extra holiday earlier this month.
LMI Technologies implemented its own international holiday in recognition of Star Wars Day – May the Fourth – a play on the greeting “May the force be with you.”
CEO Terry Arden decided to close the office as a way to recognize Star Wars and the impact the series of films had on him when he was young.
“Star Wars Day is more than a play on the calendar – May the fourth be with you – but something near and dear to my teenage years, where I was introduced to amazing special effects and a storyline that was truly galactic,” he wrote in a memo to staff.
Arden’s intention was to create a holiday that would encourage staff to contemplate “the nature of the universe” and their “inner peace.”
