Countdown to Chamber Business Awards

In the words of Agnes Francis from Accela Marketing Group at the launch of the Chamber of Commerce St Lucia Business Awards: “We must press forward to higher levels of excellence in achieving our business goals, raising the quality of our companies and generally the industry.”
The launch was held at Windjammer Landing on September 27 and a couple months later the Chamber is all set to roll out the red carpet event on Saturday, January 28 at Sandals Grande.
During the opening ceremony executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, Brian Louisy, anticipated more submissions in 2011 and from the account of Chamber’s business advisor Karen Fowell this year saw an overwhelming increase.
“What’s unique about this year’s submissions is that we have a lot of small businesses entering and we hope to see some of them emerging as winners,” Fowell told the STAR. “This is an activity that features St Lucia’s business houses that perform, showcasing excellence and it’s an
integral part of Novel Laureate Week activities. It’s a unique event that happens annually and we recognize the two Nobel Laureates during the activity. This is definitely not an event you want to miss, there will be first class entertainment, complimentary drinks and hors d’oeuvres throughout he evening. We try to feature young rising entertainers
that showcase excellence and the names of these performers will be made available on Monday. This event is the perfect opportunity to network with the business community and government officials who’re expected to be in attendance.”
The 11 award categories include: Idea of the Year, Prime Ministers Award for Innovation, Service Excellence, Award for Corporate Leadership, Award for Corporate Social Responsibility, Excellence in Human Resource Development, Marketing Excellence, Business of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Exporter of the Year and the Green Award, which focuses on environment and the conservation of natural resources.
Nominees for Idea of the Year are Consolidated Foods Ltd, KayDee Incorporated, Media Zone Productions Inc/Choice TV, Award for Marketing Excellence, Windward & Leeward Brewery Ltd, Accela Marketing and St Lucia Distillers Ltd. Award for Excellence in Human Resource Development: Windward & Leeward Brewery Ltd, St Lucia Distillers Ltd, Sol EC Ltd, Service Excellence Award, First Citizens Investment Services Ltd, 1st National Bank St Lucia Ltd and CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank. Green Award: Windward & Leeward Brewery Ltd, Construction & Industrial Equipment Ltd. (CIE), Prime Minister’s Award for Innovation, Media Zone Productions Inc/Choice TV, St Lucia Distillers Group of Companies and Kay-Dee Incorporated. Exporter of the Year Award: Financial Investment & Consultancy Services Ltd. (FICS) and Windward and Leeward Brewery Ltd.
Award for Corporate Social Responsibility: 1st National Bank St. Lucia Ltd, Consolidated Foods Ltd and St Lucia Electricity Services Ltd (LUCELEC). Award for Corporate Leadership: St Lucia Distillers Ltd, Financial Investment and Consultancy Services Ltd. (FICS). Award for Business of the Year: Windward and Leeward Brewery 1st National Bank and Financial Investment & Consultancy Services Ltd. (FICS).
According to the Chamber of Commerce: “The 2012 Awards process commenced in June 2011 with a review of the entire process used in previous years. A workshop for firms interested in submitting more effective entries was hosted where tips and insight into making a more effective submission was held. The first phase of the adjudication process has taken place, which produced the short list of nominees. The final phase of judging is taking place presently. The esteemed judges for the Business Awards are: Suzie D’Auvergne, Randy Cato, Eldon Mathurin, Andie George, Benjamin Menald, Crispin D’Auvergne and Richard Peterkin.”
The upscale Chamber awards promises to be not just a night of glitz and glamour but overall rewarding and celebrating excellence according to Brian Louisy.
“We want to get everyone to realize that they too can improve their businesses and the awards force you to do that. They force you to measure and review what you’ve done for the year and see how you’ve performed. In doing that you start to see that you can improve and you can change. We are committed to improving the ceremony every year. We are
rewarding and celebrating excellence. We are very pleased that the award ceremony is the pinnacle of St Lucia’s Nobel Laureate week and we intend to close the week projecting the excellence of our two Nobel laureates and that of the outstanding performers from corporate St Lucia.”
The 2012 St Lucia Business Awards will be broadcast live from 9pm to 11pm on Choice TV (St Lucia and St Vincent). Tickets can be obtained from the St Lucia Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture.