Nominations now open for 2023 Kingston Business Awards

Nominations are now open for The 2023 Kingston Business Awards, celebrating the best of Kingston businesses. The awards aim to recognize Kingston business community members who have made exceptional contributions through their involvement and leadership in the community.

According to a release from the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce, the Kingston Business Awards “represent a continued evolution” of the Business Excellence Awards which were last held in Fall 2022. The award ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 18, 2023, at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts.

The Kingston Business Awards are facilitated by the member-led Kingston Business Awards Committee of the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce, with support from title sponsor MNP LLP and partner sponsor Bell Canada. Going forward, these annual awards will be held in the spring, according to organizers.

“We’re pleased to once again organize this important recognition of the strength, resilience, and achievements of our local businesses,” said Karen Cross, CEO of the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce. “We look forward to celebrating the successes of this year’s group of nominees, and we invite all those who love what our business community contributes to Kingston to join us on May 18.”

Like the previous year’s awards, there are nine categories:

• Hospitality Award – sponsored by Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Ltd.
• Social Impact Award – sponsored by KEYS Job Services
• New Business of the Year Award – sponsored by BluMetric Environmental
• Young Entrepreneur Award – sponsored by Kingston Economic Development Corp.
• Skilled Trades Award – sponsored by RBC Royal Bank
• Customer Experience Award – sponsored by BMO Bank of Montreal
• Arts & Culture Award – sponsored by Enbridge Gas Inc.
• Employer of the Year Award – sponsored by ReStart Employment Services
• Business Person of the Year Award – sponsored by McDonald’s Restaurants of Greater Kingston Area

Eligible nominees are businesses and businesspeople from within the greater Kingston area who meet the specific category criteria, outlined on the awards website, and who have not previously won in the last three years. The Chamber said that applications can be submitted directly from Kingston-owned businesses or nominations can be submitted on their behalf from customers, suppliers and stakeholders that believe the business is deserving of recognition. According to the release, the winners will be decided by a panel of judges from across Canada.

The nomination deadline is Wednesday, Mar. 8, 2023. Details on how to nominate a business can be found here. Tickets for the Kingston Business Awards event will go on sale in late March 2023.