FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JANUARY 30, 2020 BURLINGTON, ONTARIO
Burlington, Ontario (January 30, 2020) – The Burlington Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the 2020 Business Excellence Awards Finalists! The following 21 organizations exemplify leadership and business excellence in our community. The Award nominations are based on criteria that include outstanding business leadership, community involvement, entrepreneurship, environment, employee welfare, innovation and growth.
While the list of finalists is now public, the names of the winners remain a closely guarded secret. The winners will be announced at the virtual 2020 Business Excellence Awards Gala presented by RBC on Tuesday, June 23rd. Please join us in honouring our finalists and celebrating our vibrant business community.
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Media Contact:
Lindsay Stevenson Manager, Strategic Communications and Marketing Burlington Chamber of Commerce lindsay@burlingtonchamber.com 289-208-2844
Get to know our President & CEO Carla Y. Nell on the latest episode of Smartcar Coffee Confidential! Learn about her background, the Burlington Chamber of Commerce’s new direction under her leadership and the value of your Chamber membership.
On March 4th, we held our first annual Wonder Women conference, where our all-star roster of speakers shared insights on personal branding, money mastery, living your authentic life, owning your ambition and unleashing your Super Powers.
Thank you to all the Wonder Women and the Super Men who support them who took time to pariticpate in this important professional development opportunitiy.
Click here to view the photos from the 2020 Wonder Women Conference!
Speaker Profiles & Highlights
Success Secrets for Wonder Women
Julie Ellis, Co-Founder, Mabel’s Labels
Julie Ellis has 15 years of experience in the financial services industry and was most recently the Chief Operating Officer for a privately held omni channel retailer in Canada, responsible for driving the company’s growth toward operational excellence, team integration and market expansion. She is the co-founder of the successful Canadian small business Mabel’s Labels and has been involved in the business and startup communities for many years. She was Chair of the Board at Innovation Factory in Hamilton, ON., which offers programs that accelerate the innovation process for up-and-coming companies through collaboration with community-based resources from business, science, government, academia and finance. She is the current Board Chair at Angel One Investor Network, one of the most active angel groups in Canada. Julie has extensive experience mentoring leaders of all levels across several industries to achieve their professional goals and is a sought-after speaker and presenter on topics ranging from leadership development to corporate culture building, to growth and scale. Julie is also a two-time winner of the Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards, in the category of RBC Momentum (2009) and Profit Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship (2014).
From Commodity to Coveted – The Art of Shifting From One of Many to the Only One
Lara McCulloch, Chief Shift Disturber
Lara is an award-winning, results-driven brand positioning expert with over 25 years as a Business Growth Consultant. Basically, she teaches business owners how to become the ONLY one in their industry instead of being one of the many. She’s advised multinationals like Johnson & Johnson, Kraft, Shell and Benjamin Moore as well as small businesses around the globe. Lara travels the world as a keynote speaker and workshop facilitator. She’s the recipient of Connect Magazine’s Top 40 under 40, Rejuvenate Magazine’s Top 40 under 40, has been bestowed the title of Industry Innovator by BizBash magazine, received the coveted Spirit of the Industry Award by the CEIA and is proud to have been honoured with Dedication & Leadership Awards by ILEA. She graduated from Ivy Business School’s Executive Program, but it’s the title of Mom that brings Lara the most pride. When she’s not building Lego with her son, she’s been known to board down active volcanoes, spelunk 16 stories underground, camp in -10 degree temps beside a glacier, bungee jump over a rainforest, swim with sharks and jump from a plane at 15,000 feet.
Panel Discussion: Finding Your Super Power
Shannon M. Tobin, Mom, Author, Philanthropist, Women and Youth Leadership Development Mentor
An author, philanthropist, and passionate speaker, Shannon Tobin is an award-winning entrepreneur with over 28 years of success as an executive in the Cosmetic Direct Sales industry. Her team has broken company records, retailing over 13 million dollars over her career. This is not where the growth ends; She is driven to use her success as a springboard to make a positive impact in her community. Her core belief is that “Success is not a skill, it is a persistent attitude” This is a driving factor for Shannon as she has overcome adversity in her personal and professional life. Guided by a genuine desire to make a positive impact, Shannon has exemplified being the change you wish to see both personally and professionally. Shannon is the founder of the Dare To Be You Foundation, which supports leadership development opportunities and initiatives that empower women and youth to to unlock their potential to ‘BE’ better, and ‘DO’ better in their community. She has been recognized by The Women’s Centre of Halton with an “Honouring 150 Years of Exemplary Women” Award for her exemplary achievements and contribution in supporting her community by demonstrating true Leadership and for creating positive change; a bronze STEVIE Award for Women in business: Female Mentor and Coach of the Year, and in 2019 she was nominated for the Burlington Chamber Business Excellence Award 2020.
Layne, CEO & Founder, The Auctionista
Layne (also known as The Auctionista) is a trailblazer in the fundraising world. Fusing philanthropy and entertainment, Layne offers innovative strategies that inspire charitable giving while energizing and inspiring attendees. Founded in 2010, The Auctionista company has extensive experience in Event Revenue Strategy, Event Ideation and Performance. Layne started a business that disrupts the world of fundraising and they take you through their inspirational and comical journey of how they broke the auctioneer stereotype to become a successful businessperson and CEO of Canada’s fundraising powerhouse company. Layne talks about the power of manifesting and being completely fearless when it comes to taking the first step in business. After building the company brick by brick, Layne discusses the building blocks for success and how those moments of adversity can spark a fire.
Energetic Time Management
Heather Chauvin, CEO & Founder of Mom Is In Control
Heather Chauvin is a leadership coach and strategic parenting expert who helps ambitious women become leaders at work and home. Drawing from her professional experience as a social worker and her life experience raising three boys, Heather created a signature approach to focus her clients on sustainability, profitability and ease in business and life. She is the host of the Mom Is In Control Podcast where she reveals her most vulnerable truths about womanhood, marriage, parenting, living through stage 4 cancer and running a successful business—without burning out.Heather has been featured as a TEDx speaker and on The OWN Network, CTV, and The Jenny McCarthy Show. She has also appeared in Entrepreneur and Real Simple.When Heather isn’t being a classic Canadian by driving her boys to hockey practice, you’ll find her curled up on the couch with her husband surfing the internet, researching their next family adventure.
Not All Super Heroes Wear Capes: Tips & Tricks From a Mom of Six
Julie Cole, Senior Director of Public Relations, Mabel’s Labels
Julie Cole is a recovered lawyer, mom of six and co-founder of Mabel’s Labels. She has helped her company bring their product to a worldwide market, gain media recognition and win countless entrepreneur awards. Cole is a serial entrepreneur, published author, a sought after speaker and emcee and a digital influencer and blogger. Julie is no stranger to the media, having appeared on NBC’s The Today Show, HLN’s Raising America, Canada AM, Breakfast Television, The Marilyn Denis Show, CP24, among many others. Julie has blogged everywhere from The Huffington Post, modernmom.com, Today’s Parent, SavvyMom, PTPA Media, Yummy Mummy Club, and her company’s Mabelhood blog. Her writing has also appeared in The Globe and Mail, Profit Magazine, Working Mother Magazine, Chicken Soup For the Soul – Power Moms and numerous websites. Giving back to her community is one of Julie’s top priorities. When she’s not juggling her busy family and professional life, she is active on charity and community Boards and committees, and volunteers with several organizations. She is an engaged community member who is passionate about women’s issues, mentoring young entrepreneurs, poverty alleviation and social justice.
Burlington Economic Development is pleased to announce the appointment of Anita Cassidy as Executive Director effective January 1, 2020. Anita has been in the role of Acting Executive Director since May 2018 when former Executive Director Frank McKeown retired. Anita has over 15 years of experience in Economic Development delivering results-oriented strategies and programs that drive economic growth. She first joined Burlington Economic Development in 2011 and has since led a number of important projects.
“Since being appointed Chair of Burlington Economic Development I have had a close working relationship with Anita,” said Randy Smallbone, Board Chair of Burlington Economic Development. “I was pleased to be able to recommend to the Board that Anita be given the role of Executive Director. She has proven herself over the last 18 months, in a period of change for the City of Burlington,” Smallbone concluded.
Anita brings a diverse background that includes fundraising, research and stakeholder management, program and project management, strategic planning, non-profit leadership, and finance administration. Anita is multi-lingual, speaking both Italian and French, and has lived and worked in six countries including Scotland, England, Italy, Belgium, USA, and Canada. Anita also holds an MSc in Economic Development from the University of Glasgow.
Since becoming Acting Executive Director, Anita has led Burlington Economic Development to a number of recent successes including the implementation of several of the recommendations resulting from the Mayor’s Red Tape Red Carpet taskforce. She also continues to collaborate with the City of Burlington on the development of a proposed Municipal Development Corporation, which will be under consideration by City Council in 2020. Anita oversaw the continued growth of TechPlace, which is going into its third year of operations this year. It was also under Anita’s leadership that Burlington Economic Development led a successful pitch to Endress + Hauser to build a new 47,000 square foot state-of-the-art customer experience centre in Burlington. The company officially broke ground on the site in August 2019.
In 2020, Burlington Economic Development will undergo a review of its governance structure to determine how to best deliver on the economic development mandate for the city. Anita is looking forward to participating in this process and sees it as a crucial opportunity to check in on the city’s progress toward achieving the economic goals laid out in the City’s 25-year Strategic Plan.
Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward has been on the Burlington Economic Development Board of Directors since Fall 2018. “I’m delighted by the closer bonds between Burlington Economic Development and city staff and council, fostered under Anita’s leadership. She has shown herself to be an enthusiastic and collaborative partner throughout recent initiatives, including the Mayor’s Red Tape Red Carpet task force, taking the lead on implementing several of these.” Mayor Meed Ward continued, “I look forward to continuing to work closely together to deliver on our shared goal of attracting new businesses to Burlington and helping our existing businesses expand.”
Anita has and will continue to make partnership a top priority at Economic Development, working closely with colleagues at the City, Halton Region, Tourism, as well as the Chamber of Commerce and Burlington’s Business Improvement Areas to support economic prosperity in Burlington and across the region.
“The resiliency of Canada’s economy will be increasingly tested as trade conflicts and uncertainty persists. We are not an island. We are in a good position to cope with whatever comes our way,” announced Stephen Poloz, Governor of the Bank of Canada.
Canada’s economy is shifting into a lower gear. It’s losing steam as our growth engines sputter in the face of global uncertainty and competitive challenges.
So, what is in store for our economy as we head into a new year and a new decade? Find out in this month’s 5 Minutes for Business where we take stock of Canada’s economic performance and consider what the future might have in store for us!
Click here to read 5 Minutes for Business – Sluggish Growth: The New Normal for Canada.
What’s in Store for Canada and Burlington’s Economy?
Click here to read the 2020 Economic Outlook, Presented November 2019 by Josh Nye, Senior Economist at RBC.
