City of Vernon receives Open for Business Award

The City of Vernon is pleased to announce that it was named one of the winning communities of the Open for Business Awards at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) annual conference being held in Whistler, B.C. The Province will award the City $10,000 to support the implementation of measures that benefit small business and promote an “open-for-business” culture.

“I think that the fact that we have been named as a finalist in consecutive years for the Open for Business Awards demonstrates the efforts that our administration has put toward initiatives that assist and support business,” said Mayor Rob Sawatzky, who received the award on behalf of the City. “I congratulate Council for providing that direction for our administration and am pleased that we have been named as one of this year’s winning communities.”

The City’s Manager of Economic Development and Tourism, Kevin Poole, was pleased with the recognition by the Province of British Columbia and the BC Small Business Roundtable.

“We’ve made a lot of progress over the past few years and plan on continuing to explore how we can better meet the needs of businesses in Vernon,” said Poole. “The City’s commitment to businesses in Vernon has been recognized by the Province and continues to be demonstrated in several ongoing initiatives, including the upcoming Business Walks program.”

The applications were evaluated based on how the communities enhance small-business competitiveness, recognize the contributions of small businesses to the community, and promote the principles of the BC Small Business Accord. The roundtable noted the 2014 applications are the strongest to date.