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20 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday March 26, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Awards for Business Excellence The OABE Spotlight on Excellence Celebrating 13 successful years of Jointly supported by the Rotary Club of Oakville West and the Oakville Chamber of Commerce, the Oakville Awards for Business Excellence (OABE) has become a hallmark of local business success and excellence. Held every year since 1995, the awards recognize the invaluable contribution business makes to our community while at the same time raising money for Oakville's youth. Every year thousands of dollars are raised through this event to support the Oakville Awards of Academic Excellence, the scholarship and bursary program for academic excellence in Oakville public and Catholic secondary schools. In addition, money raised is used to help fund a number of other youth initiatives supported by Oakville's Rotary Clubs, such as the Oakville Youth Development Centre and Camp Enterprise. Since its inception, the OABE has generated over $250,000 in youth support and student awards while honouring over 150 exceptional entrepreneurs and businesses in our town. An excellent record in itself! This year, the OABE gala's theme is "Spotlight on Excellence". The awards recognize local businesses not only for the invaluable contribution they make to the town's economic development, but for their roles as models of excellence in all that they do. It is a prestigious award that is proudly displayed by winners and runners-up alike. The event would not be possible, however, without the invaluable support of our sponsors. Lexus of Oakville is again our Platinum Sponsor, to whom we are most grateful; CIBC this year is our Diamond Level Sponsor. Gold sponsors are Snap On Tools, Naylor Group and Virox Technologies; Silver Sponsors are THE CHAMBER AND THE ROTARY CLUB OF OAKVILLE WEST ARE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE NEW AWARD CATEGORIES THIS YEAR: · Oakville Entrepreneur of the Year · Oakville Restauranteur of the Year · Oakville Small Business of the Year · Oakville Large Business of the Year · Professional and Other Service Provider of the Year · Environmental Leader of the Year business excellence in Oakville Thirteen Years! Since its inception, OABE has recognized over a dozen excellent firms each year as winners and runners up, while saluting dozens more as nominees who have deservingly been identified as being "excellent". Through the OABE, we have in our own small way, shown others that Oakville is indeed a world class community in which to operate a business, move your business to or simply grow your business while here. Indeed, proactive economic development from the community level. We are very proud to have maintained the long standing financial and personal support of many key sponsors, led at the Platinum level in recent years by Frank Apa and his team at Lexus of Oakville. But one of our biggest accomplishments has been our ability, because of our sponsors', volunteers' and winners' support, to pitch in to help Oakville's young people. On one level the Rotary, Club of Oakville West, has been able to grant many scholarships each year to those students whose academic and community accomplishments shine. In addition, each year the Rotarians have been able to offer bursaries to some students whose academic and community successes to date indicate a capacity for excellence, but who could use some help getting to the next level at College or University. Financial and mentoring support to the Oakville Youth Development Centre on Cross Avenue, plus Camp Enterprise, also get a boost through the OABE fundraising efforts. Thank you to everyone for making the Oakville Awards for Business Excellence the success and prestigious event it is. Greg Duffy, Chair: 2007 OABE Member: Rotary Club of Oakville West Member: Oakville Chamber of Commerce Business Development Bank, BOT Construction Group, Halton Region, Henderson Partners LLP, Mary Cardamone ­ Royal LePage Real Estate Services, O'Connor MacLeod Hanna LLP, Laser Networks, Oakville Hydro, The UPS Store, and Union Gas. Bronze level sponsors are Blackstone Partners, Continental Glass & Mirror, D'Orazio Infrastructures Group Limited, Dr. Ronald Gall & Associates ­ Optometrists, Greer and Bush, Barristers and Solicitors, Hynek Financial Group, Jelinek Cork, Kopriva Taylor Funeral Home, MCS Interactive Media Inc., The Oakville Club, Pong Family Dentistry, M. Edward Powell Insurance Brokers Inc. and South Sheridan Executive Centre. We also want to pay proud respect to our in-kind sponsors who have donated their products and/or services to make this evening a success: ACS Web Group, Ada's Flowers, Allegra Print and Imaging, Burloak Towing, Cogeco Community TV, The Oakville Beaver, CJC Communications Media and Public Relations, Hearing Solutions, Ed Sweeney Enterprises, Metal Works Production Group, OnSite Images and Woodfield Consulting. It's obvious by the calibre of nominees, sponsors, judges and volunteers that the gala celebration, that is the Oakville Awards for Business Excellence will shine a bright spotlight on the excellence that is Oakville. Your community. Your goals. Your law firm. We are proud to sponsor the Oakville Awards for Business Excellence "Your hometown connection to a world of legal advice." Marian G. Gage FAMILY LAW gage@omh.ca Jeffrey S. Burkett Harold R. Watson Christine A.M. Fisher LITIGATION fisher@omh.ca Kenneth W. Watts LITIGATION watts@omh.ca Kelly G. Yerxa REAL ESTATE & MUNICIPAL yerxa@omh.ca Thomas C. Hays REAL ESTATE hays@omh.ca Andrew C. Knox REAL ESTATE & MUNICIPAL knox@omh.ca Blair S. Taylor Jarvis G. Sheridan Tanya A. Leedale Brian J. Hanna REAL ESTATE hanna@omh.ca Gracie Romano CRIMINAL romano@omh.ca James McAskill REAL ESTATE & MUNICIPAL mcaskill@omh.ca Mary-Anne Kril FAMILY LAW kril@omh.ca Paul D. Stunt CRIMINAL stunt@omh.ca Larry S. Gangbar WILLS & ESTATES gangbar@omh.ca Robert Krizman CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL krizman@omh.ca Robert A. Watson LITIGATION rwatson@omh.ca CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL MUNICIPAL & EMPLOYMENT watson@omh.ca burkett@omh.ca LAND DEVELOPMENT & MUNICIPAL CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL leedale@omh.ca sheridan@omh.ca taylor@omh.ca 700 Kerr Street, Oakville, Ontario L6K 3W5 · (905) 842-8030 Visit us at www.omh.ca