Business Excellence Awards of Distinction

The St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce hosted the 2022 Business Excellence Awards of Distinction on Thursday, October 20 at the Arden Theatre during Small Business Week/Business Excellence Week in St. Albert. This event recognizes and celebrates local businesses' success and contributions to the St. Albert community. Over 90 small businesses were nominated for business excellence awards.

Congratulations to all of the award recipients and nominees!

Young Entrepreneur: Chelsea Glasow, Allure By Chelsea Studios

Ignite: Divine & Free Wellness

Nominees: Spa Dog Haven Grooming & Daycare, FreshCo, Gateway Village HERC'S Nutrition, St. Albert Holiday Inn Express & Suites Edmonton N, Iron Fit Personal Training, Saltwater Bay Boutique, Sparkling Spaces Ltd., Twig & Barry's Apparel Co., Xo & Mane Boutique

Marketing Award: Frock box

Small Business (1-4 employees): T-Rex Distillery

Medium Business (5-15 employees): The Ranch Pet Care

Large Business (15+ Business): Fountain Tire – St. Albert

Community Business Leadership: Red Willow Wealth Management

Community Stewardship: Royal Canadian Legion St. Albert Branch #271

Customer Service: Cranky’s Bike Shop

Business to Business: Central Social Hall

Lynda Moffat Woman of Distinction: Jillian Creech

Chairs Award of Distinction: KDM Management

2022 has continued to be a busy year for the industrial market in the Edmonton Region. According to the Colliers – Edmonton Industrial Report Q3 2022, the Edmonton Region set a record in the third quarter with 3.8 million SF of industrial space absorbed in Q3 alone. To date, the region has absorbed over 7.8 million SF 2022, resulting in an average of 4.2% industrial vacancy across the region. St. Albert and Acheson in Parkland County share the lowest industrial inventory available, with just 0.6% vacancy in both areas.

Driving the demand in the industrial market are the distribution and logistics sectors, with notable projects such as the Amazon sortation facility in Acheson leading the way. According to Western Investor, the Edmonton Region is leading the country in industrial absorption due to the highly educated workforce, affordable housing and rental rates, and the ability to develop as needed.

In St. Albert, both Riel Business Park and Campbell Business Park present near-term opportunities for industrial growth with notable projects occurring in QuadReal’s Anthony Henday Business Park. Currently under construction are two buildings equaling 169,508 SF and 253,973 SF, with an estimated completion date in the second and third quarter of 2023. Within the near future, St. Albert’s Lakeview Business District will bring an additional 600+ acres of light industrial land to market and is slated to be ready for development in 2024. 

Participate in the City’s Shop & Dine Local Contest! 

The contest called “Fill Your Holiday Wish List – Right Here in St. Albert” will launch the same day as our city’s official kick off to Christmas – the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce Snowflake Festival. The grand prize for the contest is a $500 prepaid VISA gift card; there will also be five additional draws for tickets to upcoming shows at The Arden Theatre. 

What This Means for Your Business 

To make the shop local campaign as inclusive as possible, the City is providing businesses with everything they need to participate. Businesses do not need to register to participate. Instead, we are asking businesses to familiarize themselves with the contest information below:  

If you have any questions or need help getting a printed copy of the poster, please contact Amanda MacDonald, Economic Development Officer at 780-459-1743 or [email protected]. 

You can find complete contest information and rules at stalbert.ca/shoplocal.

If you would like a FREE Shop Local window decal to remind customers that you are a proud St. Albert business and want to encourage the community to shop and dine local, email [email protected]. The decal can stay up as it does not include contest details.  

The St. Albert & District Chamber of Commerce is bringing light to the holiday season with the return of Snowflake Festival to the Perron District on Friday, November 25.

Join us in the heart of downtown St. Albert as we light up the Perron District with the warm glow of Christmas lights, and enjoy the many festivities taking place. Families can take a ride on the polar express, cuddle the animals at the petting zoo, play a little road hockey, and of course, meet Santa.

No time for supper? Visit one of our downtown restaurants and enjoy a hot meal with your family.

Get a head start on your holiday shopping while sipping hot cocoa and strolling Winter Boulevard and Reindeer Road. Don’t forget to enter the City of St. Albert’s shop local holiday contest draw that begins November 25 for a chance to win a $500 VISA gift card, or tickets to the Arden Theatre upcoming performances.

This family fun event is a great way to support local charities and discover the heart of downtown St. Albert.

For more details on Snowflake Festival visit the Chamber of Commerce website:

In late 2018, the province’s liquor regulator (AGLC) began issuing “ferment-on-premise” licenses, allowing for businesses and their customers to produce wine, beer and ciders at the business itself. St. Albert Winning Wines Plus has taken full advantage of this new opportunity, and now in addition to a massive selection of beer, wine and cider making kits, home-brew supplies and equipment, customers can make wine and cider beverages within the business itself, under the guidance of knowledgeable staff who collectively have many decades of experience in wine and cider-making.

While originally an exclusive retail supply store for home-brew equipment, the new ferment-on-premise allowance sparked a new opportunity for the business; “It’s a brand new face-lift,” notes owner Jeff; “the whole place was renovated. This started early this year – we were doing the renos while we were getting the AGLC licence. Now we have a brand new facility with ferment on premise.”

“Customers have over 130 styles of wine to pick from, they have eight to ten ciders to pick from,” says Jeff; “Once they make their choice, we get out some equipment and do some prep-work. Once the batch is ready to go, the customer sprinkles the yeast on the juice (wine or cider juice), then they come back in anywhere from three to eight weeks. We do all the in-between work, the racking, cleaning, and the dirty work right-up to filtering, when it’s basically sitting on the counter waiting for the customer.” At this point, the customer makes a bottling appointment, during which they can take full advantage of the brand new bottling kitchen: “You can sanitize your bottles, fill them with an automatic filler, use our pneumatic corker – which is very cool – and if they want to dress-up their bottles, they can use this area for labelling and shrinking. The entire process takes about 30 minutes for customers to package their beverages and be on their way.”

Each wine batch is around the equivalent of thirty 750ml bottles of wine, however the business offers numerous bottling options, from gallon-sized jugs to small 375ml bottles, and everything in-between. The dizzying options for customization, along with the savings that come for home-brew create the perfect combination for customers: “This is an economical way to enjoy an alcoholic beverage – beer, wine, cider, whatever you’re making – at a fraction of the cost.”

St. Albert Winning Wines Plus

30 Muir Drive

780-459-2209

http://www.winningwinesplus.com/contact-locations/st-albert/

Hours of Operation:

Mon-Fri: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sat: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sun: Noon to 4 p.m.

[email protected]

https://prospectplumbing.ca/