The purpose of The Port Theatre Society is to stimulate and enhance artistic, cultural, and economic activity of central Vancouver Island.  At the Port Theatre they host 110,000 people each year to enjoy a variety of cultural performances and events.  Through their partnerships and their programming, the Port Theatre has established itself as a community gathering place, a place of tolerance, and creativity.  With over 200 volunteers, they have one of the largest volunteer rosters in Nanaimo.  Together, their staff and volunteers help to ensure they are the community’s home for artistic and cultural performers, and audiences throughout central Vancouver Island.

The Port Theatre is honoured and thrilled to be the recipient of the 2019 Arts & Entertainment Nanaimo Business Award. “The timing couldn’t be better as we just celebrated our 20th year!”

The positive impact of winning this award is raising awareness that the Port Theatre is a non-profit organization built by the determination and hard work of this dedicated community. Since opening their doors in 1998, innumerable volunteers, staff, their boards of directors, individuals, corporations, non-profits, local, provincial and federal governments and their deepest partner, the City of Nanaimo, have supported the arts and culture at the Port Theatre.

They have grown to host almost 250 events a year, this is truly a place for everyone! Being recognized by the Nanaimo Chamber also acknowledges they’re running a successful business, providing well-paid local jobs and contributing substantially to the growing success of the downtown core. The Port Theatre also provides an extensive diversity of events and programs, allowing citizens to have meaningful arts experiences without leaving their hometown as well as attracting many out of town visitors for some of their unique programs.

Check out their website at www.porttheatre.com, like them on Facebook at The Port Theatre, or follow them on Twitter at @porttheatre!

Click here to download the PDF!

For Immediate Release: October 28th, 2019

LAST Chance to Enter your Business in this Year’s DT Gingerbread Competition

This 2019 holiday season, will be the 5th annual celebration of B Gallant Homes Gingerbread Competition in Downtown Nanaimo. Registration is now open for Nanaimo businesses to sign up for the competition that gives you a huge opportunity to promote your company’s image give back to the community, in a fun and collaborative way!

Using imagination and creativity, your team will design and build a model which resembles a house, or a building, with gingerbread and royal icing. All aspects of the models have to be edible but the rest of the game is up to you!

Join B Gallant Homes Gingerbread today and start working on your dream gingerbread house now, it will be displayed in Vancouver Island Conference Centre and viewed by over 2000 people. Even better, you will have the opportunity to showcase your business to the community. The display will be open the public for the whole of December, and you are invited to the Nanaimo Chamber Presents Sneak Peek into Gingerbread Village evening on November 21st at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, prizes will be awarded to the winners.

It is a $300 entry fee to participate in the competition, $50 will go directly to the Nanaimo Salvation Army’s housing programs. 6 slabs of gingerbread and 2 royal icing containers will be provided to help you turn your talents into one of the tastiest houses in the world! Not only is B Gingerbread Homes event a wonderful way to get your team together for a teambuilding event, but it is also a way to showcase your company to Nanaimo and other business partners.

The deadline for submitting an application is on Thursday October 31, 2019.

 

 

Cold Front Gelato specializes in making innovative gelato flavours while respecting the Italian tradition of using local, fresh ingredients. They pride themselves in their “from scratch” methods that involve the production of their own purées, syrups, and sauces to produce the highest quality, natural gelato. Cold Front also proudly serves Milano Coffee and a premium selection of teas from a variety of incredible BC based tea companies.

The Cold Front journey began in Bologna, Italy.  Studying the traditional methods of gelato production, the goal was to create a world class gelato right here on Vancouver Island. The result is a mixture of traditional and innovative flavours, made fresh daily, drawing inspiration from Italy and the West-Coast.  One important tradition is their commitment to work with as many local producers and artisans as we can.

The greatest part of winning the Nanaimo Business Award for best New Business was “knowing that the people of Nanaimo nominated us and took the time to vote for our business.”  They are so grateful to all of their customers for sticking with them in their first year as a starting business.

One of their newest initiatives at Cold Front is to include pastries to go with our gelato, coffee, and tea.  Their second new offering is their delivery program.  Customers can go online at coldfrontgelato.com and order pints delivered right to their homes Monday – Friday!

Check out their website at www.coldfrontgelato.com, like them on Facebook at Cold Front Gelato, or follow them on Instagram at @coldfrontgelato!

Click here to download the PDF! 

Living Better Starts Here

Alair is a Custom Contracting Company that offer its clients, partners, trade partners, and employees a unique, high quality, and fully transparent experience.  The result of each project is a beautiful, custom-built, and expertly crafted home.  More importantly, Alair delivers a positive experience with life-changing results.

Alair was thrilled to have won the award.  “We’re very flattered to receive the award and its recognition is of great help in standing out in a very competitive industry.”  Acknowledging the competition of custom contractors here in Nanaimo, winning the award is bringing a new light to them

One thing Alair Homes is looking forward to in the future is help improve peoples lives through home happiness. They feel they are in “the human life improvement business and not the construction industry.”  They operate with the viewpoint that their greatest competitive advantage lies with the personal relationships formed between all team members across Alair.

Check out their website at www.alairhomes.ca/nanaimo, like them on Facebook at Alair Homes Nanaimo, or follow them on Instagram at @alairhomesnanaimo!

Click here to download PDF.

 

 

The Mahle House Restaurant is a second generation locally owned business in the semi-rural community of Cedar.  They are a casual fine dining establishment specializing in creating outstanding guest memories.  Situated in a charming 1904 home originally built as a farm house their tables are hand made and each are individually unique, crafted from timbers from an old sawmill and built less than 300 yards from our door by a local artisan.

What sets The Mahle House apart from most Nanaimo restaurants is their approach to ‘farm to fork’.  While they do support the local farming community, The Mahle House does rely on their own farm for the majority of the produce they use.  They have over 2000 square feet of planted garden beds and a variety of vegetables and herbs. In recent years they have also added pigs to the farm and raise a few heritage animals that feature heavily in our charcuterie program.  It really gives them “a sense of pride to be able to serve [their] guests with bounty that [they] have produced ourselves.”

Winning the Nanaimo Chamber Award has helped to elevate their profile in the community and to increase awareness about who The Mahle House is and what they do.  Desipte being around since 1983 there are still many who have never experienced their hospitality.  This award has certainly encouraged diners to seek them out for the first time.  Next on the horizon for The Mahle House is to make even better use of their ‘farm’.  Each year they learn a little more about where, what, and when to grow.

Check out their website at www.mahlehouse.ca, like them on Facebook at Mahle House Restaurant, check them out on Twitter at @mahlehouse or follow them on Instagram at @mahlehouse!

Click here to download PDF.

Loaves and Fishes Food Bank operates a nation leading Food Recovery Program that ensures good food does not end up in the landfill, but instead in the hands of people that can use it.  This program ensures there is an abundance of food for people in need in our community.  Additionally Loaves and Fishes provides food free of charge to over 80 other non-profits and schools.

Loaves and Fishes is “honoured that [their] hard work and dedication to serving the most vulnerable in our community has been recognized by the Chamber of Commerce.”  Their work has also been recognized within the community.   This honour has helped draw attention to the work we do and the positive impact it is having on people’s lives.

Looking to the future, Loaves and Fishes is hoping to bring on more grocery store partners.  In doing this they hope to increase the amount of food available in the community.  They are also looking at starting up additional locations where people can access food.

Check out their website at www.nanaimoloavesandfishes.org, like them on Facebook at Nanaimo Loaves & Fishes Community Food Bank, or follow them on Twitter at @nanaimofoodbank!

Click here to download the PDF.

Harmac Pacific is a green power generating facility and a 400,000 metric tonnes per year of Northern Bleached Kraft Pulp business.  Their products are 100% produced from regional sawmill and timber harvesting waste.  Their wood pulp is sold all over the world to produce high quality paper, packaging, and other materials essential to supporting a healthy and educated society.

Harmac Pacific makes unique products but what really sets it apart from the competition is the ownership structure since 2008.  The 340 employees own one-quarter of the company, are represented on the board of directors, and directly share in the financial success of the business.  Harmac’s employees are highly motivated to perform their best all the time.  The other shareholders in the business are committed to long-term success, demonstrating this through supporting the reinvestment of $200 million since 2008.

Among Harmac’s employees, winning the award rekindles the feeling of pride and power in their business model. It has also helped draw attention from other businesses looking to partner with them in synergistic ways.  Harmac Pacific continues to invest in its long-term future with an eye on improving competitiveness through ongoing equipment upgrades and strategic acquisitions.

To learn more about Harman Pacific and what they do in our community visit their website at www.harmacpacific.com.

Click hereto download PDF.

Live·Laugh·Eat/Repeat

Famous Franks, the winner of the New Business Award in the 2019 Nanaimo Business Awards, is a small, local business that sells comfort food fast and fresh.  You can find them located at Nanaimo Northtown Centre beside Canadian Tire most days, at events across Vancouver Island, and at the Commercial Street Night Market on Thursday nights throughout the summer.

Famous Franks strives to provide their customers with the freshest ingredients.  They also are big supports of other local businesses such as Cobs, who provides all their fresh baked buns.  Their goal is to bring you comfort food made fresh in minutes.

Their chef, Tao Breese, is “a bombastic man with charisma and an explosive personality” who “enjoy[s] meeting new people, learning new things, and keeping people happy.”

Famous Franks is honoured to have been recognized by the community as the Best New Business in Nanaimo in 2019.  To them, the awards shows the hark work and dedication they have put in over the last few years to realize their dream of “bringing comfort food to Nanaimo in minutes.”  Since winning the award there are plans in the works to expand their menu and add another food truck to better serve Vancouver Island.

Check out their website at famousfranks.ca, like them on Facebook at Famous Franks Nanaimo, or follow them on Instagram at @famousfranks!

Click here to download PDF.

Safety, Service, and Reliability

Congratulations West Coast Helicopters on winning the award for best in Builders and Trades in the 2019 Nanaimo Business Awards!  West Coast Helicopters offers a versatile aerial approach to support remote construction jobs across Vancouver Island.  Whether it be moving crews, slinging construction material or pouring concrete, West Coast Helicopters always finds a way to get the job done.  Their maintenance staff has also provided reliable and professional service to many other helicopter outfits over the years.

“It was a great honour for all of us at West Coast Helicopters to receive this award.  We have serviced the builders and trades community of greater Nanaimo for more than 20 years now and to be recognized in this way brings a great deal of pride to our team.  Showcasing this award on our front desk and across our social media platforms has reinforced what our committed clientele has already come to know of our service.”

West Coast Helicopters has grown so much as a company and would love to extend their services into the tourism industry here in Nanaimo.  They know of the growth and potential within the tourism sector and believe they “can offer a very exciting element to any tour package looking for a beautiful thrill!”

Check out their website at www.westcoasthelicopters.com, like them on Facebook at West Coast Helicopters Maintenance & Contracting Ltd., or follow them on Instagram at @westcoasthelicopters!

Click here to download PDF.

It starts a little earlier every year, but by Canada Day our city is into festivals and special events full swing! It’s become part of our rising brand – a city of special events and entertainment. From our parks and waterfront, to our downtown streets and event venues, there are not many idle nights or weekends until we head back to school in the fall.

What started as a way to raise a little money for our hospital and show support for breast cancer victims and survivors has turned into one of the city’s biggest events – the Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival on the weekend after Canada Day. Slightly more than two dozen boats showed up the first year, and now we often see up to 80 teams competing over the weekend. Almost every hotel room in the city is booked for visitors to this event that welcomes international guests as well as locals. Restaurants, bars, and shops fill up and tens of thousands of dollars are raised annually in this celebration with every penny going to the fight against breast cancer at NRGH. The financial impact of this one event on our community is massive.

Just one weekend later and Nanaimo returns to the waterfront at Maffeo-Sutton Park for the annual Silly Boat Regatta. Over $110,000 was raised for Nanaimo’s Child Development Centre last year, a goal sure to be surpassed with participation increasing annually. Businesses and organizations

© 2019 HA Photography, 2019 Nanaimo Silly Boat Regatta.

compete to raise funds and then collaborate to build all forms of wacky craft and race out to a marker buoy and back without sinking. Fortunately, for the fun of the audience, not that many make it. There are all sorts of fundraising events attached to the day and it seems like most of Nanaimo’s population is in the park.

The following week it’s the annual celebration of the spirit of Nanaimo at the Marine Festival and World Championship Bathtub Race which draws throngs of visitors from outside of Nanaimo to figure out what makes us want to race bathtubs on our waterfront – a spectacle created by none other than our famous Mayor “Black Frank” Ney. They might not figure it out but they’ll have a ton of fun trying and leave a lot of money at Nanaimo businesses in the meantime.

Space here prevents me from mentioning much about things like Thursday evening’s Commercial Street Night Market, Concerts in the Park, Infringing Dance Festival, Wheel-o-Rama Festival, VIEX, Fringe Festival, Summertime Blues Festival, the Red Bull Pump Track World Championship Qualifier…

The point is – Nanaimo is turning into a city of festivals and it’s making cash registers ring while we put smiles on people’s faces and emerge as an Island leader in how to celebrate summer.