The 1st Annual Business Excellence Awards Banquet was held on February 25th, 2008. The 2007 Small Business of the Year Award was presented to A&P Music/The Source and accepted by owners Mr. Andrew & Mrs. Patricia Leonard. The 2007 Business of the Year Award was presented to the Clarenville Area Consumers Co-op and accepted by General Manager, Mr. Kevin Jacobs & Co-op Board member Ms. Linda Garnier.
In addition to the Annual Business Excellence Awards, the late Mr. Charles E. Sheppard was honoured as the Chamber’s 1st Business Hall of Fame Inductee. The award was presented to and accepted by his family who received a standing ovation.
Mr. Sheppard graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1969. In 1972 he showed his entrepreneurial spirit when he co-founded Sheppard Green Engineering in Clarenville. Over the years the company expanded and went through many changes, opening offices in many areas throughout Atlantic Canada. The firm then joined the national engineering firm Acres International, and Sheppard became Vice-President. They later become part of Hatch Mott MacDonald, a company with nearly 10,000 employees and offices throughout the world. Sheppard remained a leader in the company’s Atlantic Canada operations. Through his leadership, the firm attracted engineering contracts for countless multi-million dollar projects to this region, and with that, often came projects for regional contractors, leading to employment increases for the region.
