The Brandon Chamber of Commerce held their 36th Annual Gala last evening and awards were handed out in several categories. The award winners are listed below. Business Person Of The Year – Rhonda Pardy Community Service Award – Ray Brownlee Outstanding New Business Award – Ion Coating Business Excellence Award – Small Business – G.T. Smith & Sons Electrical Business Excellence Award – Large Business – Guild Insurance Brokers Inc. Lifetime Builder Of The Year – Ron Helwer For additional information on this years recipients please click this link.

We’ve all heard it before. And most of us are very aware of how important location is when starting a new business or wanting to grow an existing one. Having good traffic flow and established surrounding businesses are two important factors when choosing where your business venture might work best. An interesting commercial space that is currently available is right in the heart of downtown Brandon. Listing agents, Tyler and Cam Plante, said the new building on 10th Street and Louise Avenue is ideal for one or two tenants and has many features to suit new or existing businesses. “Basically, it was built green to save the potential business owner money. Using the unique manufacturing process of Greenstone Structural Solutions the building is very efficient and will take less to heat,” said Cam Plante. Situated across the street from Pizza Express, the modern 4300 square foot building is truly in the hub of some of Brandon’s key businesses and all levels of government offices and will be developed to meet the needs of the new tenants. The added bonus is that there is ample parking and the location is highly visible. For more information visit: www.teamplante.com.

Fast Fired by Carbone will be offering their build your own or signature pizzas for only $3.14 on Pi Day (March 14, 2019). There is a limit of one pizza per visitor and available to dine-in orders and walk-in takeout orders only. To receive this special offer customers must download the Fast Fired app from the app store or google play.  While quantities last, taxes not included. For additional information please visit their Facebook page.

Keeping with the theme of seasonal ice cream shops opening, Twisters Ice Cream Shoppe will open this Friday, March 15. Operating hours to start will be from 2pm - 8pm daily, until the weather warms up. Picnic tables will be situated on the south side of Twisters by the middle of May. They will also be affiliated with Dash Delivery as the exclusive ice cream shop on their list of restaurants. Twisters owners have informed bdnmb.ca that prices on all regular items will NOT increase in 2019. This will mark the fifth consecutive year that Twisters has not raised their prices. In addition to the competitive pricing, customers will receive the same level of customer service and the same great taste that Twisters is known for. Management is happy to welcome back all of their friendly and experienced team members for the third year under the new management team. In addition to soft & hard ice cream, Twisters also carries a variety of sundaes, floats, banana splits, milk shakes, cakes, and specialty ice cream treats. They are located at 305-18th St N in Brandon.

It has been a long winter but that’s not stopping seasonal ice cream stands from starting to open their doors for business. Dairy Queen on 18th Street opened on the 1st of March. Earlier today on their Facebook page, the Velvet Dip announced they will be opening for the season on Friday, March 15. Since 1965 the iconic Victoria Avenue business has been serving a variety of hard & soft ice cream, milkshakes, fruit smoothies, parfaits, cakes and more. The ice cream stand closed for the season last fall, and fans have eagerly been awaiting its return. Via their Facebook page, Twisters Ice Cream Shoppe also indicated that they will be opening soon as well.