Kelleher Ford is among an elite group of Ford dealershipsacross Canada to be recognized with the 2020 President’s Award Diamond Club by Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. The President’s Award, Ford of Canada’s highest dealership honour, is presented annually to those dealerships who demonstrate outstanding achievement in sales and customer satisfaction. “We really put a lot of time and attention into the culture of our store. We work to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction we can,” said John Kelleher, dealer principal at Kelleher Ford. “Driven by our dedicated team, we are committed to providing an outstanding automotive experience. We want to be admired as a progressive, innovative, and leading automobile retailer.” Ford of Canada is recognizing dealers across the country for providing their customers with an outstanding experience in sales, service and overall dealership experience. It isn’t one activity or event that earned the Brandon dealer another award, according to Kelleher, citing his team’s relentless pursuit of excellence instead. The team’s core values are integrity, customer focus, respect, teamwork, continuous improvement, and environmental responsibility. “We exemplify our core values on a day-to-day basis, and this award proves it because it’s all based on customer feedback and surveys. It means a lot,” said Kelleher. “We want to thank the community for its years of support, as we are driven to provide the same customer satisfaction into the future.” Dealers become eligible for the President’s Award through excellence in dealership operations and exceptional customer feedback through survey responses related to their sales and service satisfaction and overall dealership experience. Kelleher Ford is a three-time recipient of thePresident’s Diamond Club Award.(Submitted)

Growers N' Smokers recently moved to their new address. The company, which also recently celebrated its 4th anniversary in business, is now located at 1150-19th Street. Owner Rick Macl said that there was a number of reasons for the relocation including an expiring lease, the need for additional space to display all products, improved parking, concerns over the upcoming bridge construction, and additional foot traffic. The new location in nearly three times the size of his original location which also leaves room for further expansion. Growers N' Smokers originally started in a location with approximately 1,300 square feet of space and quickly expanded to 2,100 as demand grew. Rick said they have an extensive product offering of over 15,000 sku items including products for growing supplies, Apothecary & education, and headshop supplies. While his store is often first thought of for cannabis growing, Rick was quick to point out that a majority of his business comes from specialty growing. They carry a number of indoor gardening products (greenhouses, grow rooms, aquaponics and hydroponics, soil, lighting) for specialty growing products for everything from hot peppers to tropical plants.

BDNMB.CA tries to keep our ear to the ground, so to speak, in searching for new and unique local business stories. Enter Alexa Dubois, a 27 year old from Brandon who has quietly developed a custom sign business called Soul Creations. As Alexa describes it, she is a self-taught woman with no experience or schooling that had a passion for home decor.  While being on maternity leave with her second child, she thought to herself I need a hobby why not woodworking.  Alexa purchased a scroll saw and 18 months later she has completed 400 signs that range in price from $50.00 to $400.00.  She says the average turnaround time is 4 weeks and average costs are in the $100.00 price range.

Westman Communications Group (Westman) has been shortlisted for two Tuned-In Canada awards, Best Photo: Connecting Canadians and Best People: On-Camera Community Channel Personality. Each category's winners are determined by nationwide voting, which is open on March 18 and closes on April 1, 2021.  Voting takes place at www.tunedincanada.com/vote/  using SMS authentication. You can cast one vote per day for 15 days or deploy all 15 at once. Westman is up against three other nominees in Best People: On-Camera Community Channel Personality and Best Photo: Connecting Canadians. If Westman is the winner, the $1,000 prize for each category will be donated to Samaritan House Ministries Inc., which is the local charity of their choice. "It is always an honour to be recognized on a national scale; we are excited to be shortlisted for two Tuned-In Canada awards," said Courtney Baxter, Marketing Manager at Westman. "We have a lot of pride in supporting our communities we serve and would love to win these awards for the opportunity to donate $2,000 to Samaritan House Ministries Inc." Bernie Whetter is a long-time volunteer host of Here We Grow, and this year is being acknowledged by being shortlisted as one of three nominees for Best People: On-Camera Community Channel Personality.With a bachelor's degree in Agriculture Science and a master's in Business Administration, Whetter has been hosting Here We Grow for the past eight years. The idea for the show was first brought to life in 2013 and was being produced shortly after. Whetter has extensive knowledge of the various topics he discusses and mixes that with his friendly personality to make the show one of a kind. As a local business owner, Whetter enjoys giving back to his community, and this show is one of his ways of doing so.   The photo Westman was shortlisted for was of the Inglis, Manitoba elevators. This was the start of Westman's journey to bring communication services to underserved communities across Manitoba. Inglis is one of six communities Westman connected to their fibre optic network over the past year. In addition to Inglis, Westman connected Rapid City, Minto, Oak River, Haywood, and St. Claude throughout 2020. This allowed Westman to offer High Speed Internet services to residents and businesses who previously did not have access to essential speeds. "The CCSA has been running the awards since 2014 and has provided more than $50,000 to winning companies, which in turn have donated their winnings back to the communities where they live and work," said Jay Thomson, CEO of CCSA. "We hope that everyone in Westman's serving areas will embrace the community spirit at the heart of this friendly competition and bring out the vote to support their local nominee, Westman Communications Group." The winners will be announced on April 12, 2021. (Westman Communications Group Media Release)

Sunrise Credit Union will begin accepting entries into the ninth annual Our Manitoba Photo Contest on Monday, March 15, 2021. The contest has been held annually since 2013 and showcases the beauty of our province. The competition is open to all Manitobans. Each photographer can submit a maximum of three photos. Photos that meet technical requirements and showcase Manitoba's cultural characteristics will then be shortlisted based on originality, creativity, and overall composition. The shortlisted images are subject to a public vote, with the winner unveiled on Manitoba Day, Wednesday, May 12. The 13 winning entries will receive a canvas print of their winning photograph and have their photo featured in the 2022 Sunrise Credit Union Calendar. The Grand Prize winner will also receive a $500 term deposit. The contest receives hundreds of entries annually, and thousands more participate through the public vote. The important dates to remember for the Our Manitoba Photo Contest are: March 15 – April 1 – submit photos at www.ourmanitoba.org.April 7-14 – public vote through www.ourmanitoba.org.April 30 – May 11 – photos #13 through #2 released through Sunrise Credit Union's social media channels.May 12 – the unveiling of the Grand Prize-winning photo. Last year’s winner was Justin Oertel of Brandon for the photo ‘Harvest Sunset’. (submitted)