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Company targets your sweet tooth to become 'New Business of the Year'

'A lot of young people leave the community because they say there isn’t opportunity here, but you literally can make your dreams come true'
Ryen Veldhuis
Ryen Veldhuis

It was in the summer of 2016 Nathan and Jon Serran took the plunge as entrepreneurs in town, shedding careers in pharmacy assistance and financial advisement.

It was through icing, flour, and cupcake wrappers that they found themselves winners of New Business of the Year during the Bell Evening of Excellence last night.

“Honestly we were shocked when we were told we were nominated,” they said. “We’re definitely honoured and very excited about it. We've both worked very hard over the last year within the community. We feel so accepted by everybody. We had no idea when we started this we’d be here right now and we’re just so thankful. We don’t care how cheesy this sounds, but the community really does matter—North Bay is an amazing city to be in and we’d never leave.  A lot of young people leave the community because they say there isn’t opportunity here, but you literally can make your dreams come true.”

Starting with a gala dinner at The Grande Event Centre during Canadore College Business Week 2017, the evening moved on to the Business Awards in six categories. This year, There were 40 nominations in these six categories:

  • New Business of the Year,
  • Not for Profit of the Year,
  • Young Professional of the Year,
  • Small Business of the Year (1 to 5 employees),
  • Small Business of the Year (6 to 15 employees) and
  • Business of the Year (16 plus employees).

Each category was voted on by the committee and the executive under criteria provided in advance to the nominees. From there, the slate was narrowed down to the top three in each category and all nominees were highlighted at the Bell Evening of Excellence Awards, with the winner in each category:

  • New Business of the Year: Sugar Daddy Cupcakes and Catering
  • Not for Profit of the Year: North Bay Area Community Foundation
  • Young Professional: Thomas Brown, Curvefront Digital Marketing
  • Small Business of the Year (1-5 employees): Parkside Animal Hospital
  • Small Business of the Year (6-15 employees): Burrows Country Store and Garden Centre
  • Business of Year (16+ employees): Ontario Northland

“Business week isn’t only about supporting the local businesses,” said chair Brad Gavan. “It’s a time to celebrate and encourage business successes. Behind every business in our region, there is a story worth knowing. We just wish we could celebrate all the nominees with awards, each and every day throughout the year. Small business (less than 100 employees) is an integral part of the economy as it makes up 98.2% of all businesses in Canada.”