Publisher's Message

The Northern Ontario Business Awards (NOBA) can be used as a beacon of optimism to those who believe the entrepreneurial spirit could use a boost in these challenging times. Never before has it been so important to celebrate creativity, innovation, business savvy and plain hard work as it is today. There is no question that the calibre of NOBA winners over the years has inspired many across Northern Ontario to continue to look for ways to build wealth and to create jobs.

This year’s impressive roster of winners is no exception. Representing Timmins, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and North Bay, this year’s NOBA recipients are true visionaries who seized opportunities or created opportunities where none existed. It is this spirit of entrepreneurship that inspires us to host the Northern Ontario Business Awards in a different Northern Ontario city each year. We need to celebrate our successes as much as we need to build our wealth. We need to learn from smart business people and smart business practices and we need to network with the best in our region to share ideas, stories and opportunities. This is what NOBA is all about.

NOBA is a Northern Ontario tradition that owes its success to the many supporters who understand and value the program’s influence. We owe our loyal sponsors a great deal of gratitude for supporting us throughout the years and for helping to champion our entrepreneurs and business leaders.

We appreciate the time the nominators took to put together outstanding nomination packages representing virtually every industry in the North. Their belief in celebrating business success is evident in the high quality submissions we received. We thank this year’s judges, Mike Gribbons from Sudbury, Lyle Knudsen from Thunder Bay, Don Mitchell from Sault Ste. Marie, Jennifer Twigg from North Bay and the Union Gas Essay judge, Jacqueline Savoie from Sudbury. Theirs was the hardest task of all – choosing our fine slate of winners from the dozens of submissions.

Our gratitude extends to our host city of Sault Ste. Marie, this year’s delegates and to the advertisers of this year’s magazine, along with the staff at our host hotel, welcoming reception and winners’ dinner venues.

To our Event Division staff, Kimberley, Tiana, Sheila and the NOB team, a huge thank you for organizing an event that we are proud to host and deliver across the North each and every year. You’re the greatest! We look forward to seeing you all next year in Thunder Bay.

Patricia Mills
Publisher, Northern Ontario Business