And then there were three.

It's no easy feat whittling down 120 individual nominations down to 24 finalists in 8 categories, but that was precisely the task faced by last year's Swift Current Business Excellence Award (SCBEX) winners.

In a big reveal event live-streamed on the Swift Current & District Chamber of Commerce Social Media (re-watch below). CEO Karla Wiens was joined virtually by SCBEX partners Innovation Credit Union represented by Senior VP of Business Advisors Mark Clements, and Great Plains College represented by Dr. David Keast, President and CEO.

 

 

Speaking with media before the event, Wiens spoke about the difficulty of choosing only 3 businesses in each category to move on to the final selection process.

"It was very very close. Because all of the nominees and all of the finalists...it's a tough choice between them. But I'm very pleased. I'm very pleased with the number of nominations. And all of the nominees and finalists should be very proud of this recognition by their peers and the community as a whole."

Wiens added that especially in a COVID-19 world, where things have been tough for a number of businesses, recognizing those that have made it their mission to continue to serve the community is doubly important.

"Business has had a tough go over the last 18 months. But their resilience and their positive attitude to just stay the course and get through this is truly admirable and people want to recognize that, which is very heartwarming for the community."

The finalists in the 8 categories are: