Nine Winners Announced for Debut of Small Business Awards on June 29
OTTAWA, ON, June 23, 2021 – Nine winners have been announced for the debut of a new awards event focusing exclusively on Ottawa’s small businesses. The Zenbooks Smallbiz Awards of Ottawa will debut in a live broadcast on Facebook on Tuesday, June 29, hosted by veteran broadcaster, Mark Sutcliffe.
“There are so many small businesses in Ottawa that are innovating and adapting right now and this is a great way to honour them,” said Sutcliffe. “I know the community realizes the value of small business more than ever during the pandemic.”
Applications from local businesses were first graded by Zenbooks, the local cloud accounting firm that created the event. The top five from each category were then scored by five local judges from the business community: Jennifer Francis (Capital Angel Network; Invest Ottawa), Adam Miron (HEXO Corporation; “Billion Dollar Start-Up” Author), Naina Kansal (Startup Canada), Michael Wood (small business advocate), and Santiago Pinzon (Business Development Bank of Canada).
The winners, who were the top-scored in their categories, are:
Brick & Mortar Smallbiz of the Year: Ottawa Flowers Inc.
Ecommerce Smallbiz of the Year: Pokoloko
B2B Smallbiz of the Year: SINIX Media Group
Food & Beverage Smallbiz of the Year: Pure Kitchen Preston
Skilled Trade Smallbiz of the Year: Courtney Turk Interiors
Tech Smallbiz of the Year: getit Local
Virtual Smallbiz of the Year: eSAX (The Entrepreneur Social Advantage Experience)
New Smallbiz of the Year: Purpose Fuel
Made-in-Ottawa Product of the Year: Re4m Design and Fabrication Inc.
From these nine winners, the business whose application was the highest-scored overall by judges will also be awarded Ottawa Smallbiz of the Year, which comes with a $10,000 prize. This winner will be revealed at the end of the broadcast.
LINK: RSVP and watch live on Tuesday, June 29, at 7:00 PM: facebook.com/events/817967659077459
Zenbooks is a cloud-based accounting firm, headquartered in Ottawa, offering accounting, tax, and business advisory services to organizations of all sizes across Canada.
For media inquiries and interviews, please contact:
Jake Naylor, Whiskeyjack Media
Cell: 613-325-0555
Email: jake@wjack.ca
Eric Saumure, CPA, CA, is co-founder and Principal of Zenbooks, an online cloud-native accounting firm started in 2015 to serve 300+ Canadian small and mid-sized businesses. Before Zenbooks, Eric spent 3 years at KPMG. He specializes in financial strategy for growth-stage companies in the $1M-$10M revenue range, with a particular focus on marketing and creative agencies, SaaS, and professional services firms, e-commerce and non-profits.
Eric's commentary on Canadian small business, tax policy, and open banking has appeared in the Toronto Star, Canadian Press, CTV, CBC, Le Devoir, Policy Options, The Conversation, and Canadian Accountant. He was named to the OBJ Ottawa Forty Under 40 and recognized on both the Financial Times Americas' Fastest Growing Companies 2026 list and the Globe and Mail's Report on Business Top Growing Companies 2024. He is the principal researcher behind the Zenbooks Technology in Accounting Study, a national survey of 500 Canadian SMEs on accounting technology adoption, and the founder of OpenSME, a Canadian open banking advocacy organization. He serves on the board of Cystic Fibrosis Canada and member of the Montfort Hospital Association.
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