Mark Sutcliffe to Host New Awards Celebrating Ottawa’s Small Businesses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OTTAWA, ON, April 8, 2021 – Ottawa is getting its own awards show designed to celebrate its diverse range of small businesses. Zenbooks Smallbiz Awards of Ottawa will debut in a live broadcast on Facebook on Tuesday, June 29, hosted by veteran broadcaster and entrepreneur, Mark Sutcliffe.

“I really love this idea,” said 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. I know the community realizes the value of small business more than ever during the pandemic.”

There are nine categories that businesses can apply for, ranging from New Smallbiz of the Year, for companies that opened their doors since January 2020, to Brick & Mortar Smallbiz of the Year, for which businesses in Ottawa’s nineteen Business Improvement Areas are eligible. There are awards for businesses in ecommerce, food and beverage, skilled trades, and more.

The process is simple and transparent: applicant businesses answer ten questions, and their responses are graded on criteria that is available now on the Awards’ website. All applications are first rated by Zenbooks, with the ten finalists of each category then scored by expert judges, being announced soon.

There are prizes for each of the nine award winners. The highest-rated from amongst them will be declared the Ottawa Smallbiz of the Year, and will receive $10,000—$5000 in services to Zenbooks and $5000 in cash for their business.

“The spirit of the Awards is celebration,” said Eric Saumure, Principal at Zenbooks, the local cloud accounting firm that created the event. “We’re excited to showcase stories of local businesses who have successfully navigated this pandemic, by innovating and offering customers increased convenience.”

“This isn’t a popularity contest.”

Interested businesses can apply until Friday, May 21, at 11:59 PM at zenbooks.ca/awards.

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