Hundreds of people attended the City of Airdrie’s Business Appreciation Night at City Hall, Oct. 19.
“I have to say thank you to all of you because we have the most generous business community in Alberta, Canada and the world,” said Mayor Peter Brown.
“This is really an appreciation of you and I want to thank you for making our community a success.”
He said local businesses are the ambassadors of the City.
“You bring business to our community,” he said. “Tell other entrepreneurs we are open for business. We want to make Airdrie the place to do business. Airdrie is the best place in the world to work and live.”
Dan Villanveva of Big Bear Tech said he deals with many new businesses and encourages them to work with the City.
“I guide clients to become members of the Chamber (of Commerce) and work with City staff because it brings me pride to see a business succeed,” he said.
Mo Korayem of Quest Orthodontics said Airdrie came highly recommended.
“Airdrie’s business community has a reputation as a generous community,” he said.
“That is a big part of my life. It is a great place to do business, a great community to be a part of.”
Quest has been open for about a month and Korayem said he has been very busy with clients from Airdrie, Olds and Drumheller.
Michael Morris, owner of Cora’s Breakfast and Lunch, said Airdrie residents have been very supportive of his business.
“The Airdrie community has been so wonderful and very supportive,” he said.
“We want to thank them for their kindness and support.”
Nicole Lacoursiere, owner of Body By Nic, said she attended the business appreciation night to meet other business owners in the community.
“As a home-based business, this is a great way to get out there and meet other business people,” she said.
“There are so many home-based businesses in this community so I wanted to find out what else is out there that I didn’t know about.”
Alderman Kelly Hegg said networking is one of the goals of the evening.
“It’s a chance for businesses to come together and meet each other,” he said. “They are the economic engine of Airdrie.”
Kent Rupert of economic development agreed.
“We wanted to celebrate all businesses because they are the cornerstone of our community,” he said.
“They help build the entire community. We have the best business community in Airdrie and this helps build that strength.”
Brown said the fact Airdrie is planning to annex 12,000 acres of land creates opportunities for new and existing local businesses.
“There is a huge potential there,” he said. “Of course there is an opportunity for more residential growth, that is not a sustainable way to grow a community and we will need businesses for that.”
