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Chamber of Commerce announces new honours in the Business of the Year Awards

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Submitted by Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce

2022 Business of the Year finalists announced

The Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce announced the 2022 Business of the Year finalistsĀ today for central Albertaā€™s most prestigious business awards. An independent adjudicationĀ committee comprised of local business leaders selected 18 finalists from more than 74 nominees inĀ this annual celebration of business excellence.

ā€œThe last two years have demonstrated that businesses in Red Deer & District are resilient, boldĀ and driven to succeedā€ says Scott Robinson, CEO, Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce. Ā ā€œWe are so proud of all the over 70 nominees for this yearā€™s Business of the Year awardsĀ presented by connectFirst Credit Union and excited to present the following 18 businesses as theĀ finalists for this yearā€™s awardsā€

In the Small Business of the Year category, the finalists are ā€“ Juiced Audio, Sweet CaponesĀ Bakery & CafĆ©, and The Red Deer Mechanic

For the Business of the Year category the finalists are ā€“ Abbey Master Builder, Central AlbertaĀ Co-op and Prime Boiler

In the New Business of the Year the finalists are ā€“ Creekside Creative Academy, Hello BeautifulĀ Bridal Boutique, and Mint Smartwash

For the Emerging Business of the Year category, the finalists are ā€“ Custom Furniture of Canada,Ā Masterpiece Salon & Spa and Recovery Lab

In the Business Leader of the Year the finalists are ā€“ Carl Sauve ā€“ KCB Cabinets, Donna PurcellĀ ā€“ Donna Purcell QC Law and Doug Anderson ā€“ Peavey Industries

In the Non-Profit Award finalists are ā€“ Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, Central Alberta HumaneĀ Society and Central Alberta Pride Society.

Businesses are nominated by the public and all completed nominee packages are given to aĀ judging committee. The committee then conducts a comprehensive evaluation to determine theĀ finalists. As an outcome of this process, the winners are also determined, however the results areĀ sealed and embargoed until the awards ceremony.

Winners of the 2022 Business of the Year Awards will be announced at an annual ceremony, to beĀ held at the Red Deer Polytechnic Arts Centre, Wednesday, October 19, 2022.

This yearā€™s title sponsor, connectFirst Credit Union is one of the largest and most successful creditĀ unions in Canada, connectFirst is a full-service financial institution with over $6 billion in assetsĀ under administration. connectFirst employs 750 Albertans who provide a range of financialĀ products and advice in more than 40 communities across central and southern Alberta. It servesĀ over 125,000 members through a community-focused approach to banking.

Tickets for this exciting event are available online at www.reddeerchamber.com or at the ChamberĀ office, 3017 Gaetz Avenue.

The Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce is a collaborative leader in building a vibrantĀ community and fosters an environment where businesses can lead, be innovative, sustainable, andĀ grow.

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Worst kept secretā€”red tape strangling Canadaā€™s economy

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From the Fraser Institute

By Matthew Lau

In the past nine years, business investment in Canada has fallenĀ while increasing more than 30 per cent in the U.S. on a real per-person basis. Workers in Canada now receiveĀ barely halfĀ as much new capital per worker than in the U.S.

According to a new Statistics CanadaĀ report, government regulation has grown over the years and itā€™s hurting Canadaā€™s economy. The report, which uses a regulatory burden measure devised by KPMG and Transport Canada, shows government regulatory requirements increased 2.1 per cent annually from 2006 to 2021, with the effect of reducing the business sectorā€™s GDP, employment, labour productivity and investment.

Specifically, the growth in regulation over these years cut business-sector investment by an estimated nine per cent and ā€œreduced business start-ups and business dynamism,ā€ cut GDP in the business sector by 1.7 percentage points, cut employment growth by 1.3 percentage points, and labour productivity by 0.4 percentage points.

While the report only covered regulatory growth through 2021, in the past four years an avalanche of new regulations has made the already existing problem of overregulation worse.

The Trudeau government in particular hasĀ intensified its regulatory assaultĀ on the extraction sector with a greenhouse gas emissions cap, new fuel regulations and new methane emissions regulations. In the last few years, federal diktats and expansions of bureaucratic control have swept theĀ auto industry,Ā child care,Ā supermarketsĀ and manyĀ other sectors.

Again, the negative results are evident. Over the pastĀ nine years, Canadaā€™s cumulative real growth in per-person GDP (an indicator of incomes and living standards) has been a paltry 1.7 per cent and trending downward, compared to 18.6 per cent and trending upward in the United States. Put differently, if the Canadian economy had tracked with the U.S. economy over the past nine years, average incomes in Canada would be much higher today.

Also in the past nine years, business investment in Canada hasĀ fallenĀ while increasing more than 30 per cent in the U.S. on a real per-person basis. Workers in Canada now receiveĀ barely halfĀ as much new capital per worker than in the U.S., and only about two-thirds as much new capital (on average) as workers in other developed countries.

Consequently, Canada is mired in anĀ economic growth crisisā€”a fact that even the Trudeau government does not deny. ā€œWe have more work to do,ā€Ā saidĀ Anita Anand, then-president of the Treasury Board, last August, ā€œto examine the causes of low productivity levels.ā€ The Statistics Canada report, if nothing else, confirms what economists and the business community alreadyĀ knewā€”the regulatory burden is much of the problem.

Of course, regulation is not the only factor hurting Canadaā€™s economy. Higher federalĀ carbon taxes, higherĀ payroll taxesĀ and higherĀ top marginal income tax ratesĀ are also weakening Canadaā€™s productivity, GDP, business investment and entrepreneurship.

Finally, while the Statistics Canada report shows significant economic costs of regulation, the authors note that their estimate of the effect of regulatory accumulation on GDP is ā€œmuch smallerā€ than the effect estimated in an AmericanĀ studyĀ published several years ago in theĀ Review of Economic Dynamics. In other words, the negative effects of regulation in Canada may be even higher than StatsCan suggests.

Whether Statistics Canada has underestimated the economic costs of regulation or not, one thing is clear: reducing regulation and reversing the policy course of recent years would help get Canada out of its current economic rut. The country isĀ effectively in a recessionĀ even if, as a result of rapid population growth fuelled by record levels of immigration, the GDP statistics do not meet the technical definition of a recession.

With dismal GDP and business investment numbers, a turnaroundā€”both in policy and outcomesā€”canā€™t come quickly enough for Canadians.

Matthew Lau

Adjunct Scholar, Fraser Institute
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ā€˜Out and out fraudā€™: DOGE questions $2 billion Biden grant to left-wing ā€˜green energyā€™ nonprofit`

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From LifeSiteNews

By Calvin Freiburger

The EPA under the Biden administration awarded $2 billion to a ā€˜green energyā€™ group that appears to have been little more than a means to enrich left-wing activists.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Biden administration awarded $2 billion to a ā€œgreen energyā€ nonprofit that appears to have been little more than a means to enrich left-wing activists such as former Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams.

Founded in 2023 as a coalition of nonprofits, corporations, unions, municipalities, and other groups,Ā Power Forward Communities (PFC) bills itself as ā€œthe first national program to finance home energy efficiency upgrades at scale, saving Americans thousands of dollars on their utility bills every year.ā€ It says it ā€œwill help homeowners, developers, and renters swap outdated, inefficient appliances with more efficient and modernized options, saving money for years ahead and ensuring our kids can grow up with cleaner, pollutant-free air.ā€

The organizationā€™sĀ websiteĀ boasts more than 300 member organizations across 46 states but does not detail actual activities. It does have job postings for three open positions and a form for people to sign up for more information.

The Washington Free BeaconĀ reportedĀ that the Trump administrationā€™s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project, along with new EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, are raising questions about the $2 billion grant PFCĀ receivedĀ from the Biden EPAā€™s National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF), ostensibly for the ā€œaffordable decarbonization of homes and apartments throughout the country, with a particular focus on low-income and disadvantaged communities.ā€

PFCā€™s announcement of the grant is the organizationā€™s only press release to date and is alarming given that the organization had somehow reported only $100 in revenue at the end of 2023.

ā€œI made a commitment to members of Congress and to the American people to be a good steward of tax dollars and Iā€™ve wasted no time in keeping my word,ā€ Zeldin said. ā€œWhen we learned about the Biden administrationā€™s scheme to quickly park $20 billion outside the agency, we suspected that some organizations were created out of thin air just to take advantage of this.ā€ Zeldin previously announced the Biden EPA had deposited the $20 billion in a Citibank account, apparently to make it harder for the next administration to retrieve and review it.

ā€œAs we continue to learn more about where some of this money went, it is even more apparent how far-reaching and widely accepted this waste and abuse has been,ā€ he added. ā€œItā€™s extremely concerning that an organization that reported just $100 in revenue in 2023 was chosen to receive $2 billion. Thatā€™s 20 million times the organizationā€™s reported revenue.ā€

Daniel Turner, executive director of energy advocacy group Power the Future, told the Beacon that in his opinion ā€œfor an organization that has no experience in this, that was literally just established, and had $100 in the bank to receive a $2 billion grant ā€” it doesnā€™t just fly in the face of common sense, itā€™s out and out fraud.ā€

Prominent among PFCā€™s insiders is Abrams, the former Georgia House minority leader best known forĀ persistent false claims about having the stateā€™s gubernatorial election stolen from her in 2018. Abrams founded two of PFCā€™s partner organizations (Southern Economic Advancement Project and Fair Count) and serves as lead counsel for a third group (Rewiring America) in the coalition. A longtime advocate of left-wing environmental policies, Abrams is also a member of the national advisory board for advocacy group Climate Power.

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