Whetter named business person of the year

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This article was published 20/05/2022 (1386 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon’s business community gave a big green thumbs-up to a local garden centre owner Wednesday night.

Bernie Whetter of The Green Spot was named the business person of the year at the 139th annual Brandon Chamber of Commerce awards gala at the Keystone Centre.

“I’ve been telling people I’m getting too old for this kind of suspense that I’ve had to live with for the last two months of whether I was going to get something or I wasn’t,” Whetter told the Sun the morning after his victory.

“Not that it was a real big deal, but for some reason, it kinda kept my gut churning for a couple of months. Certainly, last night was wonderful and it’s really an honour to have that award, particularly given by my business peers.”

That honour, Whetter added, seemed even bigger when he saw the list of the award’s previous winners.

Though it was an individual award, the garden centre owner had no shortage of people he wanted to thank who helped him get to where he is today. During his acceptance speech, he remarked on how he had wanted to become a doctor but his father convinced him to go into agriculture.

He thanked the previous owners of The Green Spot for their work in establishing the business before he bought it in 2007. Previously, he had a summer job at the business before getting his master’s degree in business administration at the University of Manitoba, coming back afterward and working out a purchase.

“I just basically stepped in and carried on,” he said. “I was fortunate that I didn’t have to do a lot of building to maintain success that it had achieved. I’ve just taken it and added a little bit more to it.”

Some of the employees at The Green Spot have been there for 20 years, longer than him. He made sure to thank them for their service along with the rest of his staff, especially since he said it’s not the highest-paying sector in town. For helping with his financial needs over the years, he gave a shoutout to Fusion Credit Union.

Whetter also gave credit to his family, friends and his new business partners at The BloomBox and Chez Angela. Last year, The Green Spot’s east end location opened an expansion and had the florist and the bakery set up presences inside.

To get that expansion off the ground, Whetter said he had to take a mortgage out that matures when he’s in his 90s.

“I don’t see changing a lot,” he said of his future. “I’m pretty happy with what we have and with some of the changes we’ve made. I think there’s room for more improvements and more embellishments. We’ve still got work to do. We’ve got parking lots to fix and a nursery to upgrade. There’s a long list of things left to do, so I do have some challenges left for me, but no major directional changes.”

It was the first in-person awards gala held by the chamber in three years after the 2020 gala was postponed the day it was supposed to happen because of COVID-19. The event was later held virtually and the 2021 edition followed suit.

Breaking from tradition, the award winners were not told of their victories beforehand, a move designed to create an Academy Awards-like feel to the affair with more spontaneous expressions of delight when names were called out.

That goal was reinforced by multiple references to the Chris Rock-Will Smith affair from this year’s Oscars, including a brief skit played out by host Margaux Miller and chamber president Barry Cooper.

Another prominent award from Wednesday night was the lifetime business building, which went to Crane Steel Structures founder Paul Crane. He talked about the journey of moving to Brandon to establish his company and the developments he took over the years, including involving his children in the business.

The young entrepreneur of the year was Marcel Kringe of Bushel Plus. In an emotional speech, the German immigrant talked about making Brandon his adopted home and how after a serious injury in Australia a few years ago, he wasn’t sure what his future would look like.

Flying in for the ceremony was his mother, who he asked to stand up so the audience could acknowledge her role in his success.

The community impact award was handed out to Westman Communications Group, which was accepted by the business’ new chief executive officer, Tim Berube.

Resurrection Auto Detailing won the outstanding new business award, GEM Services received the business excellence award for small businesses and Kim’s Asian Restaurant won the same accolade but in the large-business category.

Rounding out the list of honourees were Westman’s top 4 under 40, awarded to Cassandra Jamieson of McPhail Travel Brandon, Amber White of Anytime Fitness, Nirmal Thakar of Shreem Systems & Solutions, and Ty Worthington of Pinnacle Event Rentals.

Before the final award of the evening was handed out, Cooper took time to thank Carolynn Cancade, the chamber’s departing general manager, for her years of service to the organization. Cancade was presented with a bouquet of flowers.

The chamber will wrap up its 2021-22 luncheon schedule on June 2 at the Clarion Hotel & Suites. At that ceremony, Cooper will gave his farewell address as president and Tanya LaBuick will be sworn in as his successor for a one-year term.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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