TORONTO – The Di Gregorio Group (Bruno’s Contracting) has been selected as one of the top 10 Finalists in the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Private Business Growth Award. The Thunder Bay based company received the news from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce this week.
“We’re extremely humbled, it is really our employees, who have made Bruno’s Contracting what we are today,” states Silvio di Gregorio. “We have been blessed with the right people, and dedicated ourselves to great customer service, and that has made this nomination possible”.
Commenting on the nomination, Angela Maltese stated, “There were 80 nominations across the country so this is a fantastic accomplishment and recognition of their success and contribution to our community. Congratulations to Silvio and Bruno for the leadership they have shown in entrepreneurship and giving back to our community! They truly care about our community and they have helped make Thunder Bay what it is today. It is phenomenal for them to be singled out in this way as one of the best private businesses in Canada!”
Di Gregorio is a past president and current director of the Italian Business and Professional Association of Thunder Bay, which promotes the recreational, cultural, social, artistic, business, and professional activities of Italian Canadians. He is a founding director of the Institute of Italian Studies at Lakehead University, which organizes lectures, publishing, exchanges, and other initiatives to promote and celebrate Italian language, culture, and history.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Grant Thornton LLP have announced the distinguished finalists for the 2013 Private Business Growth Award. They are (in alphabetical order):
Boréalis (Magog, QC)
Brandt Industries Ltd. (Regina, SK)
Di Gregorio Group (Thunder Bay, ON)
Emterra Group (Burlington, ON)
Global Relay (Vancouver, BC)
GreenField Specialty Alcohols Inc. (Toronto, ON)
Imperial Manufacturing Group Inc. (Dieppe, NB)
Kids & Company (Richmond Hill, ON)
Polycorp Ltd. (Elora, ON)
Richelieu Group (Montreal, QC)
The winner will be named at the Private Business Growth Award Gala in the Ballroom of the Royal York Hotel in Toronto on November 19, 2013. The evening will be hosted by writer, reporter, producer and current host of CBC’s hit reality program Dragons’ Den, Dianne Buckner.
The jury for the 2013 Private Business Growth Award was made up of representatives from the worlds of business and academia. They were: The Honourable Perrin Beatty, President and CEO, The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Peggy Cunningham, Dean of the Faculty of Management and RA Jodrey Chair, Dalhousie University, Derek DeCloet, Editor, Report on Business, Globe and Mail, David Ghermezian, President, Triple Five Group of Companies, Malcolm Hunter, President and Chief Operating Officer, Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada, Phil Noble, FCA, Executive Partner and CEO, Grant Thornton LLP, John E. Peller, LLB, President and CEO, Andrew Peller Limited, and Paul Straus, President and CEO, Home Hardware Stores Limited.
Private business plays such a significant and vital role in our Canadian economy and both Grant Thornton LLP and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce felt it was important to establish a national business award to recognize and celebrate the many private business success stories from across the country. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Grant Thornton LLP first announced the launch of the Private Business Growth Award earlier this year. The new business award recognizes Canadian privately-held businesses that are successful at creating growth beyond their top or bottom line.
The jury evaluated companies whose growth strategy encompasses a broad range of activities across their business, such as innovation (including new ways of working); product and service development; expansion into new domestic or international markets; development of people and culture (helping employees learn and develop); improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of internal processes; improvements in stakeholder relations; improvements in financial measures or governance; and leadership through a combination of reason and instinct to grow the business.
For more information, please visit www.privatebusinessgrowthaward.com. To purchase tickets for the gala, please visit http://www.chamber.ca/events/priv_biz_growth/.
