If you can believe it, I won the SCBEX Home-Based Business of the Year Award for Swift Current and District in October of 2019. It's a 'pinch me' sort of thing.
I had an awesome time. I was up against my video friends in The Landing Studio that I thought deserved the award (you can see the logo I designed them in my logos section of the website), as well as Garden of Eden Greenhouse and Gifts, who I thought was going to squash both of us.
In surreal fashion, I found myself on stage finishing up my thank you speech, looking over at the big screen that said 'Congratulations!' with little animated fireworks on loop. My body felt weak and my smile was starting to hurt...but it wasn't going anywhere.
Thank you SO much to whoever nominated me, to those that chose me to make the short list, and those that chose me to win the award. It's very flattering. There are days when I need a shot of design confidence, and looking at that award helps a bit.
The most meaningful aspect of the award is that my Grandpa George Wiebe won the Heritage SCBEX Award several years ago, and my parents Randy and Leanne Wiebe won the SCBEX Medium Sized Business of the Year Award last year. It means a lot to me that I can follow in their footsteps. I won't be left wondering, for who knows how many years, 'if I can measure up'. I mean, I certainly haven't built a big awesome building downtown like my parents did (Bumper to Bumper), and I don't even pay rent for a retail space yet—so I still have a long ways to go.
Below you will find a video of my thank you speech, some links to news articles, and some photos from the night. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Swift Current Online Story:
Prairie Post Story:
I had to do some elbow rubbing with my shiny new award afterward. The evening featured Jeremy Patzer's first public speech since being elected Cypress Hills—Grasslands new Member of Parliament. I was fortunate enough to design some of his campaign for being nominated as our Conservative representative.
I was thrilled to hear The Center (SCCYI) called for Non-Profit Business of the Year! I've volunteered there a lot, did a bit of mentoring through them, and do some design work for The Center as well. It is close to my heart and Nathan Wiebe and the staff totally deserve this award. I had to grab a picture with Nathan and our hardware.
I always enjoy running into and chatting with Everett Hindley, our MLA. He often refers to me as 'Brandon Wiebe, from the internet!'. I told him I'm hoping the award will change that title to 'Brandon Wiebe, Award winner!'
I was joined by my Grandma Marg Wiebe, Dad Randy Wiebe, and friend Sammy Khalife. My wife, Michelle, wasn't able to attend as she was in University at the time, and my Mom was in Arizona. Below: My Dad, who won the award last year, is clearly already jealous ;P
Below are the program and nomination finalist certificate, both of which I designed this year (talk about meaningful!) And what's this? A congratulatory letter from the Premier himself! Scott Moe! WOW!
