On Saturday, November 13th, 65 people attended the virtual BEDC Business Awards. The Awards celebrated the achievements, growth and resilience of Bermuda’s entrepreneur, featuring local businesses that were nominated by the public in recognition of their success within the last year and those entrepreneurs that have dedicated themselves to personal growth & learning by completing BEDC’s educational courses.
The event highlighted the following awards: Entrepreneur of the Year, Business of the Year, Most Enterprising Young Entrepreneur, Family Business of the Year, New Startup of the Year, Vendor of the Year, the COVID Resiliency Award, People’s Choice Award as well as the BEDC Client of the Year.
- Taking home the Entrepreneur of the Year award was Raisa Tuzo, Owner & CEO of 1616 Cocktails.
- The Business of the Year award was awarded to People’s Pharmacy.
- Sabriuna Wilkinson of Nurture Laiche was named most Enterprising Young Entrepreneur.
- DeGraff’s Lunch Wagon was named the Family Business of the Year.
- Leslie’s Desserts was named the New Startup of the Year.
- Nature’s Gift Hair & Body was awarded Vendor of the Year.
- The Covid Resiliency Award which was awarded to Sargasso Sea.
- The People’s Choice Award went to Zen Crystals with 3342 votes, ahead of first runner-up PsyNeu [2228 votes] and Bermuda Cupcake Co. [1236 votes].
- Fresh Breath Dental took home the BEDC Client of the year award. BEDC Client of the Year is awarded to the business who has paid off their BEDC loan, current with their BEDC loan or has attended all 3 BEDC courses and also has a proven track record for growth.
This year we added awards for each of the Economic Empowerment Zones with the:
- St. George’s EEZ Business of the Year being awarded to In Relation to Immigration, ahead of first runner-up Whitehorse Restaurant and second runner-up Yo Cherry.
- North East Hamilton EEZ Business of the Year was awarded to Toxic Rose, ahead of first runner-up Hendy’s Laundromat and second runner-up Klassiq Kidz.
- and, the Somerset EEZ Business of the Year was awarded to CN Hairloft, ahead of first runner-up Highlights Salon and second runner-up De Island Shack.
During the Awards, certificates were awarded to those entrepreneurs that took part in BEDC courses. There were 15 certificates presented to individuals who took part in QuickBooks Financial Statements (Fall), 27 in QuickBooks Financial Statements (Spring), 12 certificates for Entrepreneurship 101 [Fall], 35 certificates for Entrepreneurship 101 [Spring], 14 certificates for Think Like an Entrepreneur [Spring], and 26 certificates for Think Like an Entrepreneur [Summer].
