You can vote for Vernon nominees in Small Business BC Awards

Photo: Contributed

Two North Okanagan Enterprize Challenge alumni have been nominated for Small Business BC Awards.

One uses data to help businesses grow their profits, the other helps consumers refill containers while keeping plastics out of landfills.

FILL Vernon’s Refill Store has been nominated in the category of Best Community Impact, while NUMU Technologies has been nominated in the category of Best Innovator.

FILL owner Teresa Sanders and NUMU owner Mitchal Derksen are no strangers to business competitions. Both participated in the Community Futures North Okanagan-hosted Enterprize Challenge.

Derksen participated in 2018 with a dream of helping small and medium-sized businesses make better growth decisions and improve revenue with data and insights – the kind large companies have entire departments of analysts to support. After going through the competition, his focus shifted beyond offering a service toward developing software to make “helpful data” even more accessible to a wider market.

“We feel very strongly that the work we do is innovative and helpful for clients so we’re very excited to be included in a category that lets us celebrate that,” says Derksen.

In the Polson mall, fellow Enterprize alumni Teresa Sanders' FILL store serves a growing community of "refillers" of everything from shampoos to laundry soap. After winning the 2019 competition, Sanders opened her refill store in December, 2019, and recently celebrated 100,000 plastics saved.

"I am super excited to be recognized for this award and am touched that our community continues to see the value of saving plastic and our Earth," says Sanders.

The public can vote for the nominees until March 7.

Twenty-three participants are in the running for the 2021 Enterprize Challenge. On April 28, the finalists pitch, awards and challenger showcase will be livestreamed from the Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre.