Four local companies were honoured in Truro on Thursday, October 21st, 2010 at the Truro and District Chamber of Commerce Small Business Week Awards Ceremony. Here are the winners of each award:

Exporter of the Year - Instrument Concepts (Great Village)

Instrument Concepts designs and manufactures subsea technology used for offshore engineering, ocean observation and environmental monitoring. The company’s new product, icListen, passively listens for sounds in the ocean. Its predecessor, Big Ears, has been used in nearly every ocean in the world. Instrument Concepts has been steadily growing since it was founded in 2000. The company already has exporting experience in countries like Algeria, the Unites States, The U.K., Brazil and Japan, just to name a few. This win means Instrument Concepts is now in the running for the Nova Scotia Exporter of the Year Award.

Mark Wood and Desiree Stockermans of Instrument Concepts accept the Exporter of the Year Award from Dave Copus of NSBI (Award Sponsor)

New Small Business of the Year Award - RoseDawn Helping Hands (Upper Stewiacke)

Rosalie Prest and Donna Higgens combined their names and their experience to create a business dedicated to helping their clients remain independent and self-sufficient in their own homes for as long as possible. While the business was initially created to help seniors, it has since branched out to include non-seniors with special needs, improving the quality of life for many. Their success is a great example of combining a personal passion with public demand.

Rosalie Prest and Donna Higgens of RoseDawn Helping Hands accept the New Small Business of the Year Award from Greg Mosher of WBLI (Award Sponsor)

Small Business of the Year – G & G Computers (Truro)

Since its creation in 2001, G & G Computers has grown by dealing with customers in a friendly and straight-forward manner. G & G services all makes and models and builds custom systems based on the needs of the customer, whether they are a business professional, student, gamer or home user. The staff at G & G are passionate about computers are consider themselves enthusiasts. The company is always looking for new ways to serve its customers in this world where technology is constantly changing.

Helena Robertson and Keith Gillis of G & G Computers accept the Small Business of the Year Award from Don Locke of RBC (Award Sponsor)

Business Achievement Award – Margolians (Truro)

Since first opening its doors in 1923, Margolians has developed into a regionally recognized store best known for its extensive selections of brand-name apparel, footwear, house wares and for store-wide promotions and sales. Over the decades, Margolians downtown Truro location has expanded to its current size of 26,000 square feet with 11 departments and more than 30 staff. Margolians is now in its fourth generation of family management.

Mike Lesser and Mark Sidler of Margolians accept the Business Achievement Award from David Miller of pwc (Award Sponsor)

The Truro and District Chamber of Commerce would like to thank its sponsors for their support with this event. Small Business Week Awards Ceremony was sponsored by BDC, with PWC, WBLI, RBC and NSBI as award sponsors. Their help with this event and celebrating local businesses is greatly appreciated