Bantrel

Back row (left to right): Kristen Byers,
Colleen MacDonald, Tomson Chan,
Dave Liderth; Front row (left to right):
Peter Churchill, Sandra Makkinga,
Laura-Lee Saunders, Greg Schneider

While the temperature outside dipped to a bitter cold, Bantrel heated things up inside at Calgary’s Roundup Centre by taking home the United Way of Calgary and Area’s most prestigious honour.

On Thursday, February 8, Bantrel received the Award of Excellence at the annual Spirits of Gold Recognition Dinner and Awards Gala. This esteemed award recognizes outstanding participation by workplace employees in United Way’s campaign initiatives. Nominations went to companies that have planned and carried out innovative workplace campaigns over three years or more, which all resulted in a 75% or greater rate of participation among staff.

Throughout the evening, the Bantrel team waited anxiously as the emcee announced other worthy award recipients in the two other categories for which we were nominated. (The Engineering Challenge honour went to Jacobs Canada and the Spirit of Youth award went to Tiana Knight from CNIB). As the night came to its close, it was time for the final, and most distinguished, award announcement. The competition in our category, Business and Community, was fierce: AltaGas Ltd., ARC Financial Corporation, ARC Resources Ltd., Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP, Enersul Inc., Keyera Energy, Merrill Lynch Canada Inc. Mustang Capital Partners Incl., NAL Resources Management Ltd., and QVGD Investors Inc. In an instant, however, there it was – Bantrel Co.! We had won!

Greg Schneider, Senior VP, Manager of Operations, along with last year’s Employee Campaign Coordinators (ECCs), Colleen MacDonald and Sandra Makkinga, campaign committee members, Tomson Chan, Dave Liderth, Laura-Lee Saunders and Kristen Byers and corporate sponsor, Peter Churchill were all on hand to take part in the celebration.

Jan Beardmore, our 2006 Loaned Representative, recapped why we took home the award. As she said, giving to the United Way has become part of our company’s culture, “They bring it out in their employees, their families, their children.”

The award is one that each of us can call our own – without the support of every employee, the accomplishment would have not been possible. Congratulations!