By Ryan Parton
The Comox Valley’s Lourdes Gant, of Manatee Holdings Ltd., was named the winner of a Silver Stevie Award in the Woman of the Year category at the 14th annual International Business Awards Thursday.
The awards are the world’s premier business awards program. Individuals and organizations public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small are eligible to submit nominations. This year’s competition received entries from more than 60 nations and territories.
Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word for ‘crowned,’ the awards will be presented to winners at a gala awards banquet October in Barcelona, Spain.
A record total of more than 3,900 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a range of categories, including Company of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Startup of the Year, Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year, and Executive of the Year. Gant won in the Woman of the Year International Business Awards category.
PROFIT and Chatelaine magazines have also recognized Gant as one of Canada’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs in 2012 (#84) and 2014 (#5). Judges’ comments on her entry included, “So good to see a holistic approach” and, “Well done with the focus on and achieving excellence in both profit and sustainability.”
Stevie Award winners were determined by average scores of more than 200 executives worldwide who participated on 12 juries.
“The IBA judges from across the world were highly impressed with the nominations they reviewed this year,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevies. “With the level of achievement documented in the nominations from 60 nations, the Stevie Awards are proud to honour organizations that demonstrate a high level of achievement in a variety of industries. We look forward to sharing many of these stories with people around the world over the coming months, through the Stevie Awards blog and social media channels, with the hope to inspire others to high achievement.”