The ABEX Awards recognize the best in Saskatchewan business, and this year two Yorkton businesses have been nominated. TA Foods and NL Construction are nominated for a combined total of four awards.
TA Foods is up for three awards, Innovation, Growth and Expansion and Export. Co-owner Mike Popowich says that the three awards are connected. The innovation has been in work to make flax oil more versatile, raising the smoke point and allowing it to be used in more cooking and frying applications. This has opened up more export markets for the product, allowing the company to export more and expand substantially. It has gone from seven employees to 22 in the past two years.
“There’s nobody else that really does this stuff with flax right now, we’re one of two companies listed on the Flax Council of Canada’s website.”
It will also be a chance to learn a bit more about what TA Foods does, because the majority of their business is in exports so people might be unfamiliar with their product.
“People always kind of wonder what that brick building on Myrtle is doing there, but we export a fair amount of product and we hope to continue growing.”
NL Construction is nominated in the service category. Dustin Nehring, co-owner, says that it’s an honour to be recognized for what they are doing, and it’s the kind of award that goes to everyone in the company.
“Without our full team none of this happens. Front office we take care of customers and take care of their needs, but the guys in the back are doing the service as well, and completing the project.”
NL won the Growth and Expansion award in 2014, and Nehring says that the expansion is also part of what made the nomination possible this year, as the larger business can serve more clients and meet their needs more effectively.
Having businesses nominated for an ABEX award is a good thing for the city, Popowich adds.
“It goes to show how Yorkton has been growing itself in the past little while... It really shows the commitment to business that the community has and it shows the quality of businesses that are coming out of this area,” Popowich says.
