The Business Excellence of the Year Award goes to... 

The Morden Chamber of Commerce celebrated business excellence Thursday night without much of a hitch, with blustery weather threatening to keep people away.  

Guests enjoyed networking with others, eating a meal and waiting to hear who would walk away with the coveted Business Excellence Award.  

Chamber Board Chair Tyler Shroeder was pleased with the evening. 

"We had an incredible night tonight. We celebrated business excellence here in Morden. It's something we try to do on an annual basis. We recognize the top, the brightest, the best, the most competitive and innovative in our community. That's what we saw here tonight. There's lots to be proud of in Morden. It's got a great business community, and a lot of tremendous entrepreneurs that work really hard to support their employees, to support our community, and it's always a great opportunity to take a step back and to recognize, to reflect and to honour the contributions they make.“ 

Morden Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Tyler Schroeder

Fentro Technologies, Huron Windows and Focal Point Comprehensive Vision Care (FPCVC) were vying for the Business Excellence Award with Focal Point announced as the winner. 

Optometrist, and Co-owner of Focal Point Vision Care, Jessica Lautenschlager shared her reaction. 

"We won the Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award. We totally were not expecting it. I'm kind of in shock, still. It's so incredibly amazing, because we just go to work doing the best we can, taking care of the patients we can. We don't go out there to win awards. So, for someone to recognize the overall impact we have on the Community, as a whole, is kind of amazing. Because we honestly see our jobs as optometrists, we take care of one patient at a time, helping them with everything we can. It's kind of neat to win a business award when that's not our normal mentality.  

Focal Point Comprehensive Vision Care Team

FPCVC strives for excellence to push the boundaries in optometry. Not letting the rural label limit the services and technology available to each patron.  Focal Point gives back to the community through the support of the Katie Cares Fashion Show, the Pembina  Valley Humane Society and donating sunglasses or monetary funds to areas where FPCVC teammates are involved. 

"I have no words to describe the team we work with. We are incredibly fortunate. We've had staff who have been with us for 20-30 years. You can't hire someone and train them to know everything these people know. It is amazing. They are so dedicated to what they do. They always want the best for the patient. They come to work ready to help people every day. We are so incredibly fortunate with the team we have behind us.” 

On a final note, Schroeder has a message from the Morden Chamber of Commerce. 

"Morden’s open for business. We want to grow. We believe in ourselves, and we're looking for investors to join us along this journey. We're excited about what the future has for us. The message we, as a Chamber of Commerce, havr is, ‘Morden is open for business.’ Come invest here. Come and work here. We've got great people. We have a great community. You will be supported, and you will grow, and we want to work with you to help achieve your objectives and goals and successes.” 

Winners of the 5 Awards are: 

Community Builder Organization: Pembina Valley Childcare Centre 

Entrepreneur of the Year: Lisa Zacharias of Morden Coffee Culture 

Community Builder Award: Business: Access Credit Union 

Lifetime Achievement Award: Appelt’s Diamond 

Business Excellence of the Year: Focal Point Comprehensive Vision Care 

Nominations for next year are already open and chamber members are encouraged to fill out the member survey.