Stars come out for Small Business Week

St. Albert business owners will party like it’s 1959 tonight as they honour their best at an annual awards show.

About 200 people will be at the Glendale Golf & Country Club Thursday, Oct. 22 for the 2026 Business Excellence Awards of Distinction gala. Organized by the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce, the event will see 11 companies and organizations recognized for their contributions to St. Albert’s business community.

This year’s gala has an “Old Hollywood” theme, so expect a red carpet and lots of 1950s-era fashion.

The Chamber held two breakfast events leading up to the awards as part of Small Business Week.

Your nominees are…

Karen Kordic of BlacKnot Jewellery (nominated for Best Small Business this year) spoke at the Business Excellence Rotary Breakfast at the St. Albert Food Bank Friday, Oct. 16. A mainstay of the St. Albert Farmers’ Market, she’s known for making elaborate necklaces and bracelets from pearls and gemstones.

Kordic said she’s been making jewellery for family and friends for about 30 years and turned her hobby into a home-based business about six years ago. She spends most of her days working on designs in her studio, so she loves getting one-on-one with customers at the farmers’ market.

“I’m getting a lot of love from St. Albert, which really fills my cup,” Kordic said.

Business to Business Award nominee Connie Clark was part of the panel discussion at the Business Excellence Breakfast held at the Little White School House Monday, Oct. 19. She spoke on her 35 years as owner of Mission Computers Inc., which trains people in how to use computers.

Clark said her message to new entrepreneurs was to keep learning and be open to change.

“There’s no way I could have predicted how my business was going to be,” she said, in part because of the rapid change in the computing industry.

Microsoft Windows was a new thing back when Clark started, and most of her clients didn’t know how to use a mouse. She also did all her lessons in a physical classroom. Nowadays, she does her work online and on site, teaching clients about Microsoft Office and Copilot.

“If you’re not willing to change, it’s going to be very hard to keep a business going,” she said.

Past Chamber award winner Lisa Bailey of Bailey Books was also on that Oct. 19 panel.

Bailey Books started in 2002 when her father, Barry, decided to do something with all the books that were overflowing in his house. He stuck with online sales until his landlord announced he was selling the Rowland Crescent location he operated out of in 2023. Not wanting the store to close, Lisa heavily promoted it on social media, which netted them enough money to buy the spot from the landlord. The store is now a thriving brick-and-mortar bookstore that regularly hosts book clubs and other events.

Besides their location in an industrial park, which wasn’t great for window shoppers, Lisa said uncertainty caused by Alberta’s referendum on separation was one of the biggest challenges her business has faced.

“If the separation were to go forward, I would not stay here,” she said.

“I want to run this store for the next 20 years, and if separation goes through, that wouldn’t be possible.”

She advised new business owners to be authentic on social media. Her most successful promos weren’t about showing off products or announcing sales, but sharing her personal thoughts on a book or Barry’s latest bookbinding project.

“You get much better results when you just show up as yourself.”

Check next week’s Gazette for more on this year’s Business Excellence Award winners.