2025 AGM and Business Awards
2025 AGM and Business Awards
Pictured left to right: Sherri & Blair Nygren (Grill 26), Ron & Gisele Miron (Ron's Signs and Graphics), Karen Stephenson (Thunderbird Friendship Centre and Thunderbird Child and Family Centre), Lisa Maki (WildWood Studio), Madeleine Owca and Murielle Serré (Le Club des Francohpones de Longlac). *Representatives for Lochlomond Lodge not pictured.*
The Greenstone Economic Development Corporation (GEDC) held their Annual General Meeting (AGM) this past June 6th at the Centre culturel francophone de Geraldton. The staff, Board of Directors, GEDC members and several guests were in attendance to hear about the GEDC's activities and operations for 2024. Some GEDC events included were the Small Business Week Lunch ‘n' Learn series, the 3rd female entrepreneurship event, Fearless & Flawless, as well as the first set of youth entrepreneurship workshops, Kid-Preneur. More details about the events and 2024 operations can be found in the GEDC's Annual Report. Interested parties can pick up a hardcopy at the business centre or find the report here.
During the AGM, the Board of Directors and Executive positions were also announced. The GEDC staff and members would like to thank the volunteer Board of Directors for their continued commitment to the corporation, communities, and First Nations in the GEDC service area.
2025/2026 Board of Directors:
| Calvin Cloutier | President |
| Frank Hildebrandt | Vice-President |
| Lori Belizile | Secretary |
| Kathryn Legault | Treasurer |
| Evan Armstrong | Director |
| Bobby Beaulieu | Director |
| Maurice Lavigne | Director |
The GEDC would also like to take this time to acknowledge the financial contribution and support of the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor), its President Valerie Gideon, former Northwest Program Manager Brent Lundy, Initiatives Officer Greg Desimone and the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for FedNor. We would also like to thank Mandy Cargnelutti for the delicious catering enjoyed by all who attended.
For a second year, the GEDC included a business awards ceremony as part of the annual general meeting and we were delighted to once again present awards to businesses and non-profits within the GEDC's service area. This year's categories included Dedicated Beauty, Game-Changer, Quality of Life, and Community Impact. As well as two new categories, Bright Beginnings and Lifetime Achievement. In preparation for these awards, we asked service area members to complete a survey in which they nominated businesses and non-profits they felt exemplified the criteria of each category. This year, we had even greater participation and saw more variety to the nominations. We also noticed several businesses and non-profits nominated for more than one category - showing that our service area members truly appreciate the dedication of these organizations. All of our award winners were chosen based on the number of nominations they received, so long as the organization was a registered business or registered non-profit and met the criteria set out within the category. The GEDC would like to congratulate all the 2025 winners and thank all the service area members that participated in the nomination survey.
2025 Business Awards Winners:
GEDC is a bilingual, non-profit, community-based organization led by a volunteer Board of Directors and is funded by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor). For more information about upcoming events or news, please explore the website, visit our Facebook page, or sign up for our emailed monthly bulletin by contacting Nicole - nicole@gedc.ca (807) 854-2273 ext 23.