Business Awards
Our Business Award Winners
Our business award winners are clients of ANTCO in which each award honors excellence and inspires achievement in Indigenous business and entrepreneurship throughout the province. We are pleased to be able to provide four (4) awards each year.
Business of the Year 2024 Winner
Mitchell Wood Products
Mitchell Wood Products is a sawmill, focusing on cutting custom cut high end timbers and beams for construction projects.
Jasper Mitchell has been around mills most of his life. He started working at his father’s mill at the age of 14, and now has over 22 years’ of experience working in his own mill that he took over from his Father. Working in this industry is his second nature.
Partnering with ANTCO has been one of the best decisions I’ve made for my business and my family. Their expertise, dedication, and genuine care have propelled my business to heights I once thought unattainable. I’m immensely grateful for their partnership and look forward to continuing our journey of growth and success together.
Jasper Mitchell | Mitchell Wood Products
Ashley O’Neil | AshFireWear
Female Business of the Year 2024 Winner
AshFireWear
Ashley O’Neil, member of the Ktunaxa Nation, and proud owner, operator, and designer of AshFireWear. Ashley has had an amazing journey in male dominated industries. Ashley has been fighting fires for nearly two decades. First fighting structural fires and then moving into fighting wildfires. Prior to fighting fires, she worked in the oil patch, where she quickly realized that women specific personal protective equipment – especially the fire resilient kind – did not exist. After years of struggling to fit into, and stay safe in, protective gear designed for men this is where her entrepreneurial journey began – with a dream- with an idea – with a mission. After much research and dedication, Ashley now designs and makes an eco-friendly line of PPE. AshFireWear is perfect for women (& men) of all shapes and sizes who are working in the firefighting, mining, oil and gas, mechanical trades, hydro, and construction industries. We are all so proud of Ashley and wish her nothing but continued success with her business.
Tourism Business of the Year 2024 Winner
Sal-Crest Motel
The Sal-Crest Motel located in Salmo, BC, it is owned and operated by Shelly Seville a member of the Cape Mudge Band, WeWaiKai Nation Quadra Island, BC, and her husband Darcy Wentland. The business has been in operation for several years and offers comfortable, modern, clean accommodations on a nightly, weekly and monthly basis. The business has eleven units that vary from single rooms, to one and two bedroom units with kitchens.
A huge Thank-you to the staff at ANTCO for all the help they have given us throughout the years and helping us to build a successful Motel business. Their friendliness helps us to easily navigate throughout the application process.
Shelly Seville & Darcy Wentland | Sal-Crest Motel
Jacob Laviolette | JTL Ventures
Youth Business of the Year 2024 Winner
JTL Ventures
Jacob Laviolette, the driving force behind JTL Ventures, boasts twelve years of deep involvement in the transportation sector. His expertise spans the safe transportation of diverse goods, including hazardous materials, both on and off the highway. Presently, he specializes in hauling long logs for prominent entities such as Timber Baron, Canoe Creek, JTG Logging, Mains Logging, and Longs Logging in the bustling Terrace area., Situation in a exceptional export market, Terrace ensures consistent demand, keeping both loggers and drivers actively engaged. In 2018, Mr. Laviolette took a significant step by acquiring his first truck, financed through ANTCO. His sterling reputation in the log transportation realm is founded on his extensive experience and proficiency in maintaining the equipment, whether traversing on-road or off-road terrains.