Three of the 10 local businesses nominated for Small Business BC Awards have made it through to the semifinal rounds.
According to Small Business BC, more than 611 nominations were received for the first round.
The semifinalists were chosen by online voting, with the top 10 vote-getters in each category making it through to the semis.
Ginger Jars, a company that reuses culled produce from retailers and farmers to create its products while fighting food waste, is a semifinalist for Best Community Impact.
High Beam Dreams, which bought the former Gibsons United Church about three years ago and converted it into a daycare space and performance and event venue, and Yellobean Total Clean made the cut in the Best Immigrant Entrepreneur category.
The semifinalists now have a month to convince a panel of judges, who will narrow down each category to a list of five finalists.
The awards will be presented in Vancouver on Feb. 21, 2020.
Past winners from the Sunshine Coast include the Gibsons Butcher, which was the 2017 People’s Choice winner, as well as Target Marine Hatcheries, which won for Best International Trade in 2014, and Gibsons Recycling Depot, which was the 2012 winner for Best Green Business.
