Community Builders brings best and brightest together for one night

Abbas Homayed Publisher Northern Life

The Community Builders Awards evening is unique in that it brings so many people from such varied backgrounds together. Tonight we have community leaders, politicians, artists, committed volunteers, business owners, young athletes, enthusiastic educators, dedicated environmentalists, health-care specialists, and students in the audience.

We held the first awards event in 2004 to celebrate Northern Life's 30th anniversary. It was an instant success thanks to people like you who invest themselves in the community. Northern Life has won a community service award for the CBA program from the Ontario Community Newspaper Association, and the concept has been borrowed in other communities.
As publisher, I usually know some of the award winners, but often I am meeting the others for the first time. Over the years, for example, I have met some outstanding people who have won the Young Leaders award. They are always inspiring and refreshingly positive and focused.

I am also always inspired by the CBA judges who spend hours of their time going over each nomination before selecting eight winners. This year our judges are Jennifer Babin-Fenske, Guy Labine, Barry McCrory, Tracy MacLeod, Patricia Miller, Bela Ravi, Oryst Sawchuk and Linda Wilson. I can't thank them enough for their dedication.

I would also like to thank our sponsors who are the champions of the evening. Their participation cannot be underestimated. Thanks to EastLink, Union Gas, Sudbury Theatre Centre, the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, Vale, Xstrata Nickel Sudbury, McQueen's Furniture, Dynamic Insurance Brokers, Mining Technologies International, Total Personnel Solutions and Northern Academy of Transportation Training.

Thank you to our advertisers, delegates, supporters and nominators who help us celebrate community leadership.

The staff at Northern Life and the Events Division of Northern Ontario Business have worked very hard to make tonight's event a success. They deserve a round of applause.

And finally, congratulations to the 2012 winners. I hope you will be impressed by their stories as much as I am..