Timmins was well-represented at the Influential Women of Northern Ontario Awards.
Chic Baby and Kids owner Alicia Pirie and Goldcorp’s Armanda Quinn were two of the seven women in the northeast who took home awards yesterday.
Pirie won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.
In her InfluentialWomen.ca profile, it says she considers herself an accidental entrepreneur.
The business started in her basement and is now set up downtown Timmins, offering pregnancy, baby and toddler items, as well programming.
“In a small community like Timmins, with so many businesses closing lately, I think people realize that supporting and shopping local is more important than ever right now, because otherwise, we’re not going to have anything,” said Pirie in the profile.
Quinn’s award is for Tradeswoman of the Year.
According to her profile, she was raised on her family farm outside Timmins and mining wasn’t in her plans.
Hired as a mill shift labourer in 2008, she is now the health and safety co-ordinator at the Hoyle Pond Mine. She was the first woman in the company’s history to be selected for the mine rescue competition.
“If my actions, and the way that I conduct myself in my career, can help progress the landscape for others, that’s my goal. I want to be an ambassador,” reads her profile.
Presented by Northern Ontario Business, the awards were launched in 1997 to honour women who are making a difference and contributing to the region’s economic success.
This year’s hardware was handed out May 28 in Sudbury.
“The quantity and quality of nominations continue to create a difficult task for our judges,” said Northern Ontario Business Publisher, Abbas Homayed. “The accomplishments of this year’s winners are truly remarkable. We congratulate all the winners for 2018”.