TORONTO, Oct. 30, 2018 /CNW/ - Known as the 'Oscar' for female entrepreneurs and business leaders, the annual Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Awards (BWA) celebrates trailblazers from around the world. Aside from being one of the most popular Champagnes in the world, Veuve Clicquot has long revered powerful women showing a keen business sense and a passionate entrepreneurial disposition – the same qualities possessed by Madame Clicquot.
This year, Veuve Clicquot Canada is pleased to acknowledge the leadership and valuable contributions made by this year's award recipients Claudia Sjoberg and Kiely Maclean for the Business Woman Award and New Generation Award respectively.
"2018 has been a huge year for women and both of this year's recipients are definitely role models who are set to inspire the next generation of leaders," said Alexis de Calonne, Managing Director of Moët Hennessy Canada. "Through their passion and dedication, Claudia and Kiely are stellar examples of Madame Clicquot's spirit of challenging the status quo and creating something memorable."
For the annual selection of the Business Woman Award and Next Generation Awards, Veuve Clicquot assembled an esteemed panel of judges including Vanessa Craft, Editor-in-Chief of Elle Canada, Janet LePage, CEO at Western Wealth Capital and 2017 New Generation Award winner, Barbara Philip, the first Western Canadian to achieve the Master of Wine designation and Andrea Scott, Co-Founder and President of Skoah and 2017's Business Woman Award winner, to select this year's winner from a very impressive group of finalists.
"I am honoured to have been chosen as this year's winner of the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the year award," said Claudia Sjoberg, Founder and President of Pedalheads. "I respect and admire all the trailblazing women like Madame Clicquot who have gone before me and all the young entrepreneurial women today who are stepping into the risky and relentless world of owning their own businesses. I encourage all of us to support women entrepreneurs by buying their products, using their services, lending them money, mentoring them and taking them seriously as the innovators and economic drivers that they are."
Business Woman Award finalists: Stéphanie Emond, Founder of BALNEA Spa, Marie-Josée Gagnon, Founder of CASACOM, Claudia Sjoberg, Founder and President of Pedalheads Bike and Swim Programs, Sonia Strobel, Co-founder Skipper Otto's Community Supported Fishery and Susan Niczowski, Founder and President of Summerfresh.
"I am honoured and humbled to be part of this group of extraordinary women that are the Veuve Clicquot family," said Kiely Maclean, co-founder and president, RJ Maclean. "This is absolutely a springboard for entrepreneurship and innovation for the next generation."
New Generation Award finalists: Valerie Song, CEO & co-founder of AVA Technologies, Anaida Deti, CEO DentalX, Carol Robinson, principal and owner of Harbour West Consulting Inc., Marie-Hélène David, co-founder and VP of customer experience at Kanevas and Kiely Maclean, co-founder and president of RJ Maclean.
The Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award and New Generation Award
Created in 1972 as a tribute to Madame Clicquot, the annual Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award champions the success of business women worldwide who share the same qualities as Madame Clicquot: Her enterprising spirit, her courage and the determination necessary to accomplish her aims. Highly prized and sought after, it is the first international award created specifically to recognize the contribution that women have made to business life and is now regarded as the "Oscar" for female entrepreneurs and business leaders. Consistent with the company's international scope, the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award is now awarded in 27 countries. In Canada, the award celebrates the best of Canadian female talent in business.
Created in 2014 to recognize the new generation of female entrepreneurs, the New Generation Award pays tribute to Madame Clicquot's daughter, Clementine and recognizes the next generation of business women for their: investment in the future, unwavering innovation and intuition.
Madame Clicquot
Veuve Clicquot owes its extraordinary reputation to a remarkably modern woman: Madame Clicquot. Married in 1798 to François Clicquot, owner of a Champagne business, and widowed at 27, she took control of the business and was one of the first women to lead a company of men. Proud, stubborn and strong-willed, she overcame the climatic uncertainties of arid land and always demanded "only one quality, the finest." An ambitious visionary and known by her peers as "La Grande Dame de la Champagne," Madame Clicquot demonstrated her innovative spirit in 1810 by producing the first vintage wine of the Champagne region. With her daring, avant-garde ideals, she invented the first "riddling table" in 1816, as a way to clarify Champagne. Adopted across the Champagne region, this method is still used today by all Houses. Madame Clicquot also used the red wines from her Bouzy vineyards in 1818 to produce the very first Rosé blend in Champagne.
SOURCE Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Awards
For more info about the Business Woman Award and Veuve Clicquot, please contact: Brittany Arnold, [email protected]
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