Lesley Heighway, president and CEO of the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation, took home the top honour at the 23rd annual Peterborough Business Excellence Awards at Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough on Wednesday night (October 22) when she was named Business Citizen of the Year.
Organized by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce, the well-attended event was hosted by chamber board chair Susan Dunkley and vice chair Ben vanVeen, with the awards handed out by various sponsors with the assistance of the chamber’s president and CEO Brenda Whitehead.
Heighway, who joined the PRHC Foundation in 2008 and has served as president and CEO for the last 14 years, leads a team of professionals and volunteers who raise millions of dollars every year for the regional hospital — more than $45 million over the past five years alone. She is currently leading the $70-million Campaign for PRHC, which was also recognized on Wednesday night with the chamber’s Marketing & Promotion award.
In accepting the Business Citizen of the Year award, Heighway explained her passion for healthcare philanthropy is rooted in her family’s lived experience in her home province of New Brunswick. Her parents had to drive three hours from a small community to a hospital in Saint John for her father to receive cancer radiation treatment for five days a week over a six-week period.
“Over the years in the leadership roles I’ve held, I’ve learned that business and professional success is measured not just in dollars, but also enjoy in joy, in gratitude, and in the impact you have on others and on your community,” she said.
“I’m so appreciative of this recognition, but just as grateful for the chance to do the work that I love in a community that’s become my home with people I care about, who care so much about each other and our collective future. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.”
Other notable recipients included the Peterborough Humane Society, which received both the Not-for-Profit and the Employer of the Year awards, and Wild Rock Outfitters, which received both the Entrepreneurial Spirit and Retail awards.
The evening concluded with Peterborough Examiner photojournalist Clifford Skarstedt receiving the President’s Award, a special non-annual award that recognizes a unique and inspiring example of excellence that does not fit within one of the regular categories.
A full list of the award finalists and recipients is provided below.
Local Focus
- Charlotte Products Ltd – Recipient
- kawarthaNOW
- OmniWorx Design
Entrepreneurial Spirit
- JMD Hospitality
- Peterborough Axe Club
- Wild Rock Outfitters – Recipient
Health & Wellness
- Dr. Meagan McLaren/Health Foundations
- Dr. Nicole Loucks/Kawartha Family Chiropractic
- Five Counties Children’s Centre – Recipient
Commercial Development or Renovation
- Black Rock Developments – Recipient
- East City Dental
- Forest Hill Lodge
Skilled Trades
- Black Rock Developments
- Cardinal Home Services
- Just Spray It – Recipient
Retail
- Dan Joyces Retailing Limited
- Monaghan Lumber
- Wild Rock Outfitters – Recipient
Micro Business
- Couture Candy – Recipient
- Ontario Onsite Wastewater Association
- Smash Courts
Professional Services
- Kawartha Drainscape
- Matthews & Associates
- OmniWorx Design – Recipient
Customer First
- Monaghan Lumber
- Paris Marine
- Trent Valley Honda – Recipient
Tourism
- Egan Houseboat Rentals – Recipient
- Sanctuary Flower Fields
- Shorelines Casino Peterborough
Hospitality
- Agave by Imperial
- Kawartha Gymnastics
- Millbrook Mercantile – Recipient
Marketing and Promotion
- kawarthaNOW
- Peterborough Regional Health Centre Foundation – Recipient
- PTBO Home, Garden & Cottage Show
Not-for-Profit
- Five Counties Children’s Centre
- Kawartha Haliburton Children’s Foundation
- Peterborough Humane Society – Recipient
Employer of the Year
- Charlotte Products Ltd
- Peterborough Humane Society – Recipient
- Trent Valley Honda
4-Under-40 Profiles, in Memory of Kathy Windrem
- Adeilah Dahlke
- Amy Muir
- Meagan McLaren
- Michael Riseley
Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year
- Sammy’s Braids
Business Citizen of the Year
- Lesley Heighway, Peterborough Regional Health Centre Foundation
President’s Award
- Clifford Skarstedt
