Longtime community television executive and volunteer David Feeley took home the top honour Thursday night (October 22) when the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce named him its 2026 Business Citizen of the Year during the annual Business Excellence Awards gala at Kawartha Downs in Fraserville.
Feeley has worked for more than 35 years at Cogeco and is currently senior manager of programming and community relations for central Ontario, including the YourTV community access stations in Peterborough, Lindsay, Ottawa Valley, and Northumberland.
A former board chair of Peterborough Musicfest and former board president of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Peterborough, Feeley is currently a member of the board for the Peterborough County detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police.
The Business Citizen of the Year award recognizes a member of the local business community for a lifetime of achievement, including professional success and contributions to the community. Feeley follows recent recipients Lesley Heighway in 2025, Phillip Jolicoeur in 2024, John Cunningham in 2023, and Matt Strano in 2022.
Thursday’s gala marked a change of venue and format for the Chamber’s longstanding annual celebration of the local business community.
Hosted at Kawartha Downs in Cavan Monaghan Township rather than in downtown Peterborough, the evening began with a red carpet hosted by Tiffany Arcari of The Tiffany Show, a cocktail reception in the facility’s renovated Loft, appetizers from Fyrestoke, followed by an awards dinner catered by Chemong Lodge — which, it turned out, won the Hospitality award.
The evening also included a live auction conducted by Jason McIntosh featuring local staycation packages.
The Chamber received 235 nominations representing 137 unique nominees across 18 award categories this year. For the first time, self-nominations were not accepted, meaning every business or individual under consideration had been nominated by someone else.
“This year we eliminated the self-nomination process, and we have been truly inspired by the way our community embraced the opportunity to recognize local businesses,” Chamber president and CEO Brenda Whitehead said when the nominees were announced in July. “The response speaks volumes about the incredible work being done throughout our region.”
Unlike in recent years, the Chamber did not announce three finalists in each competitive category in advance of the gala. Instead, only the broader pool of nominees was announced during the summer.
Another change was the announcement of all of the nominees for Business Citizen of the Year — in the past, only the recipient was announced during the gala. Along with Feeley, the other nominees were Michael Beauclerc, Sara Brown, and Su Ditta.
Below is the complete list of 2026 Business Excellence Awards recipients announced on Thursday night.
Business Citizen of the Year
David Feeley, Cogeco Connexion
4-Under-40 Profiles in memory of Kathy Windrem
Elsa Batten
Jordan Mercier
Kyle Christie
Susan Tung
Customer First
Kingdon Lumber
Employer of the Year
Gauvreau Accounting Tax Law Advisory
Entrepreneurial Spirit
Peterborough Axe Club
Farm Family of the Year
Staples Maple Syrup
Health & Wellness
Trent Health in Motion
Hospitality
Chemong Lodge
Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year
Canada-CPR
Indigenous Led Business
Cambium Indigenous Professional Services
Local Focus
The Cheesy Fromage General Store
Marketing & Promotions
Peterborough Humane Society
Micro Business
Black Rock Developments
Not-for-Profit
Kawartha Land Trust
Professional Services
Baker Tilly
Retail
Kawartha Country Wines
Skilled Trades
Blackwood Developments Inc.
Tourism
Wanderlight Alpaca Experience
President’s Award
Alan Black
