Arlene Dickinson may have missed the awards ceremony where she was named Small Business Owner of the Year, but it was for a different labour of love – her first grandson.

The Calgary entrepreneur and owner of Venture Communications, who won the accolade at a gala event hosted by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, had to skip the celebrations last week because she was helping her daughter Carley with another emerging enterprise at a city hospital.

“I was with my daughter while she was having her baby. I was coaching her,” beams Dickinson, adding she came home after midnight to find the award sitting on her kitchen table where her co-workers had left it as a surprise.

Arlene Dickinson was named Small Business Owner of the Year in Calgary.

“I really couldn’t believe it. I was really, truly thrilled. There were some very strong competition, and all the companies were really good at what they did and represented great businesses.”

Baby Carter is just the latest feather in Dickinson’s cap. In September, she was named 24th among Canada’s Top 100 Business Owners by PROFIT, the Magazine for Canadian Entrepreneurs and Chatelaine magazines. With two offices in Ottawa, one in London, Ont., and one opening soon in Raleigh, N.C., Venture has gone from 25 to about 85 employees in three years and continues to expand.

Dickinson credits her advisors for helping her success, and says her business model has helped attract “really strong talent and people who are committed to seeing the vision of the business through.”

The Small Business Owner of the Year awards, first presented in 1982, are given to companies whose contributions and achievements to the community distinguish them among their peers.

Edmonton also feted its entrepreneurs Friday, as both cities wrapped up Small Business Week.

Three local entrepreneurs were recognized by the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce as Small Business Owners of the Year:
* Ken McDonald, president and CEO of Collaborative Learning Network in Edmonton’s Research Park (10 employees and under);
* Diane Kyle Buchanan, owner of the Union Bank Inn on Jasper Avenue (50 employees and under);
* Carmelo Rago and Maria Saccomanno, owners of Sorrentino’s Restaurant Group (100 employees and under).

In Calgary, Brenda Chute of Easy Visas Inc. was the winner of the Emerging Enterprise of the Year award. The four-year old Calgary firm provides travel-related document assistance for the international business traveller.

The Emerging Enterprise of the year award is given to entrepreneurs in the early stages of business development, with their companies in business no more than three years and with 10 employees or less.