Ultimate Group, parent company of mas bands Tribe and Bliss, on Friday won the inaugural Emerging Entrepreneur Award at the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce tenth Annual Champions of Business Dinner and Awards Ceremony held at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Dock Road, Port-of-Spain.
The company, headed by Dean Ackin, which also offers production services through its Ultimate Events Company, beat out Trini Trolley Ltd, Everything Slight Pepper and Scorch Ltd for the coveted prize.
The category was one of two new features of the ceremony formerly known as the Business Hall of Fame and was rebranded to capture young entrepreneurs, while preserving its legacy of paying homage to trail blazers in the world of business.
A positive consequence of the chamber’s new recognition format was that Ultimate Group would now be written into the annals of history. But the company would not be alone.
Internationally Known…T&T Owned was another novel category introduced at the Champions of Business presentation which was won by Sacha Cosmetics.
Turning to the Hall of Fame inductees, the chamber bestowed the honour onto Michael Mansoor, chairman of the Dr Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence, and Raymond Dieffenthaller (posthumously).
Moonilal Lalchan, president of the chamber, described the Champions of Business presentation as a new and enhanced version of the original Business Hall of Fame, which was introduced back in 2005 to fulfil a need to acknowledge the tremendous contribution of the business sector to this country’s development.
The ceremony, he said, quickly established itself and in the succeeding years, 23 stalwarts of commerce were inducted.
“This year, however, the chamber’s board took the mandate one step further. The chamber considered the scope of this signature event and realised that currently our forum did not give recognition to our pioneering medium-sized members who have successfully broken into the international market, or the passionate entrepreneurs who are challenging established norms and making a difference in the industries in which they operate. So was born the Champions of Business,” Lalchan said.
He said: “All over the world today, the face of business is changing as innovation pushes the envelope of what has perhaps been the mainstream for the last few decades.
“Business today is borderless thanks to the technological revolution. Technology today, far from being at odds with the creative mind, can now work in tandem with it to support and expand the reach of the human imagination.
This can be seen in the new wave of entrepreneurship, which is sweeping the globe and driving not only economic, but social prosperity in the most unexpected ways.”