We are proud to help honour those who embrace innovation in business, those who have the vision to break new ground, those who have the ambition to lead the way,” affirmed Darryl Duke, Assistant General Manager of Business Sales, TSTT at the official launch of this year’s Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s Champions of Business Awards. Duke was delivering remarks on behalf of bmobile Business, a gold sponsor for this year’s event and a longstanding Chamber partner.

For the 7th consecutive year, bmobile Business will sponsor the Innovation Award, formerly the Business Technology award, at Champions of Business. This award is intended to recognise the significant role innovation plays in transforming our economy by celebrating a company or individual who has provided innovative solutions or services for new and existing market needs. “It focuses on the pioneering use of technology to increase quality and give rise to measurable improvements for customers, clients, and businesses,” noted Duke.

He described bmobile Business, and by extension TSTT, as a passionate enabler of innovation that embraces these ideals in tangible ways. “We not only encourage local businesses to cultivate a culture of innovation, but we also strive to embody it. Most recently, we doubled down on our commitment to improve nationwide connectivity with 160 million invested in upgrading our network. Our hope is that this injection will continue facilitate the technology which will in turn help businesses incorporate practices that will shape our country's very future”, stated Duke.

The lead-up to the November 1 gala will once again include Champions of Business True Stories TV series which Chamber President Kiran Maharaj describes as 'a powerful platform to highlight the success stories of local businesses. “These awards are truly aligned to the ethos and vision of the T&T Chamber and our sponsors,” explained Maharaj during the launch. “Champions of Business has grown from the original business hall of fame to encompass seven categories which represent the business sector, from entrepreneurship through lifetime achievements.”

This year’s Champions of Business Awards theme is “Visionaries and Vanguards”. Exploring the relevance of the theme to the objectives of the programme, Maharaj noted that “a visionary is a person with original ideas about what the future will or could be and who plans for the future with imagination or wisdom.” She also explained, “A vanguard is a group of people leading the way in new developments for ideas and are at the forefront of their landscape.”

Nominees do not have to be a member of the Chamber of Business, and anyone can nominate a business for the award. The 2024 award categories are Business Hall of Fame; The Green Agenda Award; Internationally Known...T&T Owned Company of the Year; Breakthrough Exporter of the Year; The Innovation Award; Entrepreneurship and the SME Award. The nomination period opened on May 1 and will close on June 21.