SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Several Yellowknife businesses took centre stage last week at the Akaitcho Business Development Corporation's annual business awards ceremony.

Adonis Planning, Bella Dance Academy, Dirty Deeds Diaper Service, Celine's Interpreting and Translating Services, and Life Care Planning - all of whom have obtained financial or advisory services from the corporation - received awards for excellence in a brief ceremony in the Champagne Room at World Catering & Banquet Services (formerly Our Place Family Dining Room) last Thursday.

"I thought that (they gave me the award) maybe because I'm getting so damn old and I'm gonna die," quipped Don Asher, owner of Adonis Planning, which won the Business of the Year Award.

Asher, who was born and raised in Saskatoon, Sask., has been up North for 20 years.

"One of my students that I taught carpentry to wanted me to come up and do a supervision of a school in Fort Rae (Rae-Edzo), and then I just (worked) with Aurora College and everywhere in the North now," said Asher.

His business primarily provides superintendents to large construction projects, but Asher has recently branched out.

"The new (initiative) that we've taken on is plastic and fibreglass igloos that we're in the process of trying to sell to the military and the exploration companies," said Asher.

While interest from exploration companies tapered off in light of the global economic slowdown, "It looks like ... they'll be reordering once the economy comes back a little bit," he said.

Marion Hutton, owner of Life Care Planning (LCP), received the award for Youth Business of the Year.

Servicing Alberta, NWT and Nunavut, the Yellowknife-based company provides rehabilitation consulting services to referrals from insurance companies like Peace Hills Insurance and Co-operators Insurance.

"She's very ecstatic," said Hutton's husband and LCP's manager and accountant, Jay. "She's really appreciate of all that help that Akaitcho has provided."

Last year, LCP began providing video conference services to clients in remote Northern communities.

"It's good because it gives communities access to specialists," said Jay. "We do augment the physical visits with the follow-ups, so it's not like it's all done by video conference.

"The people in those communities, they can't get access to a full-time speech language pathologist and they're able to get dialled in to somebody here in Yellowknife."

The Environmental Business of the Year award went to Elsbeth Fielding, owner of Dirty Deeds Diaper Service, which resupplies its clients with reusable cloth inserts for baby diapers on a weekly basis.

Fielding was out of town late last week and asked two of her clients, Shena Shaw and Jessica Mace, to accept the award on her behalf.

"It's great for people like me because I want to be environmentally conscious, but I don't want to do that much laundry in a week!" said Shena, holding her six-month old son, Caeden.

The Aboriginal Business of the Year Award went to Celine Football, owner of Celine's Interpreting and Translating Services. Football could not be reached for comment.

Rounding out the winners was Lina Ball, owner of Bella Dance Academy and no stranger to the awards ceremony. Ball, who took home the Excellence Award, was honoured last year with the Business of the Year Award.

Last year, Ball - whose dance academy is attracting an ever-growing list of students - was named the NWT's Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).