Huron East's Hawley honoured provincially - April 11, 2019

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

Jan Hawley, Huron East’s economic development officer, is the first-ever recipient of the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association (OBIAA) Pinnacle Award.

Hawley was officially presented the award at the OBIAA’s National Achievement Awards Gala in Ottawa on April 1. The award recognizes accomplished leaders who have demonstrated skill in advocacy, innovation and community-building, either for their local BIA, the OBIAA or within the BIA community at large.

“I am quite honoured by this recognition, and wish to extend my gratitude to the OBIAA board and administration for their continued support over the years,” Hawley wrote on her blog.

Hawley says it is a tremendous honour to win the award with her success being measured against city centres like Toronto, London and Kitchener with multi-million-dollar economic development budgets. To see her work for Huron East recognized, she said, is a real testament to the initiatives being implemented in Huron East, many of which compensate creativity for budget.

This is the seventh OBIAA award Huron East and/or Hawley have won in recent years, she said, which is a real compliment to her team at Huron East.

She says that her Win This Space competition, which she says she didn’t invent but she did elevate to another level, has been a big part of her success at the provincial level.

Hawley has worked to support BIAs across the province by speaking extensively in Ontario and beyond about projects that have been adopted and continue to produce results in Huron East.