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Telegraph-Journal
Saint John, New Brunswick – Canaport LNG will join exclusive company later this month when it receives the Big Heart Award from the Saint John Board of Trade.
The company, a partnership between Repsol and Irving Oil Ltd., is building a state-of-the-art liquefied natural gas terminal in Saint John. Though it has only been in operation for three years, the company has already made a tremendous contribution to the community.
Canaport LNG was selected by an independent panel of five judges, who reviewed various nominations.
"I think they made a good choice," said board of trade president Imelda Gilman. "They've only been in Saint John for a couple of years, but they've already put their stamp on the community. They're making an effort to be involved through the various fundraising and the donations that they give.
"But it goes beyond that. Their employees also volunteer their time" to the many charitable causes and initiatives in and around the city, she said.
Previous winners of the Big Heart Award are the Greater Saint John Community Foundation in 2003, the Irving companies in 2004, the United Way of Greater Saint John in 2005, the Saint John YMCA-YWCA in 2006 and the Carpenters Training Centre in 2007.
"We receive numerous nominations every year and we have lots of great organizations doing lots of great work in the community," Gilman said. "This is always an interesting award and we're very fortunate to have so many organizations doing great things in the community.
"The award is fairly new, but the list of past winners is quite vast and quite impressive."
Canaport LNG will receive its award at a gala dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 26, at the Saint John Trade and Convention Centre.
"Saint John is such a great community with a strong tradition and an almost unprecedented spirit of helping others," said Carolyn Van der Veen, the company's communications manager. "As a new company welcomed to this city, we want to do want we can to help carry on that tradition by giving back to our community."
The company has more than 50 full-time employees who are a major part of its efforts in the community, Van der Veen said.
"Our commitment to Saint John starts with each Canaport LNG employee," she said. "Many of the projects Canaport LNG took part in over the past three years wouldn't have succeeded without our employees' support, hard work and their genuine love of the community. We're committed to working to support local initiatives that are important to the people of Saint John and New Brunswick.
"We're lucky to be able to draw on a wealth of community dedication from both our partners Irving Oil and Repsol. We're pleased to carry on in the same tradition of corporate responsibility that they've demonstrated for so many years here in Saint John and around the world."