For Immediate Release
May 15, 2026
St. John’s – Last night the Economic Developers Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (EDANL) and its partner North Atlantic recognized the winners of the province’s Economic Development Awards of Excellence.
“In economic development the ‘wins’ are years in the making, and most of the hard work happens behind the scenes,” said EDANL President Kieran Hanley. “So it is important to recognize and celebrate successes where we see them – because economic developers contribute so much to our communities.”
“Newfoundland and Labrador’s Economic Development Awards of Excellence provide an opportunity to recognize those that are making a difference,” said Hanley, “and tonight we are here to highlight a group of individuals and organizations who have accomplished great things for Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Winners of the awards include:
Information on each of the awards winners and their accomplishments is found below.
About EDANL
The Economic Developers Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (EDANL) is a not-for-profit with a mission to build the capacity of those engaged in economic development in Newfoundland and Labrador and advance the practice as a distinct and recognized profession.
This award recognizes a project that has had a major economic development impact in a community. It rewards such things as strategic planning, business retention and expansion, placemaking, tourism, social enterprise, etc. within a municipality or community.
The winner of this year’s Marketing award is the Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay for the establishment of an affordable, climate friendly public transit system.
Margaret Aligbe (Community Development Manager) accepting the Best Community Project Award from EDANL President Kieran Hanley on behalf of the Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay
Happy Valley-Goose Bay’s Strategic Plan to advance the town’s standing as the key commercial hub in Labrador included the pursuit of a new community public transit system.
The introduction of the bus service has improved the lives of residents, particularly by cutting down transportation costs for residents who would normally rely only on taxis. It has also improved mobility for residents like seniors and people with accessibility issues, who previously had difficulty getting around Town. Some residents with private means have also used the bus, which in the long term will serve as a positive signal to more residents to do the same.
There are important environmental benefits of public transit – namely the reduction of passenger cars on the roads. But in this case the impact is even more – as the bus used for the service is electric. With investments from the federal and provincial governments, the Town was able to purchase an 18-seat electric, accessible bus, install charging infrastructure, and launch a user-friendly on-demand transit app.
The community now has a modern, affordable, and sustainable electric bus service which runs from Monday to Saturday, with convenient advance booking available through an online on-demand system. Since its launch, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and has had a major impact on the community.
This award recognizes a marketing initiative aimed at attracting, retaining, and/or fostering economic development. It rewards communities or organizations for using marketing and communications to make a positive social or economic contribution at the local, regional, or provincial level.
The winner of this year’s Community Project award is St. Anthony Basin Resources Inc. (SABRI) for its “Saltwater Horizons” Digital Marketing Series.
SABRI’s Chairperson Wayne Noel accepting the Best Marketing Project Award from Roxanne Morrissey.
“Saltwater Horizons” is a comprehensive series of 6 highly professional videos with the objective to promote economic development in the St. Anthony region by showcasing the area’s diverse business sectors, innovation potential, and quality of life offerings. The videos aim to attract new businesses and investors, retain existing talent, support local enterprises, and position the region as a hub for sustainable economic growth across multiple industries including the blue economy, logistics, agriculture, health services, and tourism.
The video series covers: (1) an overview of SABRI Innovation, (2) The Blue Economy featuring ocean-based industries including cold storage, seafoods, fisheries, and nutraceuticals, (3) Logistics and international shipping capabilities, (4) Agriculture and food security initiatives, (5) Health and wellness services and amenities, and (6) Tourism and small-scale manufacturing enterprises. The videos can be viewed here.
Each video strategically showcases local businesses, organizations, and members of the community. They are powerful communications tools and we encourage everyone to visit the SABRI Innovation website to check them out. SABRI continues to be a catalyst for economic development on the Great Northern Peninsula, and is deserving of this recognition.
This award was sponsored by WaterWerks
This award recognizes a sector-based project that has had a significant economic development impact. Sectors can be industrial, commercial, or community oriented.
This winner of this year’s Best Sector Project award is the Community Sector Council of NL for its “Social Enterprise Through Acquisition (SETA)” program.
CSCNL team from left to right: Lindsey Hynes, Colin Corcoran (CEO), Lori Johnson, Kyle Wiseman, Kelly Sandoval, Hannah Barrie, Bahar Hashemi, Esther Osei-Nkansah, and Arianna Echanique.
The SETA program aims to preserve rural small businesses in Newfoundland and Labrador, while diversifying revenue streams for community organizations. SETA is designed to address the challenge of the “Succession Tsunami” of retiring business owners in this province – which is poised to disproportionately harm rural communities. Small businesses provide essential services, act as employment and economic drivers, and often create shared community spaces..
Buyers and sellers are matched through the SETA network. CSCNL’s Social Innovation Lab team provides one-on-one guidance to community sector organizations that are seeking to create a social enterprise to support their impact work. Meanwhile business owners can access succession planning resources and buyers can access up to $15,000 in funding for business valuation, legal work, and business planning.
To date, the SETA program has supported three social acquisitions. A community sector organization in Central NL has acquired a taxi company to provide an affordable regional transportation service. The Mi’kmaw Cultural Foundation has acquired a former medical clinic, which will become a social enterprise daycare and community hub. And Table 8 Co-operative has acquired the Two Whales Coffee Shop, sustaining an important tourism business, employment incubator, and circular supply chain in Port Rexton.
This award was sponsored by the NL Association of CBDCs
This award recognizes a project that has had a major economic development impact in a region. It rewards projects that include multiple partners and demonstrate the power and effectiveness of cooperation, coordination, and collaboration.
This winner of this year’s Best Regional Project award is the Clarenville Coasts Regional Tourism Association for its “Sustainable Tourism Enhancement Plan”.
Town of Clarenville Mayor John Pickett and Economic Development Officer Colin Holloway accepting the Best Regional Project Award from EDANL Board Member Lindsey Hynes on behalf of the Clarenville Coasts Regional Tourism Association
The objective of this plan is to position Clarenville Coasts as a recognized, year-round tourism hub by 2028 by strengthening operator collaboration, enhancing visitor discovery, and promoting experiences that inspire longer stays, repeat visits, and meaningful economic impact across the region.
This award celebrates the plan and the journey that got stakeholders to this point. The development of the Clarenville Coasts Regional Tourism Association Inc. is the result of a structured, multi-year process grounded in collaboration, planning, and industry leadership.
In 2022, the Town initiated a working group to guide this effort. Strategic planning took place over a 15-month period in 2022-23. The second phase – capacity building and early implementation – took place in 2023-24 where an advisory committee was formed and, through an MOU, funding accessed by the Town of Clarenville. In 2025 a regional body was formally established, and in 2026 an aggressive growth campaign was operationalized.
The Town of Clarenville led years of cooperation and collaboration between tourism operators, industry stakeholders, and representatives from municipal, provincial, and federal governments. This is very difficult to achieve, especially over a long time horizon. The result is a model example of regional economic development and thus its architects are very deserving of this recognition.
This award recognizes an economic development practitioner in Newfoundland and Labrador, rewarding excellence and passion in the profession.
This year’s Economic Developer of the Year is Mark Lamswood.
Mark Lamswood addressing attendees following the presentation of the Economic Developer of the Year Award
Mark Lamswood is a true champion for Economic Development in the province, with over 25 years of experience in economic development, tourism, and business management across Newfoundland and Labrador.
Throughout his career, Mark has demonstrated a commitment to fostering sustainable, inclusive, and community-focused outcomes. His career highlights include serving as NL Advisor for the federal Ministry of Rural Economic Development and ACOA – providing stakeholder engagement, Indigenous relations, and regional economic guidance; EDO roles with ACOA in Western Newfoundland and two Regional Economic Development Boards; Executive Director of Go Western Newfoundland; and more recently as EDO for the Town of Deer Lake where he recently led industrial / commercial growth projects, secured multi-level funding, advanced trail and tourism infrastructure and marketing outcomes, and developed award-winning initiatives such as the ‘Deer Lake Live’ series.
Over the past year, Mark spearheaded key initiatives including investment attraction in partnership with Deer Lake Airport, critical stakeholder engagement for the 2027 launch of a municipal Tourism Accommodation Tax, funding and development planning for mixed residential and affordable housing, and collaboration with MUN Engineering students on brown-to-green site analysis. His impact has been immeasurable, skills he is now bringing to the NL Snowmobile Federation as its new Executive Director.
Mark has been dedicated to the economic development practice. He has jumped at the opportunity to learn and build his skills through training and professional development. He is a networker and connector at heart – often making introductions facilitating connections. He has been a supporter and ambassador for the profession, and this award is but a small recognition of his hard work. Congratulations Mark.
This prestigious award recognizes the excellence, dedication, and impact of an economic development professional’s contribution to the community and the practice over the course of their career.
The winner of this year’s President’s Award is Ted Lomond.
Ted Lomond being presented with the President’s Award from EDANL President Kieran Hanley
Ted is highly deserving of being recognized through this award. Ted has had a career that has intersected with economic development in many different ways.
In the not for profit realm, he was the Executive Director of the NL Regional Economic Development Boards and the Executive Director of econext. In government he served as Deputy Minister in municipal, business, and natural resources portfolios. And now in industry he contributes as the CEO of North Atlantic and a number of its subsidiaries and partnerships.
But more important than the roles he has occupied, is how he approached them and how he brought the economic development lens to them.
Simply put, Ted is relentless in the pursuit of economic development.
Anyone who has worked with Ted marvels at his tenacity, ingenuity, quick thinking, and unbridled passion for progress in Newfoundland and Labrador. Ted’s fingerprints are all over the economic development ecosystem in this province – across sectors and across geography.
Throughout his career, Ted has cultivated and inspired many economic developers throughout the province. He has taught them to: think big; learn from the past but not let that limit the future; learn and master the best practices, but remember that innovation means trying new things too; and to take the work seriously but have a whole lot of fun while doing it.
Ted has contributed his expertise to local associations (i.e., the Atlantic Canada Aerospace and Defence Association), national associations (i.e., Canadian Fuels Association), of crown corporations (i.e., Oilco), and innovation-focused entities like the NL Innovation Council and the Atlantic Advisory Committee of the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council. Ted has been a lecturer in the Faculty of Business Administration at Memorial University, and was formerly a Manager with the the Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development.
This award is a recognition of the collective impact of all of his achievements which are far too many to list.
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