By Chris Lewis | April 8, 2021
The head of one of Mount Pearl’s oldest law firms was among the business leaders recognized at the Mount Pearl – Paradise Chamber of Commerce’s Best in Business Awards last week.
Some 10 different awards given out during the event.
Among them were two proud Mount Pearl residents: Kayla Wells and William
The Community Impact award for Mount Pearl went to Coleman’s Supermarket, while the Paradise version of the award went to Get Messy NL.
Landwash Brewery claimed the Best New Business Award, while the Innovation Award went to Kids Help Phone. Flowers with Special Touch won the Resilience award. The Communications/Marketing award was accorded to Heave Away Waste Management. The Outstanding Business Award for companies with 15 or less employees went to Rocket Bakery. The Outstanding Business Award for a firm with more than 15 employees went to BELFOR Property Restoration.
This was not the first time William Kennedy of William S. Kennedy Law Office was presented with an award, this one was a little more special – the Directors’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award.
The law firm can trace its roots in Mount Pearl back to the 1970s, under the name Mercer Spracklin Haywood. The firm played an instrumental role in Mount Pearl’s evolution from a town to a city and Kennedy was there as both a participant and an observer.
“We’ve been here a long time under various names,” Kennedy said of the firm’s deep history. “After a while, you get to know the local people, especially your body of clientele. We’ve always been reasonably active in the community, and people began to recognize us. They started coming here. Once you have your stream of business, you have no reason to leave. So, we stayed.”
While he was happy to learn he was receiving the award, Kennedy said like most other recipients, he didn’t get into his industry for recognition.
“We represented the City of Mount Pearl for a lot of years – over 30, actually,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy’s firm received the Best in Business award by the Chamber back in 2007 and the Norm Carr award in 2001.
“I certainly wasn’t aware that I had been nominated for anything (this year), so to receive that accolade, well, it’s great,” Kennedy said of the latest honour. “It’s a great feeling to be recognized by people that you’ve known and worked with for a long time.”
That sense of humility was shared by another of the evening’s winners, Kayla Wells of Karma’s Kreations in Mount Pearl, who was named the Outstanding Employee Award winner.
“It feels so good to be recognized like that, and to see all the nice messages from people that have been coming in since,” Wells said. “You don’t really think about that kind of thing when you’re working, but it really does feel great, especially when you’re working for a small, local business like this. This is a first for me. I’m shocked.”
Karma’s Kreations specializes in custom athletic wear, with a sister company called Mama Bear Designs with a focus on customized giftware. Wells and her colleagues had spent a part of the day watching the awards live online, and celebrating when Wells’ name was announced.
Mount Pearl is not Wells’ original hometown. She moved to the Pearl about a decade ago and now wouldn’t live anywhere else.
“I love Mount Pearl, I find it’s almost a little bit like it is around the bay, where I’m from,” Wells said. “It’s close to St. John’s, but the people here are so nice to each other, just like they are out in the bay. I love it here.”
