Best Western Plus Lacombe Inn & Suites has only been in Lacombe for three years and has already been nominated for a Lacombe and District Chamber of Commerce Large Business of the Year Award.
Jacqui Corkery, owner/operator, said it has been an honour to be nominated considering they only opened in Sept. 2015.
“It is quite an accomplishment and I am pretty proud of our team,” she said. “We are pretty excited to be acknowledged because this team works really hard everyday trying to do the best we can.”
Corkery is grateful for the connections they have been able to make and personally thanked Monica Bartman, Chamber CEO, for here time.
“Monica is awesome. She is really easy to work with and being an outside person, it is good to have a go-to person to network and navigate a new community,” Corkery said. “We are from Ponoka and all of our businesses have involved the Chamber.
“It is a big asset to have a Chamber working with business members and being such a big part of the community.”
The decision to open a hotel in Lacombe came from some familiar connections and also a recognized a gap.
“There was not really branded hotels here. Lacombe is growing and vibrant and after being part of it, I consider it a very vibrant community,” she said. “An opportunity was presented and we decided to go ahead with it. Lacombe is awesome. I really enjoy the things this community has to offer and we are excited to be a part it.”
Despite being under the Best Western brand, Corkery is proud that her hotel is locally owned and operated.
“We all operate under a certain set of standards but we are local,” she said. “From our perspective, and Best Western would agree, our job is to provide the best customer service and product to the guests that come here. Every guest, every time is their mantra and that is what we try to push forward.”
Being able to fulfill their mantra involves insuring the right people are in place.
“I will say to anyone, it is pretty easy to build a hotel but it is the team you create and the people that surround you that makes the business what it is,” Corkery said. “We have a pretty good team here that are committed and working towards the same end goal.”
Since arriving in Lacombe, Corkery has looked to ensure that Best Western is contributing to the community.
“It is very important to be involved in the community, participate and get your name out there,” she said. “We try to work closely with the organizations that are here. We have done stuff with AFSC, Burman University, we have been involved with golf tournaments, we have supported the Rotary Club since we arrived here and teams give us a lot of business so we try to support them.
“Best Western also supports Curling Alberta and Alberta Minor Hockey.”
The next goal for Best Western will be to attract a restaurant to the west end of their property.
“It would be an asset to the customers we serve,” she said. “We are always looking to improve what we have going on here and we are building on some of our corporate groups and doing more meetings and banquets.
“Even in Year 3, it is still about getting our name out there. We are still in growing mode.”
Corkery added, “We would be nowhere without the support we had from the community. We thank the Chamber and we are grateful to be nominated. It is an honour to be recognized for the work you do.”