Desjardins Entrepreneur Prizes Honour Eight Outstanding Businesses

MONTREAL, Oct. 6 /CNW Telbec/ - Desjardins Group announced yesterday the names of the winners of the Desjardins Entrepreneur Prizes. The prizes were awarded at a gala evening hosted by Monique F. Leroux, Chair of the Board, President and CEO of Desjardins Group. These prestigious awards showcase the excellence of local businesses and their active contribution to regional economic development.

Ms. Leroux highlighted the leadership and creativity of the award-winning entrepreneurs. "Desjardins is proud to support these entrepreneurs on a daily basis so that they may continue to be a dynamic and energetic force within the community. Not only do these Desjardins Entrepreneur Prizes allow us to honour the courage and tenacity of many of them, but also give them a boost for the future."

Ms. Leroux also took the opportunity to commemorate the 110th anniversary of Desjardins Group as well as the 40th anniversary of Fondation Desjardins which gave out three $10,000 bursaries to the winners of the Young Entrepreneur category.

The winners are:

    
    Agriculture category
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Ferme coopérative Tourne-Sol, Les Cèdres - Frédéric Thériault, Reid Allaway, Renée Primeau, Emily Board and Daniel Brisebois, co-owners

    
    International Commerce category, in collaboration with Export
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    Development Canada
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Lepage Millwork, Rivière-du-Loup - Guy Bonneville, President

    
    Cooperatives category, in collaboration with Capital régional et
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    coopératif Desjardins
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St-Albert Cheese Cooperative, St-Albert - Denis Latour, President

    
    Sustainable Development category, in collaboration with Bell
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Plan Nagua, Québec City - Guy Debailleul, President

    
    Young Entrepreneur category, in collaboration with the Secrétariat à
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    la jeunesse
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Winners in this category received a $10,000 bursary from Fondation Desjardins.

Eastern Québec region:

Logitex Inc., Saint-Joseph - Yves Poulin and Kenny Perron, co-owners

Central Québec region:

La Source Bains Nordiques, Rawdon - Caroline Simard and Patrice

Lalancette, co-foundators

Western Québec region :

Legault-Dubois Inc., La Prairie - Pascal Dubois, President

    
    Business Ownership transfer category, in collaboration with Samson
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    Bélair/Deloitte & Touche
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Fempro Inc., Drummondville - Jean Fleury, President

For more information on the winners visit www.desjardins.com/entrepreneurshipprizes.

About Desjardins Group

Desjardins Group is the largest cooperative financial group in Canada and the sixth largest in the world, with assets of more than $173 billion. Drawing on the strength of its caisse network in Québec and Ontario, and its subsidiaries across Canada, it offers a full range of financial products and services to its 5.8 million members and clients. Desjardins specializes in Wealth Management and Life and Health Insurance, in Property and Casualty insurance, in Personal Services, in Business and Institutional Services. As one of the largest employers in the country, Desjardins is supported by the skills of its 42,200 employees and the commitment of over 6,200 elected officers. For more information, visit www.desjardins.com.

For further information: (for journalists only): Nathalie Genest, Advisor, Media Relations, Desjardins Group, 514-281-7275 or 1-866-866-7000, ext. 7275, [email protected]