Moncton Entrepreneur Among Recipients of EY Atlantic Awards
HALIFAX – Moncton entrepreneur John Chamberlaine, the president and CEO of Action Car & Truck Accessories, was the recipient of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Atlantic award for the consumer products and retail category.
Chamberlaine’s company is the largest automotive accessory retailer in Canada with more than 36 retail stores nationwide, except for Quebec.
“It means a lot to me, on behalf of our team, to have been recognized by EY, the judges and the business community that a Moncton-based company has grown nationally. [The team] has been part of that success and we’ve been recognized for what we’ve achieved,” Chamberlaine said.
Chamberlaine became a businessman right out of high school. He started Action Cars & Trucks Accessories with the help of his father and one employee in 1980.
“I started a small business kind of looking at not wanting to go back to school,” he said. “It’s grown every year since then and we’ve become a national company.”
The company grew organically and through acquisitions over the years. It remains based in Moncton, employing just under 300 people locally and from other parts of Canada.
The award recognizes “unstoppable entrepreneurs who are bettering the world around them and cutting through the noise of this Transformative Age,” according to EY’s website. There were 27 finalists across seven categories for this year’s Atlantic region awards.
The overall winner of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Atlantic award is Larry Puddister, the executive chairman of Pennecon, a diversified engineering services company based in St. John’s, NL.
Other EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Atlantic category award recipients are:
- Business Services – Larry Puddister of Pennecon (St. John’s)
- Emerging – Laurie MacKeigan of Backman Vidcom (Halifax)
- Health & Wellness – Chris Dobbin of Nova Leap Health Corp. (Halifax)
- Professional Services – Gina McFetridge and Michael Stack of Archway Insurance (Amherst)
- Real Estate & Construction – Gloria Parsons of Progress Homes Inc. and Chancellor Park Inc. (St. John’s)
- Technology – Kevin Springer and Kyle Racki of Proposify (Halifax)
- Special Citation: Master Entrepreneur – Brendan Paddick of Columbus Capital Corporation