Small Business Superhero Campaign crowns five Sault businesses

Sault Ste. Marie -

Some Sault Ste. Marie businesses are being recognized for their resilience and community spirit during the pandemic. Five companies have been nominated by the public to receive a Small Business Superhero Award.

StartUP Sault -- a volunteer group that connects local entrepreneurs -- is behind the Small Business Superhero Campaign.

Angela Caputo, owner of The Breakfast Pig, and her staff were nominated for supporting the community despite their own hardships during the pandemic.

“We’ve been receiving a lot of compliments along the same lines from people coming in and I’m glad we can be a source of hope through the pandemic,” said Caputo.

Another restaurant receiving an award is The Soup Witch, which opened during the pandemic. It’s being recognized for supporting charities such as the Zonta Club and ARCH Hospice.

“We’re a women-owned and women-run business,” said co-owner Mana Goodfellow. “So it was really important for us to donate to worthy causes in our community, especially during COVID it’s been really hard for a lot of these organizations to fundraise.”

Mary Greenwood, another award recipient and owner of Feeding Your Soul Cafe, said her business has struggled during the pandemic and she’s grateful for the community support and superhero recognition.

“We struggled, but we got through it,” said Greenwood. “There was my husband and I, and we had to lay the staff off. And then we got all our staff back and then we went through it again. But we’re regaining our staff once again.”

The Refinery, a women-only gym, is getting its Small Business Superhero Award for doing online workouts for clients during COVID.

“It’s great to be recognized,” said co-owner Toni Nisbet. “We’re very much honoured and very grateful to everyone one of our members.”

“It’s so much more than fitness,” added co-owner Holly Infanti. “They become our family, our second family. We see these women go through all sorts of different stages of their lives. And so it’s been awesome as a support group through COVID for sure.”

Another business receiving a Small Business Superhero Award is OC Beauty. They’re being recognized for helping to supply COVID-19 safety supplies to those in need.