Three Regina companies took home some hardware at the 26th annual Achievement in Business Excellence (ABEX) awards, organized by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.

Ten of the 15 awards handed out Saturday night at TCU Place went to Saskatoon-based companies, including two to North Ridge Development Corp., which won Business of the Year and the award for customer service.

Started as a part-time business venture more than 25 years ago, North Ridge has grown to become the province’s largest residential development and construction company.

North Ridge is currently developing 149 lots of affordable housing in Martensville.

In 2008, the company developed a quality assurance program, a quality checklist for houses under construction and is about to launch an online feature that allows customers to track work done under warranty.

In addition to North Ridge, 13 other companies and individuals were recognized with ABEX Awards.

- The Technology in Action New Saskatchewan Product Award, which recognizes the successful launch of a new Saskatchewan-made product.

- Team Drilling of Saskatoon won the New Venture Award, which recognizes a business operating for three years or less and focuses on profitability, job creation or entry into new markets.

- The Community Involvement Award for exceptional support of arts, culture, amateur sports, education or volunteer activity went to Saskatoon-based Pic-Man Tattoo.

- The Job Creation Award went to Saskatoon-based Point2 Technologies.

- Regina-based Ground Effects Environmental, a remediation manufacturing company, won the Environmental Award for its 70 industry-leading innovations, two patents and an industry-best run-time record of 99.9 per cent on all its equipment.

- The Marketing Award went to Saskatoon Motor Products for an aggressive advertising campaign for its General Motor products.

- The Health Innovation Award went to Saskatoon-based TinyEYE Therapy Services for creating a tele-health application that allows speech language pathologists to treat patients in regions across the world.

- The Investment Award went to Yorkton-based Richardson International Ltd. for its significant province-wide capital expansion program which included an investment of $18 million in Saskatchewan facilities.

- The Export Award went to Mustard Capital Inc., a Gravelbourg company that operates a dry mustard milling facility. Since opening in 2007, the company has sold its products to 15 countries.

- The Business Leader of the Year is Clay Dowling of Saskatoon’s Ghost Transportation Services. Dowling was inducted into the Saskatchewan Transportation Hall of Fame in 2008.

- Danny Elder of Regina is the Young Entrepreneur of the Year for his OffAxis board-sports store. The store doubled in size in 2004, opened a second location in 2007 and plans a third opening in late 2009.

- Saskatoon-based Aboriginal Consulting Services won the Aboriginal Business Award for delivering awareness training and strategic planning to businesses working with Aboriginal communities.

- The Training Excellence Award went to Regina-based Alliance Energy Group of Companies.

As announced earlier, Rawlco Radio was inducted into the Saskatchewan Business Hall of Fame. The privately-run, family-owned business was inducted as “a cornerstone business in Saskatchewan, contributing significantly to the economic well-being of the province.”