The Better Business Bureau announced its 2006 Businesses of the Year for Oregon and Southwest Washington at an awards luncheon Tuesday, January 9, at the Portland Hilton & Executive Towers.

Northwest Personal Training, a boutique-style fitness and training studio with two locations serving Vancouver WA and Portland OR, was awarded the Business of the Year in the Large Business category (based on number of employees). The Business of the Year award goes to the business with the highest combined score in the categories of Customer Service, Community Involvement, and Innovative Business Practices.

“The Business of the Year Awards program gives the Better Business Bureau a chance to honor excellent businesses in Oregon and Southwest Washington,” said Robert Andrew, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Alaska, Oregon, and Western Washington. “These winners don’t just do ‘business as usual’ – they strive for the highest standards of customer service and attempt to make a difference in their communities.”

“This is a huge honor for us” says Sherri McMillan, co-owner of Northwest Personal Training with her husband Alex. “The Better Business Bureau stands for excellence in business so just to be nominated was so exciting for us and our team. For us to actually win, well that’s just an unbelievable blessing!”

Alex continues “We love what we do. It brings us so much joy to know we’ve played a part in helping someone positively change their life and strive for their personal best. And we’re good at what we do. The client testimonials speak for themselves. I think it’s so timely that the Better Business Bureau has awarded a fitness and training business this honor. Our world is not in a good state. Obesity and health-related disorders are at an all-time high. Now our community will know that there are organizations like ours that focus on customer service, that won’t let clients try to just figure it out on their own, that will hold clients accountable to sticking to their health and fitness plan, and that strive to help clients achieve their goals. For us, it’s all about helping people look and feel their best and live life to the fullest. Our career is about as rewarding as it can get!”

Businesses with the highest score in individual categories also receive recognition. The following companies were recognized for excellence in the Oregon and Southwest Washington marketplace for 2006:

Large Business of the Year: Northwest Personal Training
Small Business of the Year: Roe Motors GM
Community Involvement Award: Mattress World
Customer Service Award: Phillips Enterprises
Innovative Business Practices Award: Haskins Realty Northwest

About the BBB serving Alaska, Oregon, and Western Washington and Alex & Sherri McMillan, owners of Northwest Personal Training:

The Better Business Bureau is a not-for-profit organization funded by BBB member companies. The mission of the BBB is to promote the highest ethical marketplace relationship between businesses and consumers through self-regulation, education, and information. For more information about the services and products provided by the BBB, call (206)431-2222 in Washington, (503)226-3981 in Oregon or (907)562-0704 in Alaska, or visit our Web site at www.thebbb.org .
Alex & Sherri McMillan, M.Sc. - Alex and Sherri have been in the fitness industry for over 18 years and have recently been awarded the 2006 IDEA International Fitness Directors of the Year and 2006 ACE Fitness Educators of the Year - 1st Runner Up. They have presented hundreds of workshops to thousands of fitness leaders throughout Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, England, Spain, Russia, South America, Asia and the U.S.A. As fitness writers, they have collectively authored four books including "Go For Fit - The Winning Way to Fat Loss", "Successful Trainer's Guide to Marketing”, “Hiring & Training Master Trainers”, and "Fit over Forty - The Winning Way to Lifetime Fitness". The McMillans have written thousands of fitness articles all over the world and are currently the weekly fitness columnists for the Oregonian newspaper. .Sherri was awarded the inaugural IDEA International Personal Trainer of the Year, 1998 CanFitPro Canadian Fitness Presenter of the Year, 2006 Top 25 Oregon Women in Business awards and 2006 Portland Women's Business Professionals Business Woman of the Year. The company the McMillans founded, Northwest Personal Training in Vancouver, WA, and Portland OR, has recently been awarded the prestigious 2006 Better Business Bureau Business of the Year award and the 2006 Fastest Growing Clark County Business. They are spokespersons for Nike, Nautilus, Fitter International, Twist Conditioning and PowerBar. For more information about Northwest Personal Training and/or Northwest Personal Training, contact Sherri McMillan at sherri@nwpersonaltraining.com or (360)574-7292.

Click to close window