CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A little over 10 years ago, Coltin Handrahan started a clothing company as a high school project that would eventually turn into a career.
After graduating from college, Handrahan worked at a corporate job for a while but decided the project he started back at Charlottetown’s Colonel Gray High School could be a full-time business. It was an opportunity he wanted to explore.
He opened a shop in his parents’ basement, moved to a shared loft and eventually got his own space in the garage area of a mixed-use building.
As his business grew, he made renovations and took over office space above his garage.
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For a few years, the biggest challenge was keeping up with his rapidly growing company which was almost doubling in size.
Recently, the business purchased a facility in Hunter River, and Handrahan is now about to add a tenth staff member to his team.
“2022 was our biggest year ever, we doubled our square footage and tripled our production capacity. So, coming off of that we’re riding pretty high, and we’re excited for 2023,” he said.
Handrahan’s business, Stay Golden Custom creates custom merchandise and clothing for other businesses and organizations across the Maritimes.
On Jan. 25, his company won the Excellence in Small Business award from the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce.
The award is given to a business with fewer than 15 full-time employees that embodies an entrepreneurial spirit.
The chamber held the President’s Excellence Awards at the Delta Prince Edward hotel in Charlottetown. The awards recognize the success, innovations and community contributions of local businesses and entrepreneurs.
Bill Deblois, president of the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce, presented the awards, which he said draw attention to the “great things” going on in the business community that often go unnoticed.
“(It’s) an opportunity for us to get to together and recognize our peers. That’s super important.”
The awards ranged from recognizing the entrepreneur of the year to excellence in not-for profits.
Award winners
Winners of the recent Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce President's Excellence Awards:
- Emerging business excellence award: Pegasus Biotech.
- Excellence in small business award: Stay Golden Custom.
- Not-for-profit excellence award: Autism Society of P.E.I.
- Excellence in business award: East Coast Docks.
- Excellence in customer service award: Stewart Travel Group.
- Innovation excellence award: Kari.
- Workplace excellence award: Town of Stratford.
- People’s choice for community impact award: Special Olympics P.E.I.
- Entrepreneur of the year award: Edwin Jewell.
George Melitides is a second-year student in the journalism program at Holland College in Charlottetown.
