Craig Gilbert | [email protected]
With Halloween still weeks away, Jasper’s double threat baker got a goodie of its own.
The Bear’s Paw and Other Paw Bakeries won the Business of the Year award at the 2018 Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce Ambassador and Business Awards Oct. 12.
Owner Kim Stark had about five minutes before fire practice to talk about it. She took a big breath and focused on her team, in particular her long-serving core of about six key employees.
“The only reason this business is successful is because I have the most amazing team ever,” she said. “It sounds like a cliche and I say it all the time but they’re my family. These guys have worked for me for six to nine years. There is that seasonality and that’s great too because it keeps it fresh and fun and you’re meeting new people all the time. But it’s that core staff. We’ve been through ups and downs: my manager went into labour today and we care because that’s a new Bear Paw person being born. It’s because of that community and the feeling that breeds anyways. A tight-knit family feeling. I like to think that this business specifically really encapsulates that.”
Stark has been involved in the bakery since 2002. She doubled the Bear Paw’s size in 2004 and opened the Other Paw on Connaught Drive in 2007; she’d love to have 30 or 32 people working during peak season but gets between 25 and 28 at most at a time.
“I find every year the shoulder season is extending longer and longer, so it’s not that abrupt end at Labour Day,” she said, adding she was “shocked” to win considering the competition, which included Jasper Fire and Ice and Mountain Park Lodges. “Even now, at Thanksgiving, it’s not dead. (The Jasper) Dark Sky (Festival) has made a difference.”
Pattie Pavlov, the general manager of the JPCC, pointed out Stark’s “Paws” are now also nominated for business of the year at the Alberta Chambers of Commerce.
“JPCC is so very proud of Kim's accomplishments as an entrepreneur and community-oriented individual,” Pavlov said. “Recognizing her extremely successful businesses, was icing on the pastry!”
