Business Awards
City of Vadnais Heights staff was honored at the 2025 Annual Dinner as the Community Partner Award winner.
VHEDC’ S ANNUAL BUSINESS AWARDS RECOGNIZE BUSINESSES DEDICATED TO BUILDING COMMUNITY
The beautiful Vadnais Heights Commons banquet facility played host to VHEDC’ s annual dinner celebrating the accomplishments of local businesses that go above and beyond to serve the community. The evening of November 13, 2025, nearly 200 people came together to celebrate the winners of the 2025 Keith Warner Standard of Excellence Award, the Inclusive Employer Champion and the Community Partnership Award.
The evening began with a social hour during which funds for the organization were raised through a silent auction and“ Grab a Bottle of Wine fundraiser.” Nearly 30 local businesses donated items ranging from Twins, Vikings and Loons tickets to gift cards for Graham Jewelers, and even a cat tree. The silent auction raised $ 2,630, which helps fund workforce programs throughout the year.
An additional $ 300 was raised through the“ Grab a Bottle of Wine fundraiser,” utilizing 30 bottles of wine generously donated by Urban’ s Farm & Greenhouse. Attendees paid $ 10 per bottle for the wine on the table, not knowing exactly what they were getting until after they removed the tissue paper creatively covering each bottle in the bags.
Around 5:30 p. m., guests were seated and served a meal of stuffed chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetables. Once the plates were cleared, speaker Sarah Moe took the stage to share some important information with the audience about the importance of getting an adequate amount of sleep every night.
Moe founded Sleep Health Specialists in 2015 to focus on educating people in the workforce about the many benefits of getting adequate sleep.“ The average American needs 8 hours of sleep every night, but only gets an average of 6.5 hours,” she explained, and added that sleep deprivation impacts life more than many people realize.“ It causes $ 62.3 billion in lost productivity,” she said.
Moe went on to educate the audience about what happens during the various stages of sleep, and why they should stop hitting the snooze button in the morning. Other do’ s and don’ ts about sleep were shared as well.
“ Do create a bedtime ritual and invest in a good sleep environment. Don’ t drink alcohol or caffeine in the evening; or spend time on your phone in the late evening hours because blue light
42 Northeast Metro Business