Sun Peaks entrepreneur receives special award

Most people in Sun Peaks know Dan Stebner is a hardworking guy. But for a few days this November, he’s taking a break from servicing hot tubs to get pampered on a free trip to Vegas.

Stebner was chosen as a runner-up in the 2010 Perfect Pool Guy contest. He will be bestowed the Industry Achievement Award at a dinner gala as one of five individuals given special awards.

“I’m humbly proud of what we’ve done,” said Stebner.

The contest received entries from across Canada and the United States and is sponsored by Pleatco, a company who manufactures filter cartridges for hot tubs and pools.

Rich Tarricone from Florida and Sabrina Clonts from Texas won the Perfect Pool Guy and Gal titles.

Stebner will also appear in a national ad campaign with the winners and the rest of the awardees.

Pleatco will fly Stebner and his wife Terra to Las Vegas for a trade show at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. But the highlight of the event will be an industry dinner where Stebner will receive his award. He and the other Pleatco awardees will be the guests of honour at the event.

Stebner and his wife started their business with eight hot tubs. Sun Peaks Aquatics now services over 200 hot tubs in Sun Peaks. He’s also the proud inventor and patent holder of a hot tub locking system called the Spa Lash.

In addition, Stebner is starting a new business venture once the ski season starts. Sun Peaks Aquatics will now include a hot tub retail store located within the resort so people don’t have to drive 45 minutes to Kamloops to purchase supplies for their hot tubs.

The preliminary sifting of the entries was done using online votes. For the second round, the panel did a series of interviews. Stebner said they interviewed his wife, his supplier, a friend and a co-worker. The panel also requested the top three finalists to submit a video about themselves stating why they should be chosen as the winner.

“They called us up and said ‘The fellow in Florida had won. Dan, you had such a good story . . . so we’re still gonna fly you out to Vegas.”

Stebner said he spoke with Pleatco co-owner John Antretter who said the Stebners have no any idea how much pampering they’re going to get. Dan is obviously very excited about it.

“It’s not a dress rehearsal. Let’s have fun with it. Then on to our next project,” he said.

To commemorate the event, Stebner’s going to do one other thing in Vegas.

“I’m gonna get a tattoo of a water wizard,” he said.

Stebner’s tattoo inspiration came from a Black Sabbath song called The Wizard.

“That’s always been a running joke with us. ‘Everyone’s happy when the wizard walks by.’”