Green building design company wins 2025 North Okanagan Enterprize Challenge

A North Okanagan business focused on sustainable building development won first place in the 2025 Enterprize Challenge on Thursday night.

Ecotecture Design Inc. walked away with $50,000 worth of business services prizes after winning the Dragon's-Den style pitch challenge at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre on May 8.

“We are a team of diverse eco-certified design professionals, and we specialize in green building design,” said Dora Anderson with Ecotecture Design.

Ecotecture was founded in 2024 from a collective of eco-certified professionals passionate about making sustainable and resilient building development mainstream.

The Ecotecture team believe it’s time for a change, shifting towards a circular-economy mindset in building that encompasses people, place and planet by embracing sustainable building practices.

The Enterprize Challenge is run like a boot camp to help entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground. This year, five female North Okanagan entrepreneurs competed for prizes.

Vicky's Play Place won the second business-services prize pack, and also the people's choice award, which came with a $1,500 advertising credit from Castanet.

North Okanagan Consulting, a business focused on helping contractors navigate so-called permit mazes, took the third-place prize package.

Each competitor told Castanet that the challenge itself has helped transform their business.