September 9, 2015
Businesses who want to take part in this year’s South Burnett Business Excellence Awards only have two weeks left to submit their nomination, either online or in written form.
Nominations for this year’s Awards will close at 5:00pm on Friday, September 25.
After this, judges will deliberate on this year’s entries before the 2015 winners are announced at the South Burnett Business Excellence Awards Gala Dinner at Kingaroy Town Hall on Wednesday, October 21.
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The Business Excellence Awards are run by South Burnett Directions and are the region’s only comprehensive business awards scheme.
They’re open to any business, not-for-profit or community organisation with an ABN that is registered and/or operating its primary place of business within the South Burnett Regional Council’s boundaries.
Franchisers residing within the South Burnett, and individual franchisees, are also eligible to nominate.
While the Awards are primarily a vehicle to recognise and share local business success, they’ve also been developed to ensure all nominees get value out of the process.
2014 Business Of The Year winner Jacqui Irwin, from Ollie’s Mower Service, recently told members of the Kingaroy Chamber Of Commerce that she and her husband Brett found this out themselves when they nominated last year.
“We never expected to win and were pretty surprised when we did,” Jacqui told a KCCI Meet & Greet.
She said the couple had only nominated because the application forced them to change their perspective and look at how they could work on their business, not just in it.
She said her own personal experience was that applying for the Awards helped business owners get that necessary change of perspective, and she highly recommended it for that reason alone.
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2015 is the second year the Awards have been run, and this year’s nomination process has been streamlined.
Nominees only need to provide basic business contact details and answer twelve questions, using no more than 250 words for each answer.
Entrants can nominate for the:
- Bill Hull Car Centre Micro Business Award
A microbusiness is a business with less than five employees, and includes self-employed individuals. They are important to the economy as they provide employment to a large portion of the workforce, facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as provide an avenue for offering specialised and niche products and services to the market. This award recognises business excellence and acumen for any business with between 1 and 5 full-time equivalent staff members. Eligible businesses can be from any industry or sector.
- Burnett Business Centre Small Business Award
Small businesses complement the economic activity of large organisations by providing them with goods and services, and make up the backbone of the supply chains of larger projects. They power regional development and are the gateway through which many people enter the economy. This award acknowledges a South Burnett business operated and managed to facilitate sustainability and success with between 6 and 20 full-time equivalent staff
- Supa IGA Kingaroy Enterprise Award
For the purposes of the Awards, an enterprise is any business with more than 20 FTE staff. Small to medium enterprises are said to be responsible for driving innovation and competition in many economic sectors, and businesses from any industry or sector.
- Tarong Power Stations Young Business Leader Award
This award recognises a business whose owner or manager demonstrates leadership qualities and business skills and is aged 30 years or younger as at June 30, 2015.
- Proteco Emerging Business Award
This award acknowledges excellence and innovation in businesses that have been operating in the South Burnett region for no longer than two years. To be eligible for this category, a business must have commenced operation after July 1, 2013.
The Heritage Business of the Year Award will be selected from the winners of the Micro Business Award, Small Business Award, Enterprise Award, Young Business Leader Award and the Emerging Business Award.
In addition to the six major categories, there will be other Awards handed out which will be selected either by public vote, the judges or local business associations. They are:
- Meandu Mine People’s Choice Customer Service Award
This is for community members to recognise and say thanks to those businesses that go above and beyond ordinary customer service. Nomination forms will be available at multiple locations across the region for customers to nominate a business delivering exceptional customer service. Voting forms are available at many local businesses, but votes can also be cast online.
- Swickers Distinguished Business Service Award
This a special category awarded by the judging panel. They will consider any South Burnett business contributor, past or present, and make the award based on business success and achievement, as well as contribution to the South Burnett business community.
- Local Business Association Award
Each of the region’s business associations can nominate one of their local businesses for this category.
All finalists in this year’s Awards will receive two free tickets to attend the South Burnett Business Excellence Awards Gala Dinner.
All category winners will receive:
- A trophy to display at their business
- A $500 advertising voucher from the South Burnett Times
- A $250 radio advertising package from 4KRY Hot FM
- Promotion and publicity through a number of other channels
The Business of the Year winner will also receive an advertising package from WIN Television.
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All nominees are also eligible to participate in South Burnett Directions’ Mentoring for Growth program.
This program helps growing businesses by giving them access to a panel of business mentors who can help them address commercial challenges at a structured panel meeting.
Mentors are able to provide feedback and discuss options based on their extensive knowledge, experience, and specific expertise.
The Business Excellence Awards are sponsored by Heritage Bank Nanango, TAFE Queensland South West, Bill Hull Car Centre, Burnett Business Centre, Supa IGA Kingaroy, Tarong Power Stations and Meandu Mine, Proteco, Ken Mills Toyota, and Swickers.
- External link: South Burnett Directions
