New awards put city businesses on show

 

A new City of Sydney-sponsored awards program will mean leading city businesses and emerging entrepreneurs will have the chance to raise their profile, expand their network and showcase their talents on a state-wide stage.

The City has joined forces with the NSW Business Chamber to create a new Sydney Cityregion in the chamber’s prestigious annual Business Awards, which recognise outstanding business achievement across the state.

The winners of the regional awards, to be held at Sydney Town Hall in July, will go on to the state finals in November. The City is also sponsoring the state-wide award for Excellence in Small Business.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the City’s sponsorship of the awards was part of its ongoing efforts to nurture and support a strong and thriving local business sector.

“Over the past five years, 40 per cent of all job growth in metropolitan Sydney has taken place in the City’s local government area, with more than 2,000 new businesses opening in that time,” the Lord Mayor said.

“Small and medium businesses are an essential part of our city’s economy, and we’re committed to supporting them.

“By creating a new region within the NSW Business Chamber Business Awards, the City is giving local businesses and the people behind them a fantastic opportunity to showcase their innovative ideas to the rest of the state and learn from other business leaders.”

For many years, the City has provided support to the 18,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the local area, which contribute more than $40 million to the local economy each year.

The City ran its own business awards program for 10 years until 2012, before partnering with the NSW Business Chamber for the first time last year.

Entries for the 2015 Sydney City regional awards will open in April across 10 categories:

  • Excellence in Innovation – for businesses that have made significant contributions to their industry through the introduction or improvement of an idea, method, technology, process or application;
  • Excellence in Sustainability – for businesses working to reduce the impact of their operations on the environment or provide products and services that have positive environmental outcomes;
  • Employer of Choice – for businesses that have put in place strategies and initiatives to create stimulating and supportive workplace environments for their employees;
  • Excellence in Business Ethics – for outstanding business people who have achieved business success while acting in an ethically responsible way;
  • Excellence in Small Business – for businesses with less than 20 employees that have attained significant and sustainable growth in the 2014/15 financial year;
  • Young Entrepreneur – for inspirational young business people who have built a successful business through their own commitment and passion;
  • Young Business Executive – for young business people who have achieved outstanding results in a business environment;
  • Business Leaders Award – for business people and professionals who have provided inspiration to a new generation of upcoming business leaders;
  • Excellence in Export – for businesses that are forging a strong reputation for Australian products and services in international markets; and
  • Business of the Year – this award takes into account all other categories and is awarded to a company considered an ‘all-rounder’, with superior performance in all aspects.

The awards program is just one of many City initiatives to support local business, which also include:

  • The Village Business Partnership grant program, which has awarded more than $650,000 to local business chambers over the last 12 months;
  • The Small Biz Connect program, which offers low-cost, tailored business advisory and mentoring services to businesses in six villages across the city;
  • A series of ‘101’ workshops for budding entrepreneurs, covering everything from online marketing to how to start a food truck business;
  • ‘Connecting Business with China’ seminars to help businesses across Sydney tap into the ongoing Chinese tourist boom during the busy Christmas and Chinese New Year periods; and
  • Special village-based activations during major events like Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival Sydney, Christmas and Sydney Good Food Month.

For more information on the NSW Business Chamber Business Awards, visit businessannualawards.com.au

Further information visit City of Sydney