Entries for the 2022 Sunshine Coast Business Awards, powered by LPE, will open today after the official launch at the Sunshine Coast Small Business Month Breakfast.
More than 260 people will attend the sold-out celebration of Coast businesses after an incredibly tough business environment over the past two years that has included fire, floods and Covid.
The Breakfast will see Sunshine Coast businesspeople hear from three of the 2021 Awards winners as part of a panel offering insights into what winning the Awards has meant for their business and how businesses can set themselves up for success with their entries. The panel will include John Langmead from Advanced Aquarium Technologies which took out Building and Construction Large, Export and Business of the Year, Deb Caruso from In Publishing which won Creative Industries Large, and Sonia Martin from Sunny Street which won Health and Wellness Large.
Sunshine Coast Business Awards chair Jennifer Swaine said the Small Business Month Breakfast, presented by the Sunshine Coast Chamber Alliance, Sunshine Coast Council, Regional Development Australia, and the Sunshine Coast Business Awards, was the perfect event to officially launch the 2022 Awards.
“Businesses from across the Sunshine Coast region have done incredibly well and withstood significant challenges over the past two years, and it is great to see so many not just survive but thrive,” Mrs Swaine said.
“We have a close-knit business community across a diverse range of industries, and we are remarkably collaborative which makes us stronger as a region.”
Mrs Swaine said this year’s Awards were an important opportunity to recognise excellence in business from across the region’s many different industries, with 17 categories, with small and large categories in most:
- Accommodation (Tourism)
- Advanced Technologies
- Building and Construction
- Clean Technology
- Creative Industries
- Education and Training
- Experiences (Tourism)
- Export – only available to those exporting internationally
- Festivals and Events (Tourism)
- Food and Agribusiness
- Health and Wellness
- Hospitality
- Manufacturing
- Professional Services
- Retail
- Social Impact
- Trades & Services
The Business of the Year winner is drawn from the winners of the categories. Hall of Fame Awards are also awarded to those who have won their category three years in a row.
Regional Development Australia Sunshine Coast CEO Paul Fisher will MC the event and welcome Sunshine Coast Chamber Alliance Chair Wallis Westbrook, Damien Glanville, CEO of LPE, which has signed on again as naming rights sponsor after the success of the 2021 Awards.
“The Awards is incredibly grateful to once again have the support of LPE, the first naming sponsor in the Sunshine Coast Business Awards’ 27-year history as well as the main other returning and new organisations jumping on board to ensure we can present another great program, which will culminate with the Sunshine Coast’s Night of Nights – the Awards Gala Celebration in November,” Mrs Swaine said.
To find out more about the Awards and enter visit https://sunshinecoastbusinessawards.com.au/. You can also follow the Awards Facebook page for updates @SCBusinessAwards.
Gallery of images below. For the full gallery and to select and download images visit Barry Alsop – Eyes Wide Open Images
