Melbourne’s South East Business Awards Finalists 2011
In Melbourne’s South East Business of the Year Finalists we let you know that we were nominated as finalists for the inaugural Melbourne’s South East Business Awards. Last night we attended the awards and found out the rest of the details.
We were selected as finalists for two categories:
- Small Business Award
- Business of the Year – Overall Business Excellence Award
On the night the process was explained to us. The Councils each put forward either the businesses that were winners of their own local Business Awards or else selected businesses they believed were worthy of winning in the award categories. The submissions were prepared by the businesses and forwarded by the councils. A independent committee formed for the purpose then went through those submissions and nominated the finalists. So the first interesting thing I learnt is that our nomination as a finalist came from an independent committee and was not automatic. So that is a win in itself. We also didn’t know how many finalists there were until the night. For the categories we were in, there were ten finalists for the Small Business Award and nine finalists for the Business of the Year – Overall Business Excellence Award.
There were businesses from 10 councils competing in the awards. Collectively the region of Melbourne’s South East is enormous and on the night some basic facts and figures were presented by Jan Kronberg MLC about the Melbourne’s South East region:
- It houses 58% of the population of Melbourne
- It creates 49% of Melbourne’s Gross Regional Product
- It is the heart of Australian Manufacturing
- There are over 220,000 businesses
- Manufacturing is still the main employer
- Overall, manufacturing as a contributor to GDP has halved since 2000
I already knew that it was the primary manufacturing zone for Australia but I wasn’t aware that half of all the value created in Melbourne happened in our region. That makes it very important that we keep manufacturing going strong. To this end we heard some encouraging rhetoric about how the Victorian Government was committed to that outcome. One point made was that Victoria is the only State Government with a Manufacturing Minister and Richard Dalla-Riva MLC is responsible for that. For all our sakes I am hoping that we are going to see some Big “L” Leadership in this area. You don’t see countries like Japan or Germany allowing their industries to go unsupported and while I do agree that there are some things we shouldn’t try and compete in here, there are a lot of products that Australia is ideally placed to produce and export.
Businesses based in the City of Casey had the largest number of finalists so that is also an excellent affirmation of how proactive and effective the team at the Casey Economic Development Department has been in support and encouraging local businesses. We have certainly benefited from their help. Our congratulations also go out to the other City of Casey businesses that were selected as finalists:
- A Better Dental Care
- Australian Solar Manufacturing
- Botanic Homes
- EcoFuture
- eighty one : fine food & wine
Overall there were 53 finalists nominated and we received two of those nominations. The Engineer in me couldn’t help but notice that 53 / 220,000 = 0.024% and since we had two nominations we are in the top 0.012% of businesses in Melbourne’s South East. But then we were selected as one of the top nine businesses overall and so 9 / 220,000 = 0.004%! Given how many excellent businesses there are in the Melbourne’s South East region we feel very encouraged to be recognised at this level.
The councils involved in the Melbourne’s South East (MSE) region are:
- Cardinia Shire Council
- City of Casey
- City of Greater Dandenong
- City of Kingston
- Frankston City Council
- Knox City Council
- Monash City Council
- Maroondah City Council
- Mornington Peninsula Shire
- Whitehorse City Council
We also appreciate the support we receive from the Berwick Village Chamber of Commerce.
Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years. For more information go to his LinkedIn profile at Ray Keefe. This post is Copyright © 2011 Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd.
Congratulations Ray and Junette!
You keep demonstrating how Exponential Mindset Thinking can produce extra-ordinary results and win awards!
Well done and keep pushing your business…
Onward and upward!
Dr Marc Dussault
The Exponential Growth Strategist
Congratulations Ray & Junette, another well-deserved recognition for Successful Endeavours!
Hi Ray,
Congratulations! I feel so pleased that you are doing well.
I wish you all the best mate.
-Shane
Well done Successful Endeavours! Your hard work and dedication to manufacturing in Australia is inspiring.
WOW!! great to see you are getting the recognition that your dedication and hard work deserves. Good on you Ray and Junette.
Well done Ray, I can see that smile on your face reaching a little further! Nigel
Congratulations Ray & team!!
Keep up the awesome work, you deserve the recognition!
-Beth
Icon Memoir
Well done Ray and Junette. This is a terrific achievement and by all accounts well deserved.
Inspirational and great to be recognised.
Bruce
Hi Ray,
Congratulations to you & Junette!
May God keep shining on you both and your business.
Kind regards
Phil Handby
Account Manager
Soanar Pty Ltd
Well done Ray and Junette. Excellent work you will need another factory to put all your well deserved rewards in, GO GO GO…
Dear Ray,
Very well done. I’m impressed. Statistically, this is quite
significant.
Congratulations. Success is always by design not by
accident.
Stephen Kwong
IMSM BM
Fantastic Ray, you are in a very tough business and to make it the way you are is a real credit to you, but perhaps more importantly, a statement of your technical and business capability.
Roger La Salle
Matrix Thinking
Congratulations! Again!
Ray and Junette – you are an inspiration, in many ways…
Keep up the good work, and keep sharing the journey.
Mark Breyley
Australian Marketplace Connections
Well Done Ray and Team
Congrats on your achievements !!
Regards
Gabrielle
Congratulations Ray & team!!
Keep up the awesome work, you deserve the recognition!
Regards
Congratulations Ray & team!!
I’m impressed. Statistically, this is quite
significant.
Best Regards
LXT Solar Label Kits
Well done Successful Endeavours! Congrats on your achievements !!