Commerce North West president Emma Harman says COVID-19 has continued to wreak havoc on businesses, but their creativity and resilience to overcome those challenges should be celebrated.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And it's something the group plan to do on Saturday night with the 2021 Jemena Northern Outback Business Awards.
"We just want to say well done on business done well, we want to keep looking forward and recognising peoples's achievements," Ms Harman said.
"There are more success stories than just those that are going to be in the room on Saturday night, businesses that have been equally creative and resilient and they should all be celebrated."
The awards span an array of categories for emerging businesses through to those that have been around for many years but continue to go above and beyond for their customers.
There are also awards for businesses who have made contributions to the community through sponsorship or by their very nature, as well as businesses who have been able to increase productivity through investment in their own work force.
Ms Harman said the standard of this year's submissions were "very high across the board", but that an anonymous board of judges from leading industry bodies had busily worked behind the scenes to pick winners.
"It's all signed, sealed and delivered," Ms Harman said.
The voting in the People's Choice category also closed on October 24 and the trophies have been made up ready ahead of the presentation on Saturday.
Ms Harman said while there had been not a single reported case of COVID-19 across the entire northwest it has still wreaked havoc in logistics, and critically labour.
"It seems a labour shortage has been a thing everywhere, but it's chronic in the northwest, we have more jobs than workers available and that has been the most universal challenge to some degree is staffing," she said.
So while some businesses may not have been financially impacted by the pandemic, Ms Harman said the awards had also moved to include the ways businesses had been able to pivot or adapt to reduced deliveries, shortages and other challenges over the past 18 months.
"It's certainly been another challenging year because of the pandemic, but these awards are just evidence that people are still doing business and customer service really well," she said.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
Bookmark https://www.northweststar.com.au/
Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Google News
Jacob McMaster
I am passionate about amplifying people's stories and trying to do them justice in the written word. I find pressure washing videos soothing. email me jacob.mcmaster@austcommunitymedia.com.au or 0406 212 845.
I am passionate about amplifying people's stories and trying to do them justice in the written word. I find pressure washing videos soothing. email me jacob.mcmaster@austcommunitymedia.com.au or 0406 212 845.
