2024 AUSTRALIAN TRADES AND WOMEN’S SMALL BUSINESS CHAMPION AWARDS

From thousands of entrants from across the nation, 26 have made the Manufacturing Finalists Lists of 2024 Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards and the 2024 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards – two major recognition awards programmes dedicated to spotlighting top-performing small business operators, nationwide.

Spanning all capital cities as well as rural, regional and suburban towns, the Trades and Women’s Small Business Champion Awards pay tribute to the vital role of small businesses in Australia’s overall social and economic prosperity. Moreover, the Awards recognise small business owners’ invaluable contributions to their local communities and to their fields of specialty.

The Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards is now in its third year and requires at least 50 per cent female ownership of an entrant business.

Now in its second year, the 2024 Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards features a total of more than 50 categories, across trades-based retail, services and manufacturing industries.PIC from 2023 Awards.

Among this year’s most competitive categories, Manufacturing is proving exceptionally challenging to judge, says Steve Loe, Awards Founder and Managing Director of Precedent Productions, which coordinates the Australian Trades and Women’s Small Business Champion Awards.

“The quality of Manufacturing category entrants is very impressive. The shortlisting of this year’s finalists was quite the challenge for our judges.

“When the Champion Judges evaluate entries, they consider all aspects of a business: its strategies, growth, eco-friendliness, community contributions, innovation, customer service, and product and service quality – to name but some of the criteria.

“The next rounds of judging will be intense as we continue to evaluate the achievements of this year’s 26 Manufacturing finalists to reach just one winner per programme,” says Mr Loe.

The 16 Manufacturing finalists of the Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards are:

Project Station (NSW), Deeps Engineering (NSW), Farm To Hanger (VIC), Accent Aluminium Windows and Doors (VIC), Active Aluminium Windows (VIC), Macu Kitchens Mildura (VIC), Midwest Fabrication (QLD), Merritt Joinery (TAS), Smart Sinks (QLD), ABS Doors & Timber (NSW), Jay’s Dairy (WA), Teacup Nethies (NSW), Maddy Jay Designs (NSW), Westox Building Products (NSW), All Steel Designs (VIC) and Resilience Design and Build (QLD).

The 10 Manufacturing finalists of the Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards are:

King Island Distillery (TAS), Feta Juli-Etta (QLD), Precision Building Products (QLD), Urban Rituelle (NSW), Midwest Fabrication (QLD), Health Focus Manufacturers (QLD), Resilience Design and Build (QLD), Fempro Armour (QLD), Artisan Paint Company (NSW) and Noisy Guts (WA).

“Being selected as a finalist – from an entrant pool that really does span the entire country– is no easy feat and speaks volumes of the tenacity and leadership at each of these manufacturing small businesses,” says Mr Loe.

Recent data indicates that almost two million tradies are actively employed in Australia and figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal that the vast majority of Australian small business owners are tradies.

Winners of the 2024 Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards will be announced on Friday 23 August and winners of the 2024 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards will be announced on Saturday 24 August at Sydney’s The Star.

For more information including a full list of 2024 finalists, visit championawards.com.au/trades and https://www.championawards.com.au/womens.