The Westpac Otago Business Awards 2018 feature the following sections;
Businesses may enter one Sector Excellence Award category, up to two Business Practice Award categories and/or the ACC Workplace Safety Award.
The winners of each award will be eligible for the Westpac Supreme Business Excellence Award.
Excellence in Service | Select Recruitment – Recognises a business that succeeds through showing consistent dedication to service delivery and demonstrates its commitment to the customer through its service policy, staff training and/or other specific means.
Excellence in Retail | Otago Daily Times – Recognises success and achievement of a business selling goods direct to the end user.
Excellence in Distribution & Logistics | Port Otago – Recognises success and achievement of a business in the distribution and logistics sectors.
Excellence in Primary Industry | Anderson Lloyd – Recognises any business involved in the production and processing of primary goods, agri-business, horticulture & forestry sector.
Excellence in Not for Profit | Otago Community Trust – Recognises management excellence in organisations outside the private sector including the “not for profit” sector, schools and local government.
Excellence in Tourism & Hospitality | Enterprise Dunedin – Recognises success and achievement of a business whose principal activity is in the Tourism sector.
Excellence in Manufacturing & Technology | Otago Southland Manufacturing Association– Recognises excellence in manufacturing, engineering or the use of High-Tech in the manufacturing sector.
International Business Award – Recognises a business that successfully works within, and captures the benefits of, the global market, demonstrating outstanding international trade achievements, sustainable growth and results.
Emerging Business Award | Grow Dunedin Partnership – Recognises a business that has achieved significant business growth during the last one to three years as a result of effective planning and delivery. The business must have started trading after 31 March 2015.
Marketing & Promotion Award | Vodafone – Recognises a business that demonstrates outstanding customer/market insight and effectively uses marketing to optimise performance; increase customer loyalty, retention, customer satisfaction and/or profitability.
Sustainable Business Practices Award | Otago Polytechnic – Recognises a business who demonstrates how sustainable practices are embedded into the organisational strategy, vision and operations to deliver sustainable business growth.
Māori Business Award | Ngāi Tahu Holdings – Recognises a business that successfully incorporates Māori identity and values as part of its business operation, for example logo, branding, on site or mission statement. The business can be from any business category. To enter this award, you must be of Māori decent and have been in business for a minimum of two years.
Innovation Award | University of Otago Business School – Recognises a business that has enhanced its success through innovation – both in thinking and implementing the idea. An innovation can be in a product/service/technology or process.
Future Business Leader Award | Youth Employment Success – Recognises a future business leader for their outstanding contribution within a local organisation and the wider business community. You may nominate an individual or yourself.
Business Integrity Award | Bedpost Dunedin – Recognises a business that goes above and beyond in serving their stakeholders, whether they be customers, employees, suppliers, or the community.
ACC Workplace Safety Award | ACC – Recognises a business that demonstrates excellence in workplace health and safety practices and that has successfully integrated these into its operation. A positive safety culture exists at all levels within the business.
Business Personality Award – The City of Dunedin Mayor’s Award for Business Personality.
Westpac Business of the Year – All businesses in the awards are eligible for this category.
All entries will be acknowledged by the Otago Chamber of Commerce. By submitting an entry, the entrant authorises the Chief Executive of the Chamber to provide a copy of the application and all supporting documents to the judging panel.
Judges are carefully selected for their business skill and knowledge. Any conflicts of interest are established at the beginning of the process. The judging process for the Westpac Otago Business Awards will proceed in two stages.
The first stage is the initial assessment of the entry by the Judging Panel and Awards Co-ordinator. The judges may contact your business to clarify any details on your entry or to gain any additional information. The judges reserve the right to reassign entries into alternative categories if they determine this to be appropriate upon considering your entry. The judges reserve the right to decide on the number of finalists for each award based on the quality of entrants.
In stage two selected entrants will be interviewed by the judges, who will drill down in more detail on the entry and gain an overall impression of the business.
The interviews will be conducted in late September 2018.
The entire judging panel consider the finalists and have input into the Westpac Otago Business of the Year supreme award.
The winners will be announced at the Westpac Otago Business Awards ceremony and dinner on 30 November 2018. All finalists are encouraged to attend the dinner.