Coast & Country Primary Care has taken out three of the five major awards as the Gosford Erina Business Chamber (GEBC)/Lasercraft 2022 Business Awards.
The health provider got the nod in the Outstanding Employee (Joel Smeaton) and Outstanding Community Organisation categories and its Health on The Streets (HoTS) program topped the field for Excellence in Innovation.
Other major winners, announced at an event held at The Entertainment Grounds on Wednesday, August 31, were Pacific Link CEO, Ian Lynch who was named Outstanding Business Leader and JC Entertainment & Events, taking out the Excellence in Small Business category.
New GEBC President, Peter Lawley, said the Board has proceeded with this year’s awards “with some degree of trepidation” following a forced two-year hiatus” due to COVID-19.
“We were cognisant of the challenges all business currently faces as we move out of the COVID era, and into a challenging economic and employment era,” he said.
“However, GEBC decided that business owners and operators need to be at the forefront of what this Chamber does, and we want to recognise the hard work, celebrate the achievements and highlight the great people in the Gosford Erina Business Community.”
Coast & Country Primary Care CEO, Kathy Beverley, said she was “absolutely thrilled” with the not-for-profit organisations three wins.
“We are a disability and primary health Not-For-Profit organisation with a vision of making a positive impact where we live and work, because we are part of the community,” she said
“We offer many services to the community including Mental Health programs, Primary and Community Care programs like the Erina Respiratory Clinic, the Bridges After Hours GP Service and the Health on The Streets mobile health service for the homeless.”
Health on the Streets (HoTS) was was designed in response to the growing homelessness issue which is a cost to individuals, families, and communities, Beverley said.
The HoTS primary care model is nurse-led with outreach support delivering regular clinics and direct on-the-street care.
A specific area of positive impact of the innovation on the Central Coast community has been identifying and treating Hepatitis C amongst individuals experiencing homelessness.
“We are continuing to work hard to ensure this service continues to support homeless people,” Beverley said.
HoTS Team Leader is Kerrupjmara man from Lake Condah in Western Victoria, Joel Smeaton, who has lived on the Central Coast since he was four years old.
GEBC recognised him as Outstanding Employee for the leadership role he has played in developing and implementing the HoTS model of care but who has shown incredible leadership in organising and promoting cultural awareness in the organisation and the community.
“We are very fortunate to have Joel and the HoTS team and all of our professional, compassionate, dedicated teams turning up every day to care for our community,” Beverley said.
For more information visit www.ccpc.com.au.
Ian Lynch said he was “humbled” to be named Outstanding Business Leader.
Lynch has been CEO of Pacific Link Housing for three years, and was Chief Financial Officer for the organisation for two years prior to that.
“Coming from a finance background, I thoroughly enjoy leading a charitable organisation full of highly skilled and committed employees, with the community increasingly acknowledging and supporting our work” he said.
After growing up on the Central Coast and obtaining his qualifications from the University of Newcastle, Lynch worked in London and Sydney before returning to the Coast to join Pacific Link.
“I have been focussed on delivering on our mission and vision in a much more community inclusive way, and by raising the profile of the charity,” he said.
“As the organisation charged with delivering the Together Home program on behalf of the State Government, Pacific Link Housing has housed 48 previous rough sleepers over the past two years in partnership with contracted support services.
“We completed a 12-unit mixed-tenancy development in Woy Woy late last year, housing older women across the housing continuum.”
Lynch said the housing provider had a 13-unit project underway at Belmont and was soon to announce an innovative project at East Gosford.
“Construction will also soon commence on a 14-unit development at Canton Beach and we hope to break ground before Christmas,” he said.
With a workforce of 38 to supervise, Lynch said he believed in open lines of communication.
“I have been putting staff first in every decision, particularly over the past two years or more due to COVID, and balancing that with the responsibility of accommodating approximately 2,500 people who are unable to afford open market rental properties, across our portfolio of nearly 1,200 homes under management and/or ownership,” he said.
For JC Entertainment & Events owners, James Callaghan and Emma Paulley-Hughes, taking out the Excellence in Small Business category was especially sweet following two years of disruption due to COVID-19.
“Pretty much all our work is live events so when the first COVID rules kicked in we saw 100 per cent of our business dry up,” Callaghan said.
“We immediately jumped onto live streaming and online events and that saved the business through COVID.
“During the first wave of restrictions we live streamed from our warehouse and we switched to the studio during the second wave.”
The business has been operating for almost seven years, based at West Gosford.
“We started as an entertainment agency, booking acts for weddings and so on and then branched out into sound and lighting equipment hire,” Callaghan said.
“We were pretty excited with the win, particularly given that the entertainment side of things is not often recognised as a business.
“But we have been able to put on four new full-timers and two part-timers since COOVID and have a pretty big casual base as well.
“Our studios are pretty much back to normal now and we are actually busier than we were pre-COVID.”
All winners will now proceed to the regional awards.
Terry Collins
