Entries have officially opened to two prestigious and comprehensive Small Business Champion Awards programs, dedicated to honouring the best of Australia’s tradies and female-led small businesses.
Central Coast businesses are being encouraged to enter the 2024 Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards which are especially relevant this year as the nation grapples with a housing shortage and urgent need for more skilled tradespeople.
The nation’s only recognition awards program dedicated to spotlighting trades-based small business operators from all corners of every Australian state and territory, the awards further recognise trades-based small business owners’ invaluable contributions to their local communities and to their fields of specialty including their encouragement of future generations of Aussie tradies.
There are more than 50 award categories and five individual categories – Apprentice Champion, Champion Tradie, Small Business Trades Entrepreneur (aged over 30), Young Small Business Trades Entrepreneur (aged 30 and younger), and Trades Champion Leader.
This marks the second consecutive year of the Trades Awards, created to celebrate and inspire the nation’s most innovative, dynamic, and top-performing tradies.
“Small business owners in trade industries are crucially important to Australia,” Awards Founder and Managing Director of Precedent Productions Steve Loe said.
“Their contributions to this country are simply astronomical and so, it’s in the interests of all Australians to recognise the champions of this sector and in doing so, consider how we can better support them so they can continue to support us.
This is the third consecutive year of the Australian Women’s Small Business Champions Awards which spotlight the achievements of some of the nation’s most inspiring women in small business.
From dentists and disability support providers to accountants, makeup artists, café owners, cosmetic specialists, farmers, fashion designers and financial planners, the Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards features more than 65 award categories and four individual categories – Young Small Business Champion Woman Entrepreneur (aged 30 and younger), Small Business Champion Woman Entrepreneur (aged over 30), Australian Small Business Champion Influential Woman, and Australian Small Business Champion Icon.
“We’re in the midst of an age of female entrepreneurial empowerment,” Loe said.
“Despite the current high cost of living and myriad challenges associated with small business ownership at present, Australian women are simply powering through and showing incredible resilience and drive across all industries of the small business sector.
“From regional and rural areas to the suburbs and capital cities, trades-based and female small business operators from all parts of the country are encouraged to enter the awards – free of charge – as we strive to celebrate the people behind the small businesses that contribute so significantly to our national economy and help to shape their local communities in so many meaningful ways.”
Shortlisted finalists of each program will be announced from July.
Winners of the 2024 Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards will be revealed at a National Presentation Evening Gala event on Friday August 23, the evening before winners of the women’s program will be celebrated, August 24.
Known as the “Logies” of small business, both red-carpet gala events will be held at Sydney’s The Star, with more event-specific information to be announced soon.
For more information and to submit an entry form, visit: championawards.com.au/trades / championawards.com.au/womens.