Bunbury Geographe Chamber of Commerce and Industry to hold inaugural Business Excellence Awards in 2024

Businesses in the City of Bunbury and surrounding shires are being urged to apply for a new regional awards program. The Bunbury Geographe Chamber of Commerce and Industry will host the inaugural Bunbury Geographe Business Excellence Awards on August 3, with nominations opening later this week. Chief executive Julie Broad said the chamber wanted to have an awards program with a Bunbury specific lens. “We’re working tirelessly on being able to have this as a big event on our calendar for the year,” she said. Businesses will be divided into size categories, with additional accolades on offer for excellence in sustainability and the environment, innovation, the start-up space and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander operations. Enterprises operating in the city and neighbouring shires of Capel, Dardanup, Harvey, Collie and Donnybrook-Balingup can enter, with the contest open to both BGCCI members and those who are not. Ms Broad said one of the benefits of the awards was giving businesses a chance to better understand their operations. “While doing these award submissions, you go out of the day-to-day and you have to do a bird’s eye view on your entire business,” she said. “The learning from it is the understanding of everything they do and why they do what they do in their business. “It also might share with businesses what they might need to do some work on or what is it that they’re doing really that they probably didn’t actually know.” Winners of the inaugural accolades will able to vie for the WA Regional Business Excellence Awards next year. Ms Broad said the chamber was excited to be in a position to showcase Bunbury Geographe businesses to others in regional WA. “It will help elevate people to have that opportunity to be at the State stage,” she said.