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St George Local Business Awards 2022
Georges River Council Mayor, Nick Katris at the St George Local Business Awards 2022. Image credit: Precedent Productions
This year, the St George Local Business Awards were held at Southern Sydney Event Centre in Hurstville. Over 460 local businesses and guests attended the event to celebrate the achievements of business owners and teams within the St George area.
Small businesses provide over 56,000 local jobs in the Georges River Local Government Area (LGA) and access to a diverse range of exceptional services for the community.
Mayor Nick Katris congratulated and thanked the nominated finalists for their service and dedication on behalf of Georges River Council at the award presentation.
“Thank you for your hard work ethic, tenacity, sustained commitment and your capacity to pivot during the pandemic. Thank you for your leadership, your entrepreneurship and for thinking outside the box. Thank you for your early starts, your late nights and for going the extra mile for us when you were stretched beyond capacity.
Thank you for your contributions and supporting grassroot sports from our big teams to the little ones. Thank you for representing Georges River with the diverse range of services you offer at high standards. Thank you for your smiles, for asking our community how we are and for listening to their needs.”
Georges River Council Mayor, Nick Katris Congratulations to all the finalists and winners! Here’s how they aim to help the community following their recent win:
“We are a community-based business. We work with families, children, youth and people living with disabilities. We have also started a charity called Ability to Achieve that helps people in crisis. Anyone that Ability to Achieve cannot assist we’ll refer onto our charity.” Deb, Ability to Achieve, Business Person of the Year
“There are lots of great things to love about the Georges River LGA, but the best thing I would have to say would be the wonderful people and the excellent businesses. We are so lucky to have such an accepting community with a vast number of businesses and services to cater for everyone in the community with no exceptions.
We will use our recent win (second year in a row) to help local businesses flourish for many years to come. We will provide support and knowledge through our many resources, to ensure business owners have an avenue to find a better work-life balance and gain the freedom they deserve - as we all know how hard local business owners work.” Lana, Upcoach, Education Service – Winner
“Georges River LGA is a unique and special part of Sydney with a wonderful blend of cultures, fantastic food, parklands and a very supportive community. There is easy access to both bushland as well as the water which is utilised and respected equally by the community.
We are lucky to have the fantastic array of businesses and community shopping centres that compliment each other and are so heavily supported by its residents and surrounding communities. It’s a wonderful place to live, raise a family and to run a business.” Julie, Verdaflore, Florist – Winner
“My recent win will help our local community by assisting families and their little ones sleep and settling, thus improving family dynamics as well as physical and mental health. My love for helping families in one of their most challenging times and giving them support, encouragement, but most importantly letting them know what a fantastic job they are doing through empathy and understanding will greatly benefit our community. I want to grow my business so I can help and assist many other families and make this parenting journey as smooth as possible.
My business has a great impact on a family’s mental health and helps support health and wellbeing. My 'why' is to assist families with their child's sleep and settling and make their journey into parenthood rewarding and special.” Kellie Campbell, Sleep Tight Consultation, Sole Operator – Winner
“One of the best things about the Georges River LGA is that it is a great family-friendly location. Georges River has some fantastic parks, and local government facilities that help sponsor health and wellbeing for the local area. All while being a short distance from the Sydney CBD. Our recent win is going to assist in getting the gym more visibility which in turn helps the community through the programs we offer. Our SDR program is for prospective students who are currently undergoing financial hardship, as we believe that all students deserve to learn how to defend themselves. With the added recognition, we hope that more people will hear of our SDR program.”
Steven, SGS Krav Maga, Fitness Services – Winner
“My husband, myself and our dedicated team are so pleased about our recent award and we love our local community. We have been accepted when we opened our business with total open arms and we have made so many local friends, we feel like we are a part of this beautiful community, thank you. We will continue our great food and service in the community.” Lena, Ciminis Pasticceria Bakery & Café, Bakery/Cake Business – Winner
“What I love about the Georges River LGA is the village feel throughout the suburbs, the community comradery and the local business support from the people. The way they support and show loyalty to my business is amazing as long as you hold your end of the bargain being supplying variety, quality, customer service and fair pricing. We are using our recent win (Both Best Butchery at the Australian Small Business Champion Awards 2020 and 2022 and also recently the Best Butchery at the St George local awards for 9/10 years of trade and now a record 8 in a row) to help the community in ways like we usually do.
We sponsor local clubs, sporting groups, local schools and clubs as usual. This won't change. We have elected to advertise to local communities through the Leader, radio and also live interviews about our record-breaking wins.
We invited customers to our ten-year anniversary this year at a function at Oatley pub and paid for our customers drinks and it was great to socialise with them outside of the store.
We are now sponsoring the Starlight Children’s Foundation at the Beverley Park Golf Club next week and are also running our Mad Monday specials for customers to keep celebrating our wins.” Raymond Wood, Jumbuck Meats Gourmet Butchery, Poultry/Fish/ Meat – Winner
“Our recently completed purpose-built wellness studio will be expanded to include for the less abled, chair yoga and teen yoga with the focus on mobility, flexibility, resilience & self-esteem building and mindfulness. The rationale behind this goal is to try to halt the rapidly rising incidence of mental health issues and in particular the devastating impact of suicide.
We currently run a weekly schedule of Yin, Hatha and Meditation classes. A free trial is available for first classes! We support the local community in a number of ways - from hosting the Biggest Morning Tea to raise funds for the Cancer Council to supporting schools and sporting clubs with sponsorship opportunities.
As part of our commitment to the aging community at large we offer a heavily discounted rate on our home visits to senior patients. As part of this service we include an exercise programme directed at falls risk reduction. This having a measurable impact not only on the individuals quality of life but on the Medicare purse strings!” Kim, San Souci Physiotherapy Centre, Physiotherapy – Winner
“It is home to a wonderful community with an abundance of flora, fauna and picturesque waterfront peninsulas. We are pleased to be able to provide an award winning restaurant and function spaces for our community to enjoy an exclusive dining experience or celebrate a milestone occasion with family and friends on the beautiful foreshore of Kyle Bay.” George, Jaaks Restaurant and Bar, Restaurant Fine Dining – Winner
Council keeps the small business community regularly updated on the support available from all levels of government through Council’s website and the online business platform
