Awards night a streaming success

BALLARAT businesses’ night of nights was streamed across the region last week, celebrating the resilience of local enterprises through another year marred by COVID-19.

Commerce Ballarat board chair Hayley Coates said she couldn’t be prouder of the organisations recognised at the 2021 Federation Business School Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards Gala Night.

“It was a massive relief to even be able to have the event and to have even small numbers of people gathered together around town,” she said.

“To see everyone all dressed up in the spirit of the community, getting behind it, it was such a nice feeling after so many months of negativity to see something so positive that the community could really embrace.”

Commerce Ballarat CEO, Jodie Gillett, said the gala night wasn’t just about award winners but all local businesses who had persevered in recent times.

“It’s great to celebrate excellence but we also want to just have a sense of pride and celebration around what an incredible job our business community has done over the last two years,” she said.

The party isn’t over yet though, with the highly coveted Business of the Year award set to be announced next month.

Ms Gillett said Commerce Ballarat are planning for a live, in-person event with a focus on the local arts industry.

“They’ve been a little forgotten at times during this pandemic,” she said. “We really want this to be a celebration of our arts community and bring our businesses together in a safe way.”