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<\/p>\nFITNESS centre and gym RADcentre was named this year\u2019s Business of the Year at the Federation University Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards.<\/p>\n
The accolades brings their total number of awards on the night to three for the first-time entrants, having won in two categories in the leadup to the big reveal.<\/p>\n
Founder and director Chris Radford said he was \u201cabsolutely blown away\u201d to receive the top prize.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re inspired by everyone in the room. For us to get some recognition for what we\u2019re chipping away at, it\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think we\u2019re a couple of small dogs just chewing away, having a little crack, but the team we\u2019ve got around us and the magic we\u2019re creating is certainly exciting.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust to get through the last couple years is a credit and to be recognised in this room is really something special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Established in 2015, RADcentre grew out from a single-car garage behind Mr Radford\u2019s home into their current facility at Selkirk Stadium in Wendouree.<\/p>\n
All but two of the business\u2019s twelve-person team studied at Federation University, including Mr Radford when he moved to Ballarat from Horsham.<\/p>\n
He said the awards process from their application to the winning night reinforced the importance of his team as \u201cthe special sauce\u201d to RADcentre\u2019s success.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m only one person but I\u2019ve got an awesome team of people around us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to have a great group of people to strive towards a common goal and have some fun along the way is really important.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the guys were joking before that we\u2019ll have to get a trophy cabinet installed or a special room, but they\u2019ll go in the gym also as a nice thank you for our clients and customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Nevetts Lawyers<\/strong><\/p>\n Manufacturing Business Award<\/strong><\/p>\n Luv-A-Duck<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cLuv-A-Duck is new to the Ballarat area but we\u2019re a 54-year-old family business that\u2019s really passionate about manufacturing and manufacturing in Victoria, and making high-quality duck products to sell to all of our customers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe family roots come all the way back to Ballarat from the 1890s when one of the shoppies was mayor of Ballarat.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of our processing prior to that was done up at Nhill in the Wimirra and Ballarat just really made sense to come back to the roots of the family and build our new production facility.\u201d<\/p>\n Mark Shandley, senior manager, Luv-a-Duck<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Power FM <\/strong><\/p>\n SME Business Award<\/strong><\/p>\n RADcentre\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201c[I\u2019d like to thank] my wife individually, but there\u2019s a whole team, we\u2019ve got a team of twelve of us now, which is pretty crazy from the little garage.<\/p>\n \u201cReally, we\u2019re just trying to provide the opportunity for regional athletes to get the same services and opportunities as the guys down in the big smoke.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to get involved with as many different organisations as we can.<\/p>\n \u201c[We\u2019re] showing them what we can do, I suppose. We\u2019re scratching the surface of what we can do, so it\u2019s exciting times.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris Radford, owner and director, RADcentre<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Federation University Technology Park<\/strong><\/p>\n Innovation Award <\/strong><\/p>\n James Vac Solutions (JVS)\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe award basically says that yeah, we\u2019ve achieved what we wanted to achieve at being, not the best in our game, but we\u2019re here in Ballarat, we\u2019re here to work.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do a lot of NDD work, which is non-destructive digging. Basically, we\u2019re street sweeper vac trucks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe look for services, locate them, keep customers happy so no more electrical strikes, no more gas strikes. It\u2019s all about safety.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone needs to get on board. We\u2019re all about safety, and I\u2019d just love to thank the rest of the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Deane Bird, site supervisor, James Vac Solutions (JVS)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n City of Ballarat<\/strong><\/p>\n Creative Industries Business Award<\/strong><\/p>\n Volta <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cObviously the last two years, or two-and-a-half years with COVID it\u2019s been really tough on the live music industry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor the last twelve months, we\u2019ve really strived to bring live music back or to a certain standard and aspect for Ballarat.<\/p>\n \u201cWe feel like the acts we\u2019re bringing in international and national now are up to a really good standard and the tickets are selling. We\u2019re really happy and just excited.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always a pleasure to win some things and a bit of recognition for some of the work you do but it was amazing to just be shortlisted in general.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the best feeling ever [to be back] and I just love live music and I can\u2019t wait to see everyone at a gig.\u201d<\/p>\n Lachy Anderson, venue programmer, Volta<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Central Highlands Water <\/strong><\/p>\n Ballarat Roadworthy Centre <\/strong><\/p>\n Trade Business Award<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very surprising to win. We\u2019re shocked.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve only been in business for two years, so coming into COVID, we were like \u2018this is how it\u2019s going to happen, this is how we do it,\u2019 and we made it work.<\/p>\n \u201cOur team\u2019s been really good, and we\u2019ve made it work. Who we\u2019ve got, they\u2019ve been so supportive and it\u2019s happened. It\u2019s worked.<\/p>\n \u201c[I\u2019d like to thank] my wife, Louise. But everyone has been so adaptive and I wouldn\u2019t have been able to do it without everyone on the team right now.\u201d<\/p>\n James Walker, director, Ballarat Roadworthy Centre<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Bartlett Manufacturing <\/strong><\/p>\n Family Business Award<\/strong><\/p>\n The Little Cupcake<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cFamily is key, really, to our business. It\u2019s founded on family. Family work in the business. Family run the business.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so many great businesses here as finalists, but it\u2019s sad in a way there has to be a winner because I think all of them deserve to be winners.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last twelve months have been tricky, just not knowing whether we\u2019re coming forwards, backwards, up, down, whatever.<\/p>\n \u201cThankfully, our business has managed to cope really well with COVID.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of that is luck. Part of that is making the most of an opportunity because of the sort of thing we provide. We provide happiness for people, and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n Madeleine Witham, director, The Little Cupcake<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ballarat Regional Development Australia Grampians<\/strong><\/p>\n New Product Award<\/strong><\/p>\n Carboni’s Next Door – Deli & Pasta<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe found this new way of doing business, and it\u2019s been rewarded so I\u2019m super, super happy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been fantastic. It\u2019s been an incredible year, very challenging. We decided, due to COVID, to reinvent a side of our businesses and do things in different ways to bring money in and keep everybody employed.<\/p>\n \u201c[I\u2019d love to thank] the team, first of all, then entire organisation who put all this up and to celebrate, my wife that is still coping, my entire family. I can go on and on.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m on a roll [after winning last year]. I can\u2019t complain.\u201d<\/p>\n Donatello Pietrantuono, owner, Carboni’s Next Door – Deli & Pasta<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Vitrafy Life Sciences<\/strong><\/p>\n Health and Wellbeing Business Award<\/strong><\/p>\n RADcentre<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very exciting to win again. We\u2019re blown away.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough the lockdowns, we\u2019d often load my car up with equipment and go to footy oval grandstands and set up there just to keep some momentum going.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we\u2019re back going fully operational, we just keep growing month by month which is super exciting.<\/p>\n \u201c[For the next twelve we\u2019ll be] just trying to help as many people as we can to keep improving their performance, whether that\u2019s getting bigger, faster, stronger or rehabilitating from an injury.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just want to keep helping as many people as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris Radford, owner and director, RADcentre<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n nbn Local <\/strong><\/p>\n Professional Services Business Award<\/strong><\/p>\n BGT Jobs + Training Ballarat <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI mentioned putting people on in employment services but our business is much broader than that. We run Barkly Square, we\u2019ve got a training division, we\u2019ve got a community services support division.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a huge honour to win this. It\u2019s great recognition for the team. We\u2019ve done a lot of work to reshape the organisation in the last few years, and to be recognised tonight, we\u2019re stoked, absolutely stoked.<\/p>\n \u201cJust the machinations of issues we had to navigate through, were the likes of which we\u2019ve probably never seen before.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got 36 staff in the team. Each and every one of them contributes every day to make Ballarat a better community.\u201d<\/p>\n Graham McMahon, CEO, BGT Jobs + Training Ballarat<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The WIN Network<\/strong><\/p>\n Customer Service Award<\/strong><\/p>\n Community Bank Buninyong<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cCustomer service is something that every business strives to do so to get recognised for that and the hard work of the staff is just fantastic. We had a lot of great competition in that.<\/p>\n \u201cOn top of our customer service, we obviously focus on the customer in everything that we do but the greater community is our customer as well.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we turn most of our profits back into community grants and scholarships and sponsorships. Last year, we gave almost $300,000 back into the community.<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to thank all the staff and all the board for all their hard work. We really have a culture of working collaboratively together towards these.\u201d<\/p>\n Randall Dreger, branch manager, Community Bank Buninyong<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Runway HQ<\/strong><\/p>\n Newcomer Business Award<\/strong><\/p>\n Tim’s Toasties\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s amazing, as a newbie to the Ballarat hospitality industry, it\u2019s amazing to be recognised and take away with a win.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d just love to thank Federation University, Commerce Ballarat, my sponsors Runway HQ, and also my beautiful wife, Abbey Bone. None of this would be possible without Abbey, so it means a lot.<\/p>\n \u201cIn coping with COVID, the big word was \u2018pivot.\u2019 I was doing toasties deliveries, anything that I could to keep my business going.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, I\u2019m predominantly focused on the farmer\u2019s market and pop-up events and all of those got cancelled so anything I could do to keep my business afloat, I was going to do.<\/p>\n \u201cI would doorknock, whatever it took, to sell my toasties.\u201d<\/p>\n Tim Bone, owner, Tim’s Toasties<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Convention Centre<\/strong><\/p>\n Franchise\/Buying Group Business Award<\/strong><\/p>\n Schnitz Ballarat <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI knew from the very first moment we were going to win it because we\u2019re so confident about it.<\/p>\n \u201cOur team works hard all days of the year, so I was confident about it, that we\u2019re going to win it, so I was very, very excited about it.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever you come into Schnitz, you\u2019re not sure what you\u2019re going to get, so we\u2019re always going to recommend Swiss.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have such a positive vibe. If you ever come into Schnitz Ballarat you will get the same type of vibe and confidence and positive vibes around the team.<\/p>\n \u201cOur signature thing is we always say Swiss. Because it\u2019s a healthy meal, go for avocado or sweet chili mayo.\u201d<\/p>\n Preet Sandhu, store manager and business partner, Schnitz.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cafs<\/strong><\/p>\n Social Change Maker Award<\/strong><\/p>\n Community Bank Buninyong<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOur purpose is to build community. We do that by investing into projects that are community-led. Those community projects create transformational change within their community so that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re an organisation that\u2019s run by community volunteers so non-remunerated directors who have the courage to run a commercial enterprise and make courageous decisions around community projects.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it be sport, whether it be infrastructure, whether it be social programs, things like that, schools, that\u2019s what we do.<\/p>\n \u201cThese awards are a fantastic showcase and Commerce Ballarat deserves a whole lot of recognition for running this time and time again.<\/p>\n Ian Corcoran, chair, Community Bank Buninyong<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Ballarat Times News Group<\/strong><\/p>\n Micro\/Home Based Business Award<\/strong><\/p>\n Wonder Inns<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an enormous buzz to win after being only residents of Ballarat for a short time. We\u2019re just thrilled at how we\u2019ve been accepted, and our business has been accepted in Ballarat. So proud.<\/p>\n \u201cWe opened two weeks before the first Victorian COVID lockdown, so we closed our doors.<\/p>\n \u201cWe started with one property, a little church out in Lexton, and we\u2019ve since expanded to another property to a second property in Mount Helen.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a third on the go in Sturt Street.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the hospitality scene up here. It\u2019s one of the big reasons we made the move up here. I think there\u2019s so much to offer the history of the town.\u201d<\/p>\n Annie Brereton, owner, Wonder Inns<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hip Pocket Workwear & Safety<\/strong><\/p>\n Retail Business Award<\/strong><\/p>\n Dej’s Packaging <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cBack at the start of COVID, we purchased the business and we\u2019ve grown quite successfully since then.<\/p>\n \u201cWe actually added some new products to our category going into COVID and we diversified food packaging, which is the core of our business.<\/p>\n \u201cThat obviously took off. We made sure we had plenty of stock on standby and all of our restaurants and cafes and pubs and clubs could keep trading as the lockdowns were in place.<\/p>\n \u201cOur business would not be our business without our team so without the team coming to work every day bringing their A-game we just wouldn\u2019t be the business we are today.\u201d<\/p>\n Alastair Stewart, director, Dej’s Packaging<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2022\/08\/RADcentre-01-scaled-e1661934013999-300x200.jpg\")
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