Chamber celebrates award finalists

THE finalists for this year’s Geelong Business Excellence Awards have been revealed, and some of them celebrated their selection at last week’s Geelong Chamber of Commerce After 5 event.

More than 220 people attended the networking event, held at Truffleduck and sponsored by LBW Business + Wealth Advisors.

Guests heard from Matthew Grapsas, principal at LBW, on how the company supported local businesses and why it was the major sponsor of the awards.

“For us, it’s about making the complex simple – trying to make things as simple as possible, because there’s so much going on in our space at times,” Mr Grapsas said.

“[The awards] bring all these great firms together and culiminate in a great night, and allow them to show their best.”

LBW is one of Geelong’s largest locally-owned public accounting practices. Their service offering includes tax advice, business advisory, audit, valuation services, estate planning, superannuation and financial planning.

Geelong Chamber of Commerce deputy chair Catherine Middlemiss interviewed three of the finalists: Maxine Driscoll from THINK Strategic, Sandhya Tewari from Lonsdale Tomato Farm and Chris Balazs from Provenir.

Ms Driscoll said she had heard of the Geelong Business Excellence Awards for several years before she decided to make her debut entry (also listed as a finalist) last year.

“It was an incredible process… you get to review your business and look at it really carefully.

“Often as business owners, we keep working and we’re busy busy busy and we don’t stand back and reflect, so for me, that was terrific to do.”

This year’s Geelong Business Excellence Awards will be presented at GMHBA Stadium on October 20.

For more information and to see the full list of 2023 finalists, head to gbea.com.au