Brilliant Queensland businesses compete for National Awards

Successful businesses right across Queensland, from Cairns, Mackay and Yeppoon down to Brisbane, Toowoomba and the Sunshine and Gold Coasts are among a diverse group of 25 finalists in the 2014 Telstra Queensland Business Awards.

The skills and specialties of the finalists are as diverse as their geography, with businesses coming from industries including pet care, the resources and mining sector, sport and health, hairdressing and beauty, the arts, recruitment and coffee wholesaling and exporting.

Telstra Business Group Managing Director and Telstra Business Awards Ambassador, Will Irving, said the breadth and calibre of the 25 Queensland Awards finalists was a positive sign for the state’s economy.

“It’s fantastic to see finalists from the length and breadth of Queensland and representing such varied industries. These brilliant Queensland businesses are at the heart of many local communities and they’re the backbone of the Australian economy.

“The Telstra Business Awards recognise the brilliance of Australian businesses and help them reflect on their strategies, goals and how they can achieve a better future, but they also inspire their communities by highlighting the hard work and creative force that go into keeping a small business running, fulfilling business owners’ passions and dreams,” said Mr Irving.

Three businesses banking on Queenslanders’ love for their pets were named as finalists: Springfield District Veterinary Clinic, whose owner Dr Jeannet Kessels won her industry’s manager of the year award last year; VetShopAustralia, an online pet services pioneer with 15 years standing; and Ani Trans Transport, a small-animal courier service operating nationally from the Atherton Tablelands.

In a nod to the success of businesses supporting the resources sector, another finalist was Lambdatron, a start-up with a growing reputation for innovative solutions for RADAR, weather and automation technologies.Owners James and Jane Palmer followed up a lucrative Hay Point coal terminal expansion contract by installing a remote weather monitoring station at the Port of Weipa.

Blast Movement Technologies, one of seven finalists for the Small Business Award, exports a world-first remote sensing technology that helps open-pit mines to reduce ore loss after blasting, to 24 countries. Founder Darren Thornton says: “Taking a product from concept to international success is every researcher’s dream.”

Other finalists include Gold Coast triathlete coach Allison Cooke, a survivor of a road cycling accident who now runs Multisport Gold, Brisbane hairdressing salon Elysium Hair and Beauty and Bowen Hills coffee wholesaler and exporter Di Bella Coffee.

Two Indigenous-owned businesses are Awards finalists – Wayne 'Liwingu' McGuinness’ Aboriginal Steel Art, whose commissions include a frill-necked lizard for the Australian Paralympian team, and Wayne Denning’s media production company Carbon Media, the first Australian company signed by Sesame Street to produce a film for its numbers and letters segment.

More than $800,000 in prizes is available for winners of the 2014 state, territory and national Telstra Business Awards - a program that has celebrated brilliant Australian small and medium businesses since 1992.

The finalists for the 2014 Telstra Queensland Australian Business Awards are:

Start-Up Award
Accelerate Communications, North Mackay
Ani Trans Transport Innot, Hot Springs
Cornerstone Recruitment, Fortitude Valley
Excavation Equipment Pty Ltd, Toowoomba
Lambdatron Pty Ltd, Birkdale

Micro-Business Award
Aboriginal Steel Art, Kuranda
Bli Bli House, Pacific Paradise
Glitter and Dance Fabric Specialists, Mansfield
HAIR DINKUM, Deagon
Multisport Gold, Upper Coomera
Transformations Coaching and Hypnotherapy, Capalaba
Yin Health, Birtinya

Small Business Award
Blast Movement Technologies, Seventeen Mile Rocks
Carbon Media, Brisbane
Conexus Consulting, Brisbane
Elysium Hair and Beauty, Brisbane
Gecko MMS Pty Ltd, Yeppoon
Springfield District Veterinary Clinic , Springfield
VetShopAustralia Pty Ltd, Forest Glen

Medium Business Award
Di Bella Coffee, Bowen Hills
JP Piping Systems Pty Ltd, Mackay
Nimble, Southport
Reload Media, Brisbane
The Mackay GP Superclinic, Mackay
Trailers 2000 Pty Ltd, Beerwah

Regional Award
Accelerate Communications, North Mackay
Excavation Equipment Pty Ltd, Toowoomba
Nimble, Southport
The Mackay GP Superclinic, Mackay
Trailers 2000 Pty Ltd, Beerwah

Winners of the Telstra Queensland Business Awards will be announced at the Sofitel Brisbane on 17 June 2014. They will proceed to the national Awards in Melbourne on 7 August.

Awards information and tickets for the Awards Gala Dinners can be purchased by visiting the Telstra Business Awards website or by calling 1800AWARDS between 9am and 7pm AEST Monday to Friday.