GEORGE BUSINESS NEWS - Those men and women who have made a difference in the business world and in the lives of others during this year will be honoured at the George Business Chamber's annual awards event.
The winners will be announced at a gala dinner on 25 October at Bygracealone where David Maynier, Western Cape minister of finance and economic opportunities, will be the guest speaker.
George Herald is one of the sponsors of the event.
The four categories for 2019 are:
- Businessperson of the Year
- Woman Change Agent of the Year
- Entrepreneur of the Year
- Youth Ambassador of the Year
Nominations must be submitted before 10 October.
In the run-up to the event, George Herald looks back on some of the past winners of the award.
Businessperson of 2014
Shaun Clark of Outeniqua Refrigeration was the winner in 2104. He has been serving George and surrounding communities since 1990. A lover of the local economy, he started Outeniqua Refrigeration in 2000 launching his career as a business leader - a total of 29 years in the refrigeration industry.
The company does the design, planning, sale, installation and maintenance of modern commercial refrigeration plants and has teams in PE, Knysna / Plettenberg Bay, Karoo and the Garden Route, Mossel Bay and Cape Town. He started out with a Nissan 1400 bakkie.
Though he started the company as individual, he believes one does not achieve success in your personal capacity, without a team. He has a love for serving from a business platform and a "yes can do" approach to all needs and challenges.
"I do not surround myself with negative people. This is toxic and has business and personal failure as a result," he says.
"Leadership from my point of view is achieving extraordinary results with the assistance of ordinary people who are respected, developed, motivated and believed in. It has been a blessing to work with like-minded people who have been anchors in my life as I have been in theirs.
"My definition of believing is to know - not to hope or trust and as a result have a victim mentality when things don't go my way. I do not believe in economical and political excuses.
"As business owners or kingdom builders we should rely on the power of a healthy community wherein our wisdom and passion has financial security as a positive measurable."
Clark says the business award came as a massive surprise.
Leading actively and playing "hard" is often a lonely place. "As strong leaders we often feel that we stay under the whip, we take a lot of face wind. The business award brought me to a standstill, a realisation that community cares and that 24/7 effort is acknowledged."
He recommends all businesses to belong to the business chamber as networking is crucial to positive outcomes. "In business you are not supposed to be an island. Networking with other leaders challenges us to earn up, to share market experiences and in doing so we will realise that outcome is a combined community business effort wherein the ability to apply our knowledge and passion has financial security as a result."
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