Commerce Ballarat

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Celebrating, acknowledging, and encouraging business excellence.

The aim of the 2025 Federation University Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards is to showcase, celebrate and support our local businesses in all that they have achieved, and contribute to our city. Take it a step further by nominating others that you believe are worthy of recognition and reward.

The Federation University Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards provides an excellent opportunity for self-assessment, promotion, marketing and networking. Through the process, applicants gain a fresh insight into their operations and are better able to judge their potential for growth and development. In completing their applications, owners and operators can take the time to step back from and assess their operations in a manner usually reserved for the time when problems arise.

In addition, finalists and winners will receive extensive brand awareness, promotion and gain invaluable advice from industry professionals. These businesses can display their certificates and trophies for all existing and potential clients to see and use this recognition as part of future advertising campaigns.

The Federation University Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Award Gala Dinner is one of the most eagerly anticipated business events on the Ballarat business calendar. Held in August each year, as part of B31 August Business Festival, the Gala Dinner is the culmination of months of excitement and expectation during which businesses have gone through the nomination, application and judging process.

The Process

Businesses are encouraged to nominate themselves or another, all nominees will be mailed an application booklet and additional information. Application information sessions and one on one mentoring sessions are arranged by Commerce Ballarat throughout the process.

After applications close, a judging panel, consisting of experienced independent business representatives drawn from diverse backgrounds, are surveyed on conflicts of interest, divided into pairs and assigned their category/ies. The judges then assess all written applications in the category/ies they had been assigned, and determine the category finalists.

The judges will conduct site visits of the finalists in each category, the winners will be announced at the Gala Dinner at the end of August.