BY SIOBHAN HARVEY
New figures have revealed Lake Macquarie's business growth has forged ahead despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The news comes as the city prepares to recognise its best and brightest in the commercial sector for the Annual Business Excellence Awards, which will acknowledge and honour the hard work put in by local businesses and employees.
The councils data showed that the number of registered businesses has grown over 500 in the last year alone, increasing from 12,571 in June 2020 to 13,113 in June 2021, with the number of businesses with a $10 million-plus annual turnover also growing, from 94 to 112.
Lake Macquarie Mayor Kay Fraser says the growth expresses how attractive the city is in the eyes of businesses.
"It is really promising, even on the back of COVID there has been a lot of investment and a lot of interest in Lake Macquarie and obviously businesses are looking to come to regional areas to set up, it's just a growth of the region," she said.
"Lake Macquarie is seen to be very attractive to all of NSW and Australia, and I think people are looking to set up businesses in Lake Macquarie."
This year's awards are set to feature a new award category to acknowledge diversity and inclusion in local businesses.
"We've included the Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion award because we know how important it is for businesses to be open to employ people from different backgrounds and different abilities. so we thought we would include that as a particular special category this year," said Cr Fraser.
"It's really important to acknowledge our local businesses, to thank them and to recognise the wonderful work they've been doing."
Entries to this year's awards are open now until 6 June, with the winners to be announced at a gala ceremony on 29 July.
The winners will then progress to the Hunter Business Awards.
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| Image credit: Lake Macquarie Council |
