By CASEY NEILL
A BAKERY, a distillery and a building materials manufacturer are the first nominees for this year’s Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce Premier Regional Business Awards.
The awards are now in their 23rd year and highlight successful businesses in the region.
There will be 15 nominees announced across five breakfasts, with the winners revealed at a dinner next March.
This year the Corporate and Social Responsibility, Service Excellence, Employment, Innovation, Retail and Manufacturing awards will be retained alongside the coveted Premier Regional Business Award.
The Small Business Award will be elevated to almost equal footing with the top prize, so small businesses can compete on equal footing.
Boss Products in Dandenong was nominated for the Innovation, Manufacturing, Small Business, Service Excellence and the Premier Regional Business awards.
Managing director Michael Boss said the company started in the early 1980s as a shoe manufacturer and turned to automotive products with the textile and footwear industry downturn.
The business now focusses on building products including render materials, stone and granite coatings, light-weight architectural mouldings and more. It offers a 10-year guarantee.
It’s the proud distributor of Swedish global leader Terraco’s finishing materials in Australia.
“I grew up in North Dandenong and we’ve had factories in and around Dandenong for years,” Mr Boss said.
“The next few years will definitely be our biggest period of growth.”
Wholesale bakery Noisette in Dandenong specialises in traditional French baking and started with a conversation at a wedding between director Gary Geremia and baker David Merard in 2003.
“I rang him two years later and he didn’t know who I was,” Mr Geremia laughed.
But they again got to talking and soon opened a high end French boulangerie and patisserie in Port Melbourne.
The business has grown from a turnover of almost nothing in the first month to more than $1 million in a good month.
Their manufacturing and production site landed in Dandenong last year.
“We’ve got plenty of market share to grab,” Mr Geremia said.
“The problem is there’s only 24 hours in a day.”
They make more than 400 deliveries a day and are on call 24 hours, seven days a week. Customers include the Hilton and Windsor hotels.
What drives Mr Geremia to answer his phone at 3am?
“The easy answer is money, but that’s not true,” he said.
“We want to be successful.”
It’s a nominee for the Employment, Manufacturing, Service Excellence and Premier Regional Business awards.
Bacchus Distillery in Bangholme’s director Damien Hajdinjak learnt the distillery trade in Croatia from his relatives, and identified a niche in Australia for schnapps.
“We figured if we couldn’t sell it, we’d just drink it,” he said.
Today it’s the only schnapps producer in Australia.
Bacchus’ first big step in the business was in 1998 when Safeway began ordering Cowboy packs and it now produces more than a million litres of its products per year.
The business is looking to grow into the North American market, particularly Canada.
It was a nominee for the Manufacturing, Small Business, Service Excellence, and Premier Regional Business awards.
