Australian Young Entrepreneur Awards 2020 up for grabs next week

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has meant Business News Australia was unable to host its usual gala events for the awards in 2020, we received substantially more nominations than expected with yet another year of stellar entries from all around the country.

From the calibre and performance of the finalists you wouldn't know there was a recession at all, except for the fact that market conditions actually spurred many of them on with some even benefiting from business models geared towards macro-trends that went into overdrive.

After announcing the Young Entrepreneur Awards for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, winners from all categories will now compete against one another along with finalists from elsewhere in Australia, from Wollongong to Perth, Adelaide to the Sunshine Coast. 

While the networking opportunities and festivities these awards usually entail will be missing in an in-person capacity this year, the community this initiative fosters remains important to us and we look forward to announcing tailored events and workshops for Young Entrepreneur Awards finalists throughout 2021.

We would like to congratulate the following national finalists, and look forward to revealing the winners on Monday:

Arts & Culture

• Benjamin Herzog - Glowing Rooms (Perth)
• Michael Huxley - Huxley School of Makeup (Gold Coast)
• David J. Morgan & Regan Lethbridge - Lemon Tree Music (Melbourne)
• Alison Green - Pantera Press (Sydney)

Digital Disruptor

• Melvyn Myers & Bradley Filliponi - BoxBrownie.com (Sunshine Coast)
• Rael Ross - Butn, Australian Factoring Company (Melbourne)
• Brad Moran - CitrusAd (Brisbane)
• Amal Wakim & Jade Spooner - Equalution (Sydney)
• Brad Illich - Newbook (Gold Coast)

Fashion Design

• Bianca Roccisano & Bridgett Roccisano - Bianca & Bridgett, Booby Tape (Melbourne)
• Nathaniel Anthony & Chris Anastasi - Muscle Nation Clothing & Supplements (Brisbane)
• James Bartle - Outland Denim (Tamborine Mountain)
• Tammy Hembrow - Saski Collection, TammyFit, Tammy Hembrow Health & Fitness (Gold Coast)
• Tom Lawrence -  Swanky Socks (Sydney)

Finance

• Richard Bell - Business Leaderz Group, Fitstop Australia (Sydney)
• Rael Ross - Butn, Australian Factoring Company (Melbourne)
• Nathan Hood & Jamie Davidson - Carbon Group (Perth)
• Daniel Wessels - Jacaranda Finance (Brisbane)
• James Marshall - MWM Advisory (Gold Coast)

Fitness

• Tim West - 12RND Fitness, UBX Training (Brisbane)
• Sam Wood - 28 by Sam Wood, The Woodshed (Melbourne)
• Pedj Bojic - Play Essentials (Sydney)
• Tammy Hembrow - TammyFit, Saski Collection, Tammy Hembrow Health & Fitness

Food & Beverage

• Marcus Kellett & Alex Bottomley - Ampersand Projects (Melbourne)
• Izhar Basha - EHP Holdings, EHPlabs, Blessed Plant Protein, Lust Natural Protein Bars (Sydney)
• Mathew Stillone - Integrity Food Co., Stillone Investment Group (Brisbane)
• Michael Kellett - Macro Mike (Gold Coast)

Health & Medicine

• Dr Reuben Sim & Dr May Chan - Dental Boutique (Melbourne)
• Dr Sean Parsons - Ellume (Brisbane)
• Kelly Weideman & Edward Zouroudis - Evolt IOH (Gold Coast)
• Jonathan Moody - Physio Inq (Sydney)

Hospitality & Tourism

• Justin Hales - Camplify (Newcastle)
• Kurtis Bosley - CBK Hospitality Group, Corretto Dee Why, CocktailsbyKurtis (Sydney)
• Tim Johnson - Corbett & Claude, Comuna Cantina, Tetto Rooftop Bar, Mr Claude, Persona Coffee, Personality Wines, Knock Knock Gnocchi (Brisbane)
• Phillip Kuoch - Goldeluck's (Melbourne)
• Craig Johnston & Lucy Johnston - TCLH (Gold Coast)

Legal

• Edward Finn - AF Legal (Melbourne)
• Katie Richards - Law on Earth, Virtual Legal (Brisbane)
• Alex Solo & Tomoyuki Hachigo - Sprintlaw (Sydney)

Manufacturing, Wholesale & Distribution

• Dean Wattrus, Nicholas Clarke, Joshua Spurway & Jason Cutler - Black Label Blending (Brisbane)
• Tim Dawson - Lauxes Grates (Gold Coast)
• Jeff Yu & Anson Zhang - One Stop Warehouse, Discover Energy (Sydney)
• Giovanni Pino & Ellie Vaisman - Sourci (Melbourne)
• Paley Ho - Unios (Perth)

Marketing

• Melvyn Myers & Bradley Filliponi - BoxBrownie.com (Sunshine Coast)
• Ben Bradshaw & Shannah Bradshaw - Disrupt Digital - SponsoredLinx, Get More Traffic, Search Marketing Experts, Disrupt Music Group, Emergency Medical Supplies, Deep Future (Brisbane)
• Natalie Carosi - Lemon Tree Marketing (Gold Coast)
• Maxwell Hertan - Megaphone Marketing, Squeak Design, Silvi, Max's Monthly Challenges (Melbourne)
• Marquis Pohla - Metrix Consulting (Perth)
• James O'Neill & Alberto Capponi - WildJar (Sydney)

PR & Media

• Genevieve Day - Day Management (Melbourne)
• Naomi Spies - Ruby Communications (Gold Coast)
• Sally Prosser - Sally Prosser (Brisbane)
• Julia Maguire & Lelde Smits - The Capital Network (Sydney)

Professional Services

• Dougal Jackson & Jen Jackson - Everyday Massive (Gold Coast)
• Micky Ahuja - MA Services Group, MA International Group, MA NZ Partnership, MA Investments, MA Recycling, MA Building & Construction (Melbourne)
• Mark Lim - Magnetic Alliance (Adelaide)
• Peter Dodeja - SAI Security Group, SAI Investments Group (Brisbane)
• Carlos Ferri - Zapala Corp, Zapala Go, Zapala People, Shipeezi, Educafy, Zapala Brazil, Bhold Creative (Sydney)

Property & Construction

• Luke Vaughan - Crown Realty International, Vaun Enterprises, Vaun Management, Acquire Enterprises, GPV Developments (Gold Coast)
• Chris Baptista - HOMES by CMA (Brisbane)
• Tom House - House Business Group, House Capital (Perth)
• Nick Lonsdale - Lonsdale Building Group (Melbourne)
• Nathan Rust & Leigh Rust - Safetyline Jalousie (Sydney)

Retail & Services

• Ammar Issa - AMR Hair & Beauty, Fanola AU, Hey Stacey, Beauty Systems Group, Fanola UK, AMR UK, Inebrya AU, Roaman Smile, Heir Watches (Sydney)
• Nova Ward Fitcover (Adelaide)
• Nathaniel Anthony & Chris Anastasi - Muscle Nation Clothing & Supplements (Brisbane)
• Fung Lam - New Aim (Melbourne)
• Sean Barry & James Strathdee - One Power (Gold Coast)

Social

• Amelia Gow - Active Opportunities, Workplace Training Strategies, 6729 Bakery (Gold Coast)
• Julian Pace & Peter De Lang - Happiness Co (Perth)
• Marcus Crook & Nick Pearce - HoMie Clothing (Melbourne)

Specialist Services

• Brendan Parker - Advanced Mining Production Systems, LiveMine (Perth)
• Brett Neil Saunders - Hiflow, Surgical BioFix, Saunders Development Group, Savy Commercial, Brett Neil Saunders (Brisbane)
• Harry Karefilakis - Kare Group, Socigo (Melbourne)
• Mark Lim - Magnetic Alliance (Adelaide)
• Abdul Razak & Samira Razak - Maple Community Services, Entrepreneur Society (Sydney)
• Jonathan Dwayre - Orbitz Elevators (Gold Coast)
• Elliot Hayes & Beau Savage - Smart Energy (Byron Bay)

Startup

• Rosa-Clare Willis & Andrew Ford - Crockd (Gold Coast)
• Andy Skora & Will Morgan - Fellr (Sydney)
• Ian Parke - Fin-Pay FX, NXT Group, FIN-PAY (Brisbane)
• Benjamin Herzog - Glowing Rooms (Perth)
• Jamie Marciniak & Cameron Bell - Your Energy Partner (Melbourne)

Technology

• Brendan Parker - Advanced Mining Production Systems, LiveMine (Perth)
• James Gilmour - Gilmour Space Technologies (Gold Coast)
• Braden Voigt - Lynkz, PolyVision, SMTCamera (Brisbane)
• Salpi Markarian & Jacob Markarian - OWest (Sydney)
• Simon te Hennepe & Lani te Hennepe - Travlr, The Bali Bible, 10 Travlr, TRAVLR Marketplace, Webjet Bali Buddy (Melbourne)
• Christian Pacheco - Virtual IT Group (Wollongong)

Trailblazer

Any national finalist is eligible for this award, in addition to the following entrepreneurs who won the Trailblazer Award in their respective cities:

• James Gilmour - Gilmour Space Technologies (Gold Coast)
• Vu Tran, Chris Hood, Andrew Barnes & Chris Eigeland - Go1 (Brisbane)
• Adam Brimo - OpenLearning (Sydney)
• Giovanni Pino & Ellie Vaisman - Sourci (Melbourne)

Business News Australia