Chamber of Commerce a finalist

The Rotorua Chamber of Commerce has been selected as a finalist in this year's AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards.

Recognised for excellence in the "business under $5 million turnover" category for management services, it will join 48 other finalists - a record number in the awards' seven-year history.

Chief executive Roger Gordon said the awards were part of the chamber's continuous improvement process.

"We have entered the awards for the last four times they have been offered. We were very pleased to win two categories on the last occasion in 2010."

He said the judges' feedback suggested more improvements could be made to systems and processes.

"We have always maintained that it is not the recognition by winning that is the real value of any awards, rather the process of self-evaluation of our organisation," he said. "But I must admit, it is a great feeling to know we are on the right track!"

Sarah Trotman, founder of the awards and director of business relations at AUT Business School, said the high level of interest this year was highly encouraging for New Zealand business.

"The Excellence in Business Support Awards were established in 2005, and never before have we had 49 finalists. It's a true reflection of the quality of applicants we have had this year.

"Such interest in recognising quality in the field of business support indicates an understanding that, with world-class business support, New Zealand can build world-class business," she said.

The robust entry and evaluation process of the awards enables finalists to reflect on how effectively their organisations achieve business excellence in all key areas including leadership and planning, customer and market focus, provision of business support, evaluation and improvement, and business results.

Finalists now have until July 6 to submit their final applications. The winners will be announced in October at a black-tie gala dinner in Auckland, with the supreme award to be chosen from the category winners.

Evaluation of all nominations will be overseen by the NZ Business Excellence Foundation, including evaluators for the management department of AUT Business School, with judges using the international Baldridge criteria.