He thanked businesses who had taken the time to enter and the judges who had been working overtime.
Winners will be announced at a dinner on October 5 at the Energy Events Centre.
"It will be the Rotorua party of the year. You can quote me on that," Heard said.
Westpac Supreme Business of the Year 2018 award winners Jeff Alexander and Jacqui Alexander of Event Impressions with their son Daniel. Photo / File
Last year's supreme winner was Event Impressions, who were hired to run the awards ceremony, not realising they were about to become the winners of the night.
Managing director Jacqui Alexander, who founded the company with husband Jeff Alexander, spoke to the Rotorua Daily Post the next day, saying she felt overwhelmed and shocked to have taken out the Service Sector Excellence Award and then the Supreme Business of the Year category.
"We were sitting at our table just crossing our fingers for our category, so when we found out we had won we were blown away, and feeling quite humbled," Alexander said at the time.
Excellence Categories
Excellence in Primary Industries - Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology Kapenga M Trust PF Olsen Ltd Excellence in Property, Construction and Manufacturing – One Roof DCA Architects Mills-Tui Ltd Property Inspect BOP Ltd Excellence in the Retail Industry – Pukeroa Oruawhata Group Artisan Cafe Mountain Jade Excellence in the Service Sector – Holland Beckett Law Cheal Consultants Ltd Peak Safety Ltd Physio Direct Ltd Excellence in Hospitality – Deloitte Pig and Whistle Historic Pub Sichuan Style Restaurant Excellence in Tourism – Deloitte Kaitiaki Adventures Waimangu Volcanic Experience Bi-lingual Business Award – Deloitte Arataua Media Ltd Hikoi NZ Ltd Kaitiaki Adventures Excellence in Small Business (less than 5FTE) – Osbornes Funeral Directors Arataua Media Ltd Galaxy Travel Property Inspect BOP Ltd Sustainability Business Award – Rotorua Economic Development Jasco Distributing Kaitiaki Adventures Waimangu Volcanic Valley Innovation and Disruption Business Award – Scion Mills-Tui Ltd PF Olsen Ltd Waimangu Volcanic Valley Not For Profit – The Hits 97.5FM Rotorua Arts Village Trust Rotorua Parents Centre Inc ACC Workplace Safety – ACC Lakes District Health Board/Rotorua Hospital Redwoods Treewalk Emerging Leader – Ministry of Social Development Felicity Farrell - Mediaworks Rotorua Kerri Anne Hancock - Rangiwewehi Charitable Trust Miriam Hewson - Futureproof Concepts Ltd Kahurangi Milne – Arataua David Remmerswaal – Dimple Employee of the Year – Our House Helen Bennett - Physio Direct Binod Pudasaini – WaiOra Jonelle Smith - Redwoods Treewalk Young Innovator of the Year – Ministry of Education Dale Noble - Western Heights High School Kayleigh Waller - Western Heights High School
