Whanganui Chamber of Commerce and Industry pleased with standard of Whanganui Regional Business Awards entries

Whanganui Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Raewyn Overton-Stuart says it will be hard to pick the winners of the 2018 Whanganui Regional Business Awards.

The Whanganui Chamber of Commerce and Industry is impressed by the high quality of entries in its revamped Whanganui Regional Business Awards.

Entries for the awards closed on October 23.

"Everyone has put a lot of effort into their applications and, even more importantly than that, we can see they are doing amazing work out there in the Whanganui region," Chamber president Raewyn Overton-Stuart said.

"We are really pleased to have such a range of businesses entering the awards.

"We increased the number of categories this year and there was a little bit of uncertainty around whether we would get a reasonable number of applications across all of the categories but we needn't have worried. It's picking the winners that will be hard – they are all so good.

"We have great sponsorship for the award categories and that has allowed us to really ensure that this is a quality event."

Overton-Stuart thanked sponsors MediaWorks Whanganui (supreme award), Ultrafast Fibre (digital category), Whanganui District Council Waste Minimisation Fund (environmental), CentrePort Wellington (manufacturing and logistics), AWF (trade services and supplies), Ministry for Social Development (small business), Whanganui River Markets (emerging business), Whanganui and Partners (rural), Air Chathams (tourism) and UCOL (hospitality).

"We couldn't do this without such generous support from the business community," Overton-Stuart said.

Three categories – retail, professional services and not for profit - were still available for sponsorship, Chamber chief executive Marianne Archibald said.

"It's a great deal and there will be loads of coverage on the night for those who are still keen to support regional business excellence," Archibald said.

Anyone interested in sponsoring a category can contact Archibald by emailing ce@whanganuichamber.net.nz

The winners will be announced at a gala dinner on November 24.

"This is Whanganui's premier business event for 2018 - make sure you don't miss out," Overton-Stuart said.

Tickets can be purchased by emailing admin@whanganuichamber.net.nz