John McVeigh (Groom, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to share with the chamber the results of the 2019 Business Excellence Awards, announced by the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce at a gala function in Toowoomba last Friday night. The employer of choice category winner was Clifford Gouldson Lawyers. The best regional business was the Proterra Group. The future leader of the year was Catherine Ardi. I was pleased to see that the tourism category winner was the Australian Camp Oven Festival at Millmerran, south-west of Toowoomba. The hospitality category winner was Fitzy's—good friends of mine who run the Fitzy's pub in Toowoomba—and the industry category winner was AgEtal, one of the businesses emerging in the ag technology space. Frontier Voice and Data won the retail and wholesale category, and the professional business category was won by Carrick Aland.

I was thrilled to see that the community and not-for-profit category was won by the Toowoomba Clubhouse, an organisation that provides tremendous support in our community to those suffering from mental health challenges. I was particularly pleased to see Fitzy's win their category, as I said, but also be announced the business of the year in Toowoomba. I'll be having a quiet beer with them this Friday afternoon to celebrate that, I can assure you. It was also great to see iconic hospital St Vincent's recognised in the hall of fame. I congratulate Joy Mingay, the president of the chamber of commerce.