Cowra Early Childhood Services Cooperative Ltd (CECS) general manager Libby Ewing-Jarvie says the service being named a finalist in the 2022 Western NSW Business Awards is "great recognition" for its staff.
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"We've ridden the wave of COVID which has been extraordinarily challenging for an organisation like CECS," Ms Ewing-Jarvie said after learning the service had been named a Western finalist.
"For all the hard work that our folks put in this is great recognition for all that they do," she said.
CECs is a finalist in the Outstanding Community Organisation category.
Just being named a finalist, Ms Ewing-Jarvie said assists CECS.
"We are looking to attract talent to our organisation and retain our people and attract funding, an award like this helps boost all of that," she said.
A "handful of things" Ms Ewing-Jarvie believes sets CECS apart from other community organisations.
"We've ridden the wave of COVID which has been extraordinarily challenging for an organisation like CECS because of vaccine mandates and illness and finding ways to engage children when they're not in a service," she said.
"And of course income has been another challenge that we've had to navigate.
"Where we've had assistance from the government we've also had to navigate fees that we've waived for parents. We've had to navigate under what circumstances.
"We've had to write and re-write the various protocols that go along with managing COVID, as have lots of organisations, but you can imagine (the challenges) with little kids who can't be vaccinated.
"An aspect of this award was how our organisation contributes to the local economy in the region.
"Some of the things I included (in our submission) were being able to provide high quality, affordable accessible care across a range of services to families in the community allowing for people to go to work whilst that was happening.
"As an employer with 50 or more staff as well as volunteers on our board of directors, where we are remunerating people accordingly and they're taking their discretionary income out to the community, we're proud to be able to say we also pay above award wages," Ms Ewing-Jarvie said.
Now in it's 10th year, the Western NSW Business Awards recognise growth, entrepreneurship, and celebrates business success and resilience.
Winners will be announced at a dinner and award celebration on Friday, July 22 in Dubbo at Taronga Western Plains Zoo.
Vicki Seccombe, Regional Manager - Western NSW, at Business NSW, said this year's finalists represent a fantastic cross section of businesses from right across the region.
"It's been an incredibly challenging number of years for many businesses and continues to be so, but these awards are a wonderful opportunity to showcase the ingenuity, strength and resilience of Western NSW businesses," Ms Seccombe said.
"Whilst we generally expect to see finalists from our main centres in Western NSW, we are excited to see finalists from our smaller communities including Cobar, Lightning Ridge, Canowindra, Tomingley, Oberon and Grenfell.
Winners of the 2022 Western NSW Business Awards, will then represent the region at the State Business Awards to be held in November.
"Based on the calibre of this year's finalists, I expect that our regional winners will again do very well at the State Business Awards," Ms Seccombe said.
2022 Western NSW Business Awards Finalists
Outstanding Employee
Amy Vickers, Bell Conveyancing (Bathurst)
Cody Banks, Forbes Automotive Group Pty Ltd (Forbes)
Dylan Noble, Conron Stockcrete (Grenfell)
Hayden Rhodes, Conron Stockcrete (Grenfell)
Jacob Willetts, Western Plains Automotive (Dubbo)
Kate Gullifer, Bell Conveyancing (Bathurst)
Outstanding Young Business Leader
Alana George, Enhancing Abilities Support Services Pty Ltd (Bathurst)
Bree Martin, Envy Beauty By Bree (Cobar)
Emma Gersbach, My Tutor Dubbo (Dubbo)
Jessica Gough, Jespresso (Wellington)
Paul Cavalier, Print Storm (Mudgee)
Sig Peters, The Pink Galah (Cobar)
Outstanding Business Leader
Joh Leader, LeaderLife (Dubbo)
Kelvin Lampton, Kel Lampton Building (Lithgow )
Kristy Bell, Bell Conveyancing (Bathurst)
Nicholas Packham, Vivability (Bathurst)
Ron Maxwell, VERTO, (Bathurst)
Vanessa Pringle, Vanessa Pringle Floral Designs (Bathurst)
Employer of Choice
iClick2Learn (Dubbo)
Macquarie Medi Spa (Bathurst)
Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion
iClick2Learn (Dubbo)
Vanessa Pringle Floral Designs (Bathurst)
Excellence in Innovation
123 Tix (Dubbo)
Forbes Automotive Group Pty Ltd (Forbes)
Habitat Innovation & Management (Orange)
The Environmental Factor (Bathurst)
Vanessa Pringle Floral Designs (Bathurst)
Outstanding Community Organisation
Cowra Early Childhood Services Cooperative Ltd (Cowra)
Glenray Industries (Bathurst)
LeaderLife, (Dubbo)
VERTO Ltd (Bathurst)
Outstanding Start-up
Miriam Rose Natural Health (Bathurst)
Pebbly Path (Spring Flat)
Quentin Park Alpacas and Studio Gallery (Tomingley)
The Administration Agency (Dubbo)
Excellence in Micro Business
123 Tix (Dubbo)
Anni's Arts & Crafts (Cobar)
Bell Conveyancing (Bathurst)
Cleary Fairbrother Property (Bathurst)
Kel Lampton Building (Lithgow)
Lauren Bird Design Services (Windradyne)
Terran Grove Olives (Bumbaldry)
The Persuader (Bathurst)
Excellence in Small Business
BNB Made Easy (Orange)
Chaos & Karma (Orange)
Down To Earth Opals (Lightning Ridge)
Harvest Cafe & Store (Bathurst)
IEC Advisory (Dubbo)
Jespresso (Wellington)
Pairtree Intelligence (Orange)
Perennialle Plants (Canowindra)
Ribbon Gang Media Agency (Bathurst)
The Laundry Pad (Oberon)
Topsoil Organics (Forbes)
Excellence in Large Business
AWCON Pty Ltd (Orange)
Mangan Logging Pty Ltd (Oberon)
Summit Cranes (Dubbo)
Vivability Limited (Bathurst)
Outstanding Local Chamber of Commerce
Coonamble Chamber of Commerce (Coonamble)
Dubbo Chamber of Commerce Inc (Dubbo)