Local success stories

AIR conditioning and marketing companies are the latest to be nominated for the Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce Premier Regional Business Awards.
Allstaff Air Conditioning in Dingley and Direct Mail and Marketing in Dandenong South took out two nominations for the Premier Regional Business Awards which will be announced at a gala ceremony in March next year.
Allstaff Air Conditioning began 30 years ago when employees invested their own money to take over the fledgling company and grow it into the multimillion dollar company it has become today.
The business has changed dramatically since its inception and has gone from servicing rural areas of Victoria to covering Victoria and New South Wales.
The business now employs more than 250 people with 200 located in Melbourne.
Allstaff’s Sydney operation has grown from nothing to $40 million in just six years and that success has paved the way for a new operation in Canberra.
Allstaff Air Conditioning has worked on significant projects including the Melbourne Convention Centre, Westfield Doncaster Shopping Centre and Federation Square.
It was nominated in the areas of Employment, Service Excellence, and Innovation.
Direct Mail and Marketing is located in Abbotts Road, Dandenong South, where it began 18 years ago.
Its managing director Fred Humphrey had been in advertising in the print industry and identified that direct-to-home marketing was the new flavour for businesses wanting to gain the edge over their competitors.
The company now has 65 full time employees and 40 casuals with 15 per cent of its staff having been with the company for 10 years.
It has expanded to provide a range of marketing services including e-mail, traditional mail, design, database services, printing, warehousing and distribution, and its customers include such names as the City of Greater Dandenong, the RSL, Danks and Tattersalls.
The company is a Silver Sponsor of the Make A Wish Foundation and provides considerable services to the charity.
It has introduced innovations with the creation of the Direct On Line Imaging System, which slashes the turnaround time and costs for printing.
Direct Mail and Marketing has been nominated in the areas of Service Excellence, Innovation, Employment and Corporate and Social Responsibility.
Both companies are automatically nominated for the main prize, the Premier Regional Business Award.