Young Enterprise Award nominee Craig Johnstone, centre, with Chisholm Institute of TAFE’s Pat Jones, left, and apprentice supervisor at Track Right One Laurie Brown.By Shaun Inguanzo
EASTLINK boss John Gardiner was guest speaker at the first of the Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce’s 2007 Premier Regional Business Awards breakfast at the Dandenong Club yesterday (Wednesday).
Three unique businesses excelling at what they do best are nominated at each of the five breakfasts throughout the year.
Overall winners are chosen by a specialist panel and announced at a gala awards night in March the following year.
This week Tip Top Bakeries, Geoff Taylor Motorcycles and All Truck Bodies became the first of 2007’s nominees.
The Young Enterprise nominee was Craig Johnstone, an outstanding 21-year-old apprentice from the Track Right One mechanical workshop in Dandenong.
Mr Johnstone’s study results with Chisholm TAFE have not yet dropped below 90 per cent, and his apprenticeship supervisor at Track Right One, Laurie Brown, said Mr Johnstone was the most outstanding mechanical apprentice he had ever seen at the company.
Tip Top Bakeries general manager Steven Chaur said the bakery had been located in Dandenong for 40 years and was looking to expand.
Its brands include Sunblest, Noble Rise and Golden.
Mr Chaur said the biggest change to affect Tip Top had been the removal of a 30-kilometre limit on the area a bakery could service, allowing it to expand and become a national supplier of bread products.
The other challenge is selling “white fluffy stuff” as a brand, when it is widely made and sometimes cheaper elsewhere.
Tip Top was nominated in the categories of Service Excellence, and Employment.
Geoff Taylor Motorcycles on the corner of Cheltenham Road and Foster Street, Dandenong, has become an institution for motorcycle enthusiasts.
The company sells motorbikes – plain and simple – and caters for anyone from “young children to former Prime Ministers”.
The outlet is named after its owner, Geoff Taylor, who has held countless titles in motocross and sidecar competitions in Australia and Victoria, and whose reputation has elevated the shop to one of national significance for motorcyclists.
It was nominated for the categories of Service Excellence, Retail, and Small Business.
All Truck Bodies manager Russell Gordon said the truck-body supplier was proving successful in competitive market.
The company was founded in 1991 by Tony Romano and George Mitrousis and has grown to include a Queensland factory as well as its Dandenong operation.
All Trucks is also conquering a potential skilled worker shortage by supplying Kangan Batman TAFE with space to train apprentices, while giving them a taste of working for All Trucks.
Mr Gordon said some of those apprentices had now worked their way to become leaders on the workshop floor.
ConnectEast chief executive John Gardiner rounded out a busy morning with a small update on the EastLink tollway.
Mr Gardiner also had plenty of information about the tolling system, and he encouraged Dandenong’s business community to use the tollway when it opened in November 2008.
