Business backed

By Bridget Brady
INNOVATIVE business was celebrated at the inaugural Casey Business Awards at Hampton Park last week.
About 260 people attended the awards at the Arthur Wren Hall on 27 August to celebrate the success of local business.
With 121 applications from 83 businesses, Casey mayor Lorraine Wreford said the response to the awards went well beyond the council’s expectations for an inaugural event.
Cr Wreford said the council valued the contribution the Casey business community made to the municipality.
Berwick-based Successful Endeavours took out the top honours on the night, and were also the joint winners in the Business and Professional Services Award.
The business makes electronics and embedded software for Australian electronics manufacturers.
It is owned and managed by husband and wife team Ray and Junette Keefe, and the night proved to be a family affair for the Keefes, as their daughter, Amber, works at Botanic Homes who took out the Trades and Construction Award.
Mr Keefe said his industry was the major source of employment in the country, but faced a few challenges with little government incentive to be a manufacturer in Australia.
“We also don’t have any government sponsored technology support,” he said.
“My message to the government, if we’re going to turn the economy around, would be that we should focus on what’s going to create the jobs.”
Guest speaker for the night, Russel Howcroft, spoke about the power of creative advertising.
Mr Howcroft, a panel member of the ABC’s Gruen Transfer and chief executive of George Patterson’s Y&R, said advertising was a powerful and persuasive weapon.
“I consider advertising as a religion,” he said.
Mr Howcroft said advertising required bravery to produce something that stood out and made people react.5