Selected from more than 22,000 nominations of businesses nationwide, “CityNews” spoke with some of the ACT 2024 Telstra Best of Business Award finalists.

TELSTRA has unveiled 28 ACT finalists of the 2024 Telstra Best of Business Awards, part of a national awards program that celebrates and recognises small and medium-sized businesses moving Australia forward.

Telstra group executive Amanda Hutton said Telstra’s 30+ year legacy of awards programs has supported small businesses and celebrated their achievements, while giving them the opportunity to learn from Australia’s best business minds.

“It’s an absolute honour to uncover and celebrate the small and medium-sized businesses that are supporting the Australian economy,” she said.

“The overwhelming number of nominations is a testament to the strength and determination of Australia’s small business community, and the huge impact that these businesses are having in their communities across the country,” she says.

ACT winners of the 2024 Telstra Best of Business Awards will be announced on November 3. Territory winners will be invited to Sydney for national judging on February 7, with national winners announced on February 8.

Selected from more than 22,000 nominations of businesses nationwide, “CityNews” spoke with some of the ACT 2024 Telstra Best of Business Award finalists.

First-time finalist puts best foot forward

RICKY Lee, director and principal podiatrist of The Walking Clinic, says he is excited and honoured to be nominated as a first-time finalist in the Telstra Business Awards for Outstanding Growth.

“The Walking Clinic was founded in 1978 by Richard Lee, my father,” he says.

“We were the first podiatry clinic in the region, growing into a network of five clinics across the bush capital.”

He says a sixth clinic will open on November 1 in Garran.

At The Walking Clinic, employees are treated like family.

“The Walking Clinic’s family-oriented culture sets us apart from larger, corporate run competitors,” says Ricky.

“This creates a strong sense of unity, collaboration and camaraderie within the team.

“Every patient is given personalised attention and quality customer care. We understand that everyone’s needs and conditions are unique, requiring a bespoke approach to treatment.

“Listening, guiding and empathising with our patient’s needs and concerns delivers a treatment journey focused on results, and improving the lives of those we engage with.”

Ricky says his aim is to deliver optimum foot health for all patients.

“Allowing them to either get back on their feet as soon as possible or maintain their health, allowing all to complete the things that they love to do,” he says.

“We want to help our clientele become pain-free, and put smiles back on their faces.”

The Walking Clinic. Lyneham, 6249 1758. Belconnen, 6251 5149. Kingston, 6201 1788. Woden, 6282 5466. Kippax, 6133 9654. Visit walkingclinic.com.au

Making a ‘creative difference’ to people’s lives

JULIA Landford says she is delighted her business, NatureArt Lab, is a finalist in two categories.

“We’re finalists in Championing Health and Building Communities in this prestigious award,” she says.

“NatureArt Lab is a unique, purpose-led arts and environmental education business that, over the past seven years, has made a significant difference to many people’s lives.

“We are contributing to environmental sustainability, building communities and championing health through our connections with nature and creativity.”

Julia says, as a “nature lover, artist and environmentalist”, she established NatureArt Lab in 2017. 

“We now have a talented team of around 30 artists teaching a range of high-quality art and photography courses, all inspired by nature,” she says.

“We also have a dedicated support team for our students and tutors, and experienced graphic designers who create our publications, calendars and greeting cards.”

She says as well as NatureArt Lab’s art and photography classes, they also offer “life-changing and educational” nature tours.

“We take people to some of the richest biodiversity hotspots in the world, in Australia, Borneo, Costa Rica, the Galapagos, Ecuador and Peru,” she says.

NatureArt Lab, 21 Blaxland Crescent, Griffith. Call 0414 342839, or visit natureartlab.com.au

Championing health on a journey to recovery

BRONWEN Stead, business manager for Ascent Rehabilitation, says the business’s dedication to championing health outcomes for Australians is evident in its purpose-driven approach and comprehensive range of services.

“Ascent Rehabilitation’s expertise lies in providing a comprehensive range of occupational rehabilitation services, including personalised ergonomics assessments, dedicated pain management support, hazard and risk identification, counselling services, mental health and resilience training, and vocational services,” she says.

“The company’s focus on individualised care, community connection and commitment to excellence is instrumental in improving the well-being of our clients. 

“By supporting those impacted by a workplace injury we empower individuals to navigate the workers compensation and the health system, to access the right supports at the right time, to be provided with the knowledge on how to best approach a return to work.”

Bronwen says what sets Ascent apart is the skill of staff, clinical expertise, care for all people, the ability to creatively problem solve, professionalism and its resilience and positive outlook no matter how complex the situation is.

“While we would wish that no individual or employer needs our services, we recognise that despite the best health and safety practices, people can still injure themselves through no one’s fault,” she says.

“Workers who are happy at work, who feel productive, respected and included, will often be very eager to remain at work throughout their recovery.”

Ascent Rehabilitation. Call 6156 4109, or visit ascentrehab.com.au

Passionate about helping with business technology

LAKSHMI West, co-founder of Digital Design Partners (DPP), is “super thrilled” the business is a finalist in three categories – Accelerating Women, Building Communities and Embracing Innovation.

“We feel very proud to be shortlisted amongst so many amazing companies, and we feel incredibly passionate about the three categories we are finalists in,” she says.

Many organisations suffer low staff morale and customer satisfaction, Lakshmi says, caused by daily exposure to irritating, cumbersome processes and repetitive data entry.

“Systems that don’t talk to each other, processes that don’t work, interfaces that don’t make sense and services that don’t deliver,” she says.

“DDP are a local Canberra company who partner with organisations to identify ways to streamline, redesign and automate business processes and operations so they align to staff and customer needs.

“We empathetically solve service challenges for organisations, personnel, customers and wider society.”

Lakshmi says through human-centred process improvement and the innovative use of technology, DDP designs and builds tailored solutions for a wide range of clients.”

Digital Design Partners. Visit ddpco.com.au

Women empowering women through support

RENEE Dockrill, a co-founder of Artemis Partners, says being a finalist in Accelerating Women reinforces the idea she and her three other co-founders shared four and a half years ago.

“It is really validating for us as women, I know we can often find ourselves having a clash of values,” she says.

Co-founder Carla Ewin says: “Artemis helps business leaders to grow, adjust, redesign, reshape, reconsider and realign their organisations.”

“We understand the key to successful change is recognising and embracing the complex dynamics between all impacted parties – sponsors, partners and consumers or customers – to find a lasting solution.

“We have a really strong focus on our clients, and really tailor our services to them with our expert senior leadership team.”

A common thread across their work is a focus on people, and understanding the implications of the issue to get the best outcome for clients, says Renee.

“I think in our time here there have been quite a lot of challenges, now we’ve been successful through challenging times, we’re able to broaden our reach in different capacities beyond our immediate reach.”

Carla says it took a long time to find a business name that encapsulated what they were hoping to achieve.

“It had the strength and the power in the name, Artemis is the Greek goddess of the hunt,” says Carla.

“We chose her because she’s all about providing for not only herself, but her family and her community.

“We also have a strong pro-bono strategy as well, we have a social impact strategy where we focus on strategically supporting Toora Women, who provide invaluable support to women in crisis in the ACT.”

Artemis Partners. Visit artemispartners.com.au

All about a strong community and support for dogs

DALLAS Burkevics, operations manager for Pups4Fun, says she and her team are excited to be finalists in the Telstra Business Awards.

“It’s a really good feeling to know we’re doing so well,” she says.

“We offer dog training, dog grooming and dog daycare.

“Pups4Fun was established in 2008, so we celebrated our 15th birthday in January, and I’ve been working here for nine years.”

She says what’s special about Pups4Fun is that they are all about building a strong community and support for dogs in the region.

“We have enough dogs, we just need more people now,” she says.

“Pups4Fun offers strong career pathways and progression opportunities, there is no experience required, we are just looking for people who are passionate about dogs and open to learning.

“It’s an incredible job too, easy to keep fit while having an outdoors lifestyle, with the benefit of taking dogs on adventures.

“Our big focus is on training. At the ACT Training Awards 2023 we won ACT Small Employer of the Year.

“We look at continual learning and development, and we can cross-train across the industry, and we have opportunities for apprenticeships and traineeships.”

Pups4Fun, 5/8-18 Fisher Square, Fisher. Call 6287 3955, or visit pups4fun.com.au

Swim and water safety for neurodiverse children

CAROL Jennings says she founded WaterWombats two years ago as a charity, with the aim of running a small, adapted, learn-to-swim and safety program for neurodiverse children.

“The program has almost tripled in size since then, and after listening to families, we have developed new and improved ways of doing things and included more allied health services,” she says.

“So, the team is incredibly proud to be finalists in the Building Communities and the Championing Health categories.

“WaterWombats is passionate about community, inclusion and supporting kids that have additional needs to achieve their goals. Being a finalist recognises this.”

Carol says WaterWombats is unique in that it provides an individual, tailored program for each and every child.

“The team focuses on physical and mental health aspects of learning, engagement and safety,” she says.

“We use a play-based, trauma-informed framework to work with different needs and behaviours.

“The team’s passionate about building brighter futures for our children, providing specialist support needed for everyone to access the pool, beach and other waterways safely, and achieving their goals of learning to swim.

“The drowning statistics for children living with a disability under the age of 14 are extremely worrying – we are doing our part to reduce those statistics.”

WaterWombats. Call 0413 139018, or visit waterwombats.com

Removing stigma and shame around food

KATE Freeman, founder of The Healthy Eating Clinic, says she and her team are honoured to be recognised as finalists in the Building Communities and Championing Health categories.

“We practice health-first nutrition and take a weight-neutral approach with our clients,” she says.

“A weight-neutral approach means that we focus on habits, behaviours and routines that promote long-term health for people of all body sizes that do not have the goal of weight loss.

“This takes a huge amount of pressure off clients as well as removes the shame, stigma and judgement that many people feel around food.”

Kate, a registered nutritionist, established the clinic in 2011.

“For some of us, we consume a meal without a second thought. For others, it fills them with stress, anxiety and discomfort.

“We exist to set people free from this stress and teach them how to eat well for the rest of their life.

“When we hear from our clients and how their relationship with food and their body has improved since working with us, it spurs us on.

“We’re a highly specialised team, rather than being generalists, our dietetic team is made up of experts in various areas of nutrition making us excellent at providing the best possible advice and care.”

The Healthy Eating Clinic, Level 3, 50 Launceston Street, Phillip. Call 6174 4663, or visit healthyeatingclinic.com.au