Malaga Success in Business Awards

The Swan Chamber of Commerce presented the awards on August 20 at Sandalford Wines. Eleven awards were presented in categories such as tourism, customer service and youth training.

Footwear Industries general manager John Irwin was named Swan Business Person of the Year and FX Digital won the best non-retail business award.

Footwear Industries won the Hanson Swan Business Award’s business of the year award last year.

The award judges said that award was partly because of the entrepreneurial nature of its directors and in particular Mr Irwin.

Mr Irwin began work with Footwear Industries in 1998 as financial controller and became general manager in 2000.

He said the business person of the year award was a tribute to all staff at the company. “We have a very good team here and at the end of the day you’re not much without your people,” Mr Irwin said. “I’m surrounded by very good people and have a great product; it makes things a lot easier for me.”

Footwear Industries exports to more than a dozen countries and has a licence agreement in Jakarta for the manufacture and distribution of its products.

Footwear Industries won the State and National Telstra and Australian Government’s Small Business of the Year Awards in 2003 and used the prize money from those awards to launch the Steel Blue Foundation, which is named after one of its brand of boots.

Mr Irwin said the WA Disabled Sports Association was the main beneficiary of the foundation, which had former cricketer Dennis Lillee as its patron.

He said Footwear Industries’ Steel Blue Argyle boot had received the highest comfort index rating ever recorded in February 2004 and was the only Australian company to receive the American Podiatry Medical Association’s seal of acceptance. It also promoted foot health with the Australasian Podiatry Council.

Website design and development specialist FX Digital won the best non-retail business award. It was also a finalist in last year’s awards.

“We were up against some stiff competition so we were thrilled to win the award,” director Steve Cartwright said.

“We’ve picked up a lot of work since we won the award. We used it to secure a project with Alinta Asset Management and used that to secure an even bigger project.

“We’ve got more work than we know what to do with it.”

Mr Cartwright has been building websites since 1996 and started FX Digital in January, 2003.

Award judges said FX Digital offered websites on a rental basis that was attractive to small businesses with a small budget and provided a flexible approach for larger businesses.

“Although a home-based business, their clients include customers in the USA, Iraq and Australia and range from holiday chalets to civil engineers helping to rebuild war-torn Iraq,” the judges said.

Awards judging panel chairman Tony Watts said judging the awards had been very demanding because of the high standard of entrants.

“Choosing the finalists and the ultimate winner for each award was really tough. It’s pleasing to see that we have so many potentially award-winning businesses in the region,” he said.

Picture courtesy of Midland Photographers
Pictured are John Irwin, Senator Judith Adams and The Honorable Helen Morton.