Diversity of winners
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THE Rising Stars awards program was initiated by WA Business News in 2003 and since then it has identified many of Western Australia's up-and-coming business success stories.
The awards are designed to identify and celebrate the success of fast-growing privately owned WA businesses.
The selection of winners is based on turnover, profits and staffing growth, as well as an assessment of the growth strategies being employed.
This year's assessment was undertaken by an expert panel representing each of our sponsors: Patersons Securities, Lavan Legal, Jardine Lloyd Thompson, National Australia Bank and Sovereign Bridge Capital Group (see page 24 for details).
A highlight of the awards is the diversity of the winners each year. The top three this year comprise insurance brokers Specialised Broking Associates, IT firm Datacom WA and food manufacturer Anchor Foods.
Many of the winners from previous years have gone onto greater success, with some pursuing a stock market float, while others have been acquired by larger companies.
The inaugural winner in 2003 was advertising agency Gatecrasher, which is now well established as one of top half-dozen agencies in Perth with about 30 staff.
The 2004 winner, software and IT firm Empired, has since listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Another Rising Star to have listed on the ASX is 2006 joint winner ThinkSmart, which was established by Perth entrepreneur Ned Montarello in 1996 and is successfully pursuing international expansion.
ThinkSmart shared the 2006 award with Bassendean-based Australian Mine Services, which has since been acquired by the Leighton group.
Bunbury engineering firm SWG Operations, IT firm Commtech Wireless, corporate advisory firm Mainsheet Corporate, consulting group Change Corporation, scaffolding supplier Blackadder Group, industrial services business TCC Group and business financier Benchmark Debtor Finance are other Rising Stars to have been sold.
The 2005 winner was engineering services firm Calibre Projects, while last year's winner was WA-based international boat building company Strategic Marine.