Then vote for them in the Port Stephens Examiner’s 2017 Annual Business Awards.

The awards are designed to recognise excellence in business and customer service in the area.

There are 40 categories in the awards, ranging from accommodation, bakery and real estate to new business.

The Trades and Services category has been changed this year to Specialised Services (category 39).

This category takes in businesses that offer such services as photography, travel, tattooing or lawn maintenance. 

Voting in this year’s business awards opens on Thursday, August 31. 

Voting forms will be available to cut out from each September edition of the Examiner.

Forms are also available from the Examiner’s Raymond Terrace office.

Where to submit voting forms:

Voting can also be done on the Examiner’s website. Click here to be taken to the online voting form.

All votes must be submitted to the Examiner by 5pm on Friday, September 29 for them to be counted.

Only one vote per person, per category will be counted.

Finalists in each of the 40 categories will be notified in the first week of October.

Each category will have five finalists. This will be the five businesses that receive the most votes in each of the 40 categories.

Judging to determine the winner for each of the 40 categories will be done between October 3 and 15. 

The awards night will be held at Wests Nelson Bay Diggers on November 1. 

As well as the 40 category winners, an overall winner will be announced at the awards night. The overall winner is the business who ranks the highest following the judging process.

In 2016, DJ Cooper Accounting from Raymond Terrace took out the accounting category award and the overall winner gong.

Click here for the voting form.

If you are a Port Stephens business owner or manager and want to put yourself and staff in the running for the Examiner’s awards you need to let your customers know that they can vote for you.

Hang up a ‘vote for us’ sign, put some voting forms on the counter or personally ask customers to vote for you.

Let them know which category they can vote for you in, especially if there is more than one.

For example, if you run a restaurant, let customers know whether to vote for you in the Australian or international cuisine category (category 33 or 34).

Finalists in each of the 40 categories (listed below) are determined by the amount of votes the business receives. 

The five businesses that receive the most amount of votes in their category are the finalists. 

Just remember that only one vote per person, per category will be counted. So, you need to encourage as many customers as possible to vote for your business.

To make it easy for customers to vote for you, leave some voting forms on a counter for them to fill in. Make sure you let them know which category you would like for them to vote you in.

You can also collect votes on behalf of your customers but you must submit them to the Examiner not later than 5pm on Friday, September 29.

Download a ‘vote for us’ poster here:

To vote for a business in the awards all you need to do fill out an official voting form and submit it to one of the voting boxes.

Forms are available in the Examiner newspaper, or can be picked up from the Raymond Terrace office. Businesses may also have some forms on the counter for you to fill out.

Photocopies of the form will be accepted.

You can also vote online by clicking here.

A handy tip: check to see if a business is asking customers to vote in a certain category.

The more votes a business receives in the one category, the higher its chances of becoming a finalist.

Just remember though, only one vote per person, per category will be counted. So, encourage your friends and family to vote, too.

It was a chance to celebrate the achievements of businesses across Port Stephens – and celebrate they did.

Close to 500 people packed into the auditorium of Wests Nelson Bay Diggers for the Examiner’s 2016 Annual Business Awards on Wednesday, October 12, which carried an Arabian Nights theme.

They were small business owners and employees ranging from mechanics and butchers to florists and childcare centres, who for much of the year, had worked tirelessly to provide vital services across  Port Stephens.

The Examiner’s Sales Manager Sue Prescott said the event was a true reflection of the dedication business had shown during the past 12 months.

“The Port Stephens Examiner Business Awards is a wonderful opportunity to recognise and reward our local businesses for their contribution to the Port Stephens Community,” she said.

“I really admire how these businesses were supporting and encouraging each other’s success. There was a great feeling of pride throughout the room.”

Television personality Mike Rabbit returned to MC the event which was officially opened by Port Stephens Mayor Bruce MacKenzie. 

Cr MacKenzie paid tribute to the the resilience and fortitude of small business owners and employees who have traded through another tough year. 

​More than 4500 votes were counted in this year’s awards and from those, 200 finalists were selected across 40 categories.

Following a judging process spanning five weeks, 40 winners were determined plus the Port's overall business of the year.

Telstra Salamander Bay took out the Technology Industry award while Stephen T Parrot won the category of Legal services.

Spinning Wheel Hotel, Raymond Terrace once again won best Hotel or Bottle Shop however it was DJ Cooper Accounting that took the top gong for the night taking the overall winner crown.

Full list of winners here.

See the full list of finalists here.