The Hunter Manufacturing Awards Inc. (HMA) celebrated its 10th year of supporting manufacturing excellence in the Region on 17 October with more than 500 people attending the 2014 Hunter Manufacturing Awards at Newcastle Panthers.

HMA is dedicated to the promotion of best practice in manufacturing. It believes this can be achieved by showcasing the achievements of the best to encourage and sustain the aspirations of those who want to be amongst them.

HMA works collaboratively with key regional organisations to highlight the achievements of regional manufacturers and the importance of manufacturing in general.

HMA acknowledges the significance of the Region’s proud manufacturing history, and is committed to ensuring manufacturing plays an integral role in invigorating the Region’s future.

The first awards event in 2005 was a Black Tie Ball held at Wests, New Lambton. The dancing that the organisers planned, however, did not work as the vast majority of the audience were men. Nevertheless, it was a great night and established the awards as a major business event for the region and an effective means of highlighting the successes of local manufacturers.

The event organisers learnt their lesson from the 2005 event and decided from then on to focus on the whole audience – not just the finalists, winners and sponsors – to create an awards event that was exciting and fun as well as being relevant to the industry it was promoting. Since that first event, organisers aim to ensure everyone enjoys the entertainment and takes part in celebrating the excellence in manufacturing that the event brings.

The Hunter Manufacturing Awards has expanded and grown over the years and now recognises companies from the Hunter, the Central Coast and Mid-North Coast.

The event now attracts a wide range of sponsors and supporters, and has grown to be one of the largest and most prestigious award events to be held in the Hunter Region.

The 2014 Hunter Awards was no exception, with a Carnivale theme adding colour and fun to the night. Amongst all the enjoyment, however, the focus was still very much on celebrating the success of our local manufacturers and highlighting their importance to our region.

HMA Chairman, Bob Cowan said “We are a proud manufacturing Region and the Awards’ event is for our manufacturers. It is all about recognition and encouragement and profiling those that have achieved ‘excellence’. To reach the milestone of 10 years of supporting manufacturing excellence in our Region marks the determination, tenacity and loyalty of all of our manufacturers”.