Chair of Judging Panel

Simon Flowers - LBW Business + Wealth Advisors

Simon Flowers is a Principal of LBW Business + Wealth Advisors dealing with Taxation, business advisory and superannuation matters.  He is a fellow of CPA Australia, Chartered Tax Advisor with TIA, Affiliate member of CNAAZ, Member of NTAA and an Authorised Representative of Lonsdale Financial Group Ltd.  Simon has been a Principal of LBW for over 10 years and prior to joining LBW was a manager at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Melbourne.  Simon has been involved in the judging of the Geelong Business Excellence Awards for the past 12 years (6 as Chair of the judging panel).  He has also been a member of CPA Victorian Public Practice Committee (including Chair), a past member of the ASIC Business Advisory Committee, past member and past chair of the CPA VICPAC taskforce and has represented CPA Australia at ATO meetings.  He has also presented at CPA events on tax and superannuation matters.  Simon is currently a CPA Quality Assurance reviewer with CPA Australia.  Simon has a Bachelor of Business from Deakin, Diploma of Superannuation Management, Diploma of Financial Planning and Maters of Tax through University of Melbourne.

Amelia Trethowan – Adelia Fine Foods

Owner and Director of Adelia Fine Foods and Bellarine Brownie Company, specialising in artisan food manufacturing and packaging.

Amelia has a Bachelor in Formulation Science (hon) from Monash University and Program Management Professional (PMP) from Project Management Institute. Working in the pharmaceutical industry for 12 years, Amelia held roles in formulation science at Acrux (an Australian biotech company), before transitioning into finance and quality assurance. These roles led her to Pfizer (formally Hospira), where she moved into program management and led several global teams, taking pharmaceuticals from laboratory scale to commercial launch.

Adelia Fine Foods has entered the GBEA every year since launch, giving Amelia first-hand experience on how the process has supported their business. This is Amelia’s first year on the judging panel.

Daniel Goldsworthy - Deakin Law School

Daniel Goldsworthy is an academic with Deakin Law School and is admitted as an Australian Lawyer in the Supreme Court of Victoria.  He is currently undertaking his doctorate at the University of Melbourne.  Daniel also sits as a tribunal Chairperson for Basketball Victoria.

Daniel was formerly a lecturer at Victoria University, Member of that law faculty’s Executive Committee as well as appointed Member of the University’s Academic Board. 

Daniel has published in diverse areas including constitutional law and theory, public international law, animal welfare law and sentience, legal education and philosophy, anti-doping regulation, amongst others. He has been awarded for his writing on the intersection of legal education, technology and philosophy.

Prior to academia, Daniel worked as a solicitor in civil litigation, property and commercial law.  He was formerly a non-executive director and company secretary of an international environmental not-for-profit organisation. 

Gillian Costa - GAICD Director Holroyd Pier Trust

A Geelong born and bred resident, Gillian has a history of business management across a diverse range of industries, including successfully owning and operating several private businesses over the duration, the current focus being The Pier Geelong.

Gillian also holds the positions of Deputy Chair for both a board in the Aged Care sector and with the State Government at the Kardinia Park Stadium Trust, providing another view of business management and operations for a well-rounded understanding.

Kate Kent - worksafe

Kate is the Stakeholder Engagement and Communications Advisor for WorkSafe and has worked in various roles within the government and non-profit sectors and has 20 years of experience in marketing, fundraising and communications. Kate's former position was General Manager and Co-Founder of Geelong Mums, prior to this she was the Manager of Trusts and Grants at Bethany Community Support and also ran her own consultancy business. Kate's career began as a Journalist with Leader Newspaper Group, after this she began a communications role at the City of Casey. As a consultant, Kate has worked at Barwon Health, WorkSafe, Colac Area Health, Bethany Community Support and Neighbourhood Houses Barwon. Kate also volunteers in the education and non-profit sectors. Kate is a 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility Award Winner through her work at Geelong Mums.

Keelie Hamilton - The Gordon

Working with the business community in the Geelong region for over 20 years, Keelie has been involved in the development of the business landscape through substantial periods of change and transition. With a background in Local Government, Keelie has been involved in service delivery, planning for growth, business development and major projects in this region. Her current role as Director Student and Industry Engagement at The Gordon delivers capacity in economic growth though development of workforce skills and capability. Keelie holds tertiary qualifications in business, tourism management and economics with current committee and volunteer roles including WynBay LLEN, The Werribee Learning Centre and Northern Futures Community Advisory Committee. 

Mark Wilkin

Mark is an experienced and qualified Human Resources practitioner with over 20 years’ experience, and has led Human Resources teams in various industries such as Manufacturing, the Victorian Water sector, Not for Profit and Public Health.

Mark’s professional philosophy is based on building strong organisational cultures through positive psychology and strong behavioural alignment, that then drive attaining core business objectives. His expertise covers Cultural Engagement and Alignment, Industrial and Employee Relations, Change Management, Talent Acquisition, Health & Wellbeing and Organisational Development. Mark is a qualified Executive Coach and various personality and behavioural profiling tools.

Mark is Geelong born and bred, and has a strong connection to the community through previous and current volunteer roles including the Samaritan House Geelong Board, Marshall Cricket Club Committee, St Mary’s School Board and Sacred Heart College Policy Sub-Committee. Mark has also served on Boards of national charities including the Chase and Tyler Foundation.

Nicola Wojcik - WorkSafe

Nicola has lived in Geelong for 16 years and has worked in Geelong for almost 4 years. She very quickly established an understanding of the Geelong business community through her role as Manager, Stakeholder Engagement & Communications for WorkSafe.  She played a large part in the project team for integration of  WorkSafe to Geelong and was heavily involved in all local partnerships.  She is now the Manager for Strategic Health Programs with a current focus on silicosis.  Nicola spent the majority of her childhood in Perth where she completed a degree in Asian Studies, with a double major in marketing and Japanese.  She has spent time in the energy, water and mining sectors and in trade & investment with those roles seeing her work in Perth, London, Port Hedland, Melbourne and now Geelong. She loves to be active and takes her love of sport to the Boardroom where she is entering her 4^th year as a commissioner for AFL Barwon. She has been involved in the judging for the Give Where You Live grants, Pako Festa and enters her second year as a GBEA judge. Outside of working life, Nicola enjoys spending time with her family, reading and traveling.

Paul Gray - Harwood Andrews

Paul brings experiences as in-house counsel, private legal advisor and business owner to his role as a Principal Lawyer with Hardwood Andrews.  He has previously managed the legal function for Telstra’s marketing and media portfolio, enterprise and government sales and legal technology transformation.  Before that, he managed a heady mix of operational and strategic matters as the inaugural manager of a start-up sports engineering business with operations across Asia, Europe and North America.  Aligning with his philosophy that good professional advice can be transformative to business, being involved with the Geelong Business Excellence Awards provides an opportunity to celebrate the talent and hard work that enable businesses to grow from good to great. 

Peter Temple

Peter Temple is the General Manager of the Torquay Bowls Club.  With a background including roles in sports coaching, policing, allied health, publishing, hospitality, management consulting and sports administration, along with not-for-profit board positions in youth welfare, education, drug and alcohol, the arts, tourism and public health, Peter’s diverse management experience allows him to assess businesses from a unique perspective. He has worked as an entrepreneurial sole operator, the proprietor of small enterprises, the manager of a family business, and in operational management roles both medium sized enterprises and large multinational companies. Peter holds tertiary qualifications in management, finance and economics.

Sarah Thomas - Co-Founder/Director SJ Personnel

Sarah is a HR and Resourcing specialist with over 18 year's recruitment experience across local and international recruitment firms. As a Senior Recruitment Consultant for prominent recruitment companies and HR Manager for the renowned Adventure Park in Geelong.

After 10 years working in key positions Sarah founded SJ Personnel, an ethical, transparent and proven recruitment company. SJ Personnel quickly developed a trusted reputation that has seen the company grow to encompass the Geelong, Ballarat and metropolitan markets.

SJ Personnel specialisis in providing recruitment & HR support exclusively to businesses located across Greater Geelong, the Surf Coast and regional Victoria.

Simone Boer - City of Greater Geelong

The desire to empower and transform people and businesses has led Simone along a varied career pathway. A fascination with how the brain works firstly led Simone to obtain a PhD in protein pathologies in mental illness, before a shift in focus led her to pursue a career in strategy, firstly as a Senior Manager at the Traffic Accident Commission (TAC) and currently as the Manager Strategy, Engagement and Performance at the City of Greater Geelong. Using a blend of visioning and understanding of people's motivations, Simone combines strategy with a people-centred approach to achieve business goals.

Since being with the City of Greater Geelong, Simone has led several key strategic initiatives including the engagement of 16,000 community members in the development of the region's 30 year Clever and Creative Vision.

Simone is a past President and Director of YMCA Geelong and is also the director of everheal which provides ready-made meals to help people overcome the symptoms of autoimmune disease.

Tina Perfrement - City of Greater Geelong

Tina Perfrement has worked with businesses and the public sector to improve performance through sustainability, in Australia and the UK.  Her approach is both strategically driven and practically focused; this is reflected in her achievements over a 19 year career.  Tina has been involved with developing markets for sustainable goods and services for most of her career.  Most recently she’s been working on a partnership program to inspire opportunities for clean technologies through her work at the City of Greater Geelong.  The Cleantech Innovations Geelong program has resulted in job creation, skills development, and business expansion outcomes for the Greater Geelong economy. 

Tony Spence - Prestige Jayco

Tony Spence, Director and General Manager of Prestige Jayco (Geelong & Bendigo), a family owned company that's been helping Geelong families for over 30 years. Previously Tony worked with Australia Post for over 20 years in various roles in both Mail Centre and Delivery departments and has studied at Deakin, Victoria University and Harvard.  

Tony is in his third year as a judge for the Geelong Business Awards after being a long term entrant with Prestige Jayco.  

Victoria Murrihy - Retired Business Owner

Victoria completed her Bachelor of Business in Accounting at RMIT. She commenced her career as a Tax Assessor with the Australian Taxation Office. After 10 years with the ATO, Victoria then pursued an opportunity in the Motor Vehicle Industry working as an Accountant for Werribee Mazda from 1988 to 1994. In 1994, the opportunity to start up a successful Ford Dealership in Hoppers Crossing presented itself and her position as Director/ Financial Controller of Westpoint Ford spanned the next 25 years.     

This is Victoria’s first year as a judge after being an entrant in the Wyndham Business Awards for many years.

Guest judges

Jodie Dunn - Envisage HR Solutions

Jodie Dunn, Director and Principal HR Consultant of Envisage HR Solutions, has over twenty years of HR / Management and Recruitment experience in various Senior HR, Consulting, Management, Advisory and Recruitment Management roles.  Jodie’s philosophy is simple.  She is passionate about People. She is a well-qualified, experienced, and business focused professional with a proven ability to mentor, coach and drive optimal performance and productivity of a team at an operational and strategic level.  Jodie works closely with her clients on Retention Strategies, HR Audits, DiSC Profiling, Organisational Restructures, Employee Engagement Surveys, Performance Reviews, Career Progression Plans, Workforce Strategies, Developing HR Strategies, Performance Management Strategies, Improving Culture, Leadership Mentoring and Coaching and Recruitment to name a few.  Jodie has led many successful teams, and combined with her HR, Leadership and Recruitment Consulting skills, guarantees her clients receive wide ranging HR Services.

Elizabeth elms - Barwon Disability Resource Council

Growing up in Portarlington, Elizabeth Elms has a strong interest in advocacy, particularly Mental Health and volunteers her time as a Community Visitor and Panel Secretary for the Office of the Public Advocate Victoria. This work expands advocacy into the Government mental health facilities in the Barwon region. Elizabeth has been employed as the Systemic Advocacy coordinator/Disability Royal Commission individual support Advocate at Barwon Disability Resource Council BDRC for almost a year and loves this diverse role.

Assisting individuals to have a voice and ensure their rights are protected is a very rewarding job. The Royal Communication into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability has bought a while new meaning to Elizabeth's job. "As I am assisting people to make submissions to the Commission, I'm realising the importance this will make to the outcomes and the affects it has on people's lives".

DR WAYNE READ - DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

Growing up in Ocean Grove, Wayne has always been a Geelong local. He worked locally in several small businesses while he studied Bachelor of Psychology and Management at Deakin University Waurn Ponds campus. Despite his honours and PhD research requiring more trips up the highway and to conferences, he is still proud to call Geelong home.

Now based out of Deakin's Waterfront campus, Wayne is a lecturer at Deakin University, and also the Academic Coordinator for the Work Integrated Learning in the Faculty of Business and Law. Wayne is no stranger to innovation. As part of his role, Wayne oversees the faculty's suite of Internship and experiential units, including Entrepreneurship Experience. Wayne's research has been published in leading Marketing journals and focuses on consumer engagement, social media, technology and connections people make to brands and products.

All judges and reviewers are required to sign a legally binding confidentiality agreement. This ensures all details of your submission are kept private and confidential.

Judges are not allowed to judge or view the submission of another competitor/similar industry they work in or a close friend or business mentor.