Young Business A Winner In Inaugural Aussie Rural Business Awards

Young resident Liz Wright, owner and founder of the Australian Cake Decorating Network (ACDN), was one of the winners at the inaugural Australian Rural Business Awards on June 17.

Ms Wright said she was excited to be named winner of the 2022 Micro Business Award.

“Receiving recognition for the community I’ve created for our industry over the last 10 years, and the positive impact ACDN has for our members is rewarding,” Ms Wright said.

“Many small businesses have endured so much over the past couple of years, and for my members whose businesses were significantly affected by COVID restrictions, most of these negative impacts were completely out of their control.”

“It was really important to me to be able to provide strategic support, business guidance and networking opportunities for our members even more so during that time, and it’s nice to be recognised for those efforts via this award.”

Ms Wright lives in Young with her husband and four children, and has grown ACDN into more than a membership platform.

Over the past decade, she has expanded the services offered by ACDN to support its over 1500 members across Australia through workshops, a monthly subscription box, Industry Awards, skill development and events.

“When I was running my own cake decorating business, I saw first-hand the need for a platform for bakers and decorators to gain advice and support, share their work, develop their skills, network and to promote their small businesses,” Ms Wright said.

“Having worked in the industry myself, I knew that it could be isolating working from home alone, with minimal support and networking opportunities.”

Ms Wright believes community plays an enormous part in her success. “Running a small business is challenging at times and being in a rural or regional area can add to the challenge and feeling of isolation due to limited resources and lack of business support, compared to what is available in city areas,” Ms Wright said.

The Australian Rural Business Awards are presented by Spend With Us, and were designed to recognise the strength, resilience, and talent of small business owners in rural and regional areas of Australia who, in the last few years alone, gone through droughts, bushfires, mouse plagues, floods, lack of tourism and a global pandemic.

Founders of Spend With Us, Jenn Donovan and Sarah Britz have been overwhelmed by the response to the awards and were excited to see so many businesses get involved.

• Topics:

• Business Spotlight
• Awards