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Darren and Jo Ksiazkiewicz operate Houghton Auto Body in the Adelaide Hills.

 

Despite forging a strong connection with their local community, including affiliations with the local rugby team and hospital, Darren says he was not expecting to be one of two shops to take out the title for the Axalta Sustainability Award last year.

 

It was overwhelming.

 

We were not expecting to win that – that such as a small shop like ours could win the award.”

 

It's proof that bigger doesn't always equal better.

 

That moment struck and afterwards Houghton Auto Body scored a visit from a major insurance company.

 

A few days later after returning to Sydney we had an insurance company come in and say congratulations on winning the awards.”

 

For the record, Darren and Jo have scooped up multiple awards from our judges.

 

Darren believes that the swanky awards lunch also provided great opportunity to network with the big guns and other sectors of the industry.

 

Being among massive volume shops compared to us...it was great that feedback from them.

 

I think it's a fantastic award from Paint & Panel and Axalta.”

 

So you might be thinking, what exactly is the Axalta Sustainability Award and does your shop qualify to win this year?

 

Firstly, it's not about being green.

 

The Axalta Sustainability Award is about building a better future for your business and creating a better environment for your staff to ensure that your business stands the test of time.

 

You don't need to tick every box but here are some of the criteria the judges will be looking for:

 

 

  • Strong vision for business and plan for future
  • Staff training, especially encouraging the next generation, e.g. apprentices
  • Marketing program
  • Efficient operating procedures
  • Environmentally responsible
  • Community involvement
  • Specialisation or diversification strategies

If you think this sounds like your business, nominations for our 2016 awards are now open – and they're closing very shortly.

 

Winners will be flown to Sydney for our fabulous awards presentation event in October and will also be featured in the November issue of Paint & Panel.

 

Entries close on May 16 2016.

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