“It is good to win awards but the most important is to win together.” – N’Golo Kante
For anyone who missed the news, earlier this month NACC NRM was awarded both the Not-for-Profit and Aboriginal Engagement Awards at the Mid West Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Business Excellence Awards held in Geraldton!
In addition to these two accolades, as a result of our win in the NFP category, NACC NRM was subsequently declared the winner of the 2022 Business of the Year award. It was a euphoric night and I am incredibly proud of our team and our partnerships for the efforts which culminated in these awards. I am also extremely proud of the professional way in which our team conducted themselves throughout the awards evening.
The recognition for NACC NRM through these awards is the result of our continuing focus on building and strengthening relationships with our partners to collaborate, achieve more, and deliver better outcomes for the region. In this respect, I want to say a huge thank you and congratulations to our partners and collaborators. You played an integral role in securing the awards.
Winning the Business of the Year award has prompted the question: ‘Is NACC NRM really a business?’ I want to take this opportunity to share with you why we are a business, albeit a social enterprise, and why we will continue to operate that way.
Behaving like a business and developing business opportunities presents an enormous and important opportunity for natural resource management and conservation in the Northern Agricultural Region. In every case, without exception, our business mindset is underpinned by a firm focus on our organisational purpose:
Ensuring that the community of the Northern Agricultural Region values and actively protects our region’s natural capital consistent with the Goals and Aspirations of NARvis.
Thinking like a business gives us the opportunity to deliver on government priorities when they align with our purpose (and NARvis) and increase delivery on some community priorities, which may not attract government funding.
Just as the Not For Profit sector is learning to think like a business, the ‘for-profit’ sector is increasingly being asked to demonstrate its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) credentials and alignment with a greater purpose to retain market share. There are enormous opportunities for both sectors to learn from each other for better community outcomes.
One of NACC NRM’s recent business endeavours is the purchase of a permanent home for the NACC NRM team at 4 Walton Close, Geraldton (formerly Master Builders Association). These premises will not only be a base for our operations, but the site also presents an opportunity to further deliver on our purpose. We will approach delivering this purpose with a business mindset so that we can continue to deliver on government and community priorities, where they align with NACC NRM’s purpose.
The purchase of a building is a big investment for any organisation, business, or otherwise. To ensure this investment generates a return so that we can continue to deliver NACC NRM’s purpose, we are investing in planning efforts to ensure both NACC NRM and the community more broadly reap the benefits. If we think like a business to improve our organisational sustainability, we can return more to the region through on-ground activities.
A great example of this is our Coastal and Marine Program which NACC NRM has seed funded since early 2020. Since it was re-established, the NACC NRM Coastcare team has either directly secured or helped to secure for the region, over $280,000 in funding for coastal projects and activities, which would not have been possible without NACC NRM’s seed investment in this program.
A very worthy result of our dedicated NACC Team.
Keep up the great partnerships & support for the NAR
Bravo team, huge congratulations
A massive Congratulations to the NACC team 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Very well deserved!