IPWEA Australasia was a finalist in the national Associations Forum awards announced last week at their conference on the Gold Coast.
Our category, Association Turnaround of the Year 2018, was however won by the Chiropractors Association.
IPWEA NSW Division was also a finalist in the same awards in the category,Association of the Year 2018, which was ultimately won by Master Builders Association (MBA) Queensland. Congratulations to both winners.
The combined impact and recognition of the IPWEA brand in front of around 400 other industry association executives was indeed an honour. I was genuinely proud of our Australasia team who have worked so professionally over the last two-year period turning five years of six-figure losses into a six figure surplus in 2016/17 and projected to be somewhere near this again for 2017/18. This has resulted in approximately a $500K turnaround over the last two years.
To achieve this turnaround the Board and senior management determined their attitude toward risk, clearly articulated their strategic objectives, established a strategic two-year action plan, and aligned this to a new long-term financial plan, all under rigorous financial stewardship from our COO, Ben Balov.
Notably, rather than scaling down operations to produce this surplus, IPWEA Australasia ramped up its offerings, launching two new, highly successful conferences and the government supported, whole-of-industry Street Lighting and Smart Controls (SLSC) Programme.
Simultaneously, IPWEA Australasia grew its international reach, with the addition of our dedicated International Director, former CEO Chris Champion, who has achieved phenomenal results in a short period of time.
IPWEA Australasia moved its head office from our former Sydney CBD location to new prestige offices at North Sydney, brought previous external communications and media management in-house, and staffing was increased from 7.5 to 10.5 FTEs, with several new, major programs introduced.
For IPWEA Australasia and NSW, the status of finalist represents a significant recognition and achievement as assessed by independent judges against a wide field of industry association nominees.
While winning such a prestigious award is always exciting, just being a finalist is a win in its own right. Congratulations to the teams at both IPWEA Australasia and NSW Division.
Robert Fuller CEO, IPWEA Australasia