And the winners of the 2017 Westpac Rotorua Business Excellence Awards are?
As I write this, there are many excited and nervous people who are waiting to hear about the outcome of their entries.
All will be revealed tonight at a prestigious gala event hosting 600 people, where we will celebrate business success.
And a celebration it will be! I was bemused recently when I was talking to some people who thought it was a networking event.
Don't get me wrong it is a networking event, but it is so much more than that - it is a celebration of our city.
It is a celebration of all the visionary leaders from SMEs to larger businesses, profit and not-for-profit organisations, who work incredibly hard to bring economic wealth to this region; it is a celebration of all the amazing people who work in these organisations creating social and cultural vibrancy; and it showcases the talents of our youth who are entrepreneurial, techno savvy, confident and are our next generation of leaders.
This year we are celebrating in style.
We are acknowledging our city's vision to be the first bilingual city in NZ, Aotearoa. And if we consider Rotorua is the home of tourism dating back to the early 1800s when Māori guided international dignitaries through the Pink and White Terraces and Whakarewarewa, then the bilingual vision is appropriate.