Good business award motivates

The Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) has announced the start of the DBN Good Business Award for 2014. The third annual Award event will also have a component for innovation, and entry for the Innovation Award will be open to the public.
Talking about the value of the Good Business Award, the bank’s communication manager, Jerome Mutumba said they highlight the best of enterprise selected from among DBN clients, in terms of excellent business practices which contribute to the development mandate of the bank.
Mutumba said that the Good Business Award would be awarded in two categories, for SMEs and larger enterprises. The core factors for consideration across both categories will be development impact, shared benefits, business viability and sustainability.
He said that both categories will have special judgment criteria. SMEs will be judged with special reference to creation of permanent employment. Larger enterprises will be judged with special reference to local resource utilisation.

In a departure from the format of the two previous competitions, Mutumba said, entrants for the 2014 Good Business Awards will be selected by a panel from within the bank. In previous Good Business Award entry periods, potential entrants proved too occupied with enterprise administration to devote time to their entries. Identification of potential winners from within the bank will enable it to take a wider view of excellence within its client portfolio.
He said to ensure impartiality, an independent panel of experts would be employed to assess the potential award winners. Previous winners of the Good Business Award are NamPost Savings Bank, International University of Management, Armstrong Construction, Karakulia Weavers and Fresh N Bake Bakery and Market.
Mutumba said the Innovation Award will be used to highlight the importance of innovation to the bank, as well as its role in enterprise development. The winner of the award, he said, would receive between N$50,000 and N$150,000 from the bank, to be used to start up or strengthen the initiative.