We are thrilled to announce that Sprout Scientific has been nominated in three categories for the 2024 Illawarra Business Awards, marking our highest number of nominations to date. This year, we are proud to be recognised in two new categories: "Outstanding Young Business Leader," celebrating the achievements of our founder and CEO, Rhys Cornock, and "Excellence in Workplace Culture." Additionally, we have been nominated again for "Excellence in Small Business," a category we were honoured to win in 2023.
This year’s Illawarra Business Awards is particularly significant as it marks its 30th anniversary. This milestone will be celebrated with a formal gala and awards ceremony at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Friday evening, the 13th September.
At Sprout Scientific, our success is driven by a strong commitment to supporting sustainable and ethically sound businesses. Over the past year, we have seen substantial growth and innovation, expanding our range of services and tripling our local client base. A key achievement has been the successful launch of our new “Concierge” service, which provides a tailored fortnightly funding and opportunity report. Given the novelty of this type of service, the feedback has exceeded our expectations, with all clients expressing how Concierge has allowed them to stay in touch with the funding space without compromising their primary business activities. We have also remained committed to supporting our wider community, having hosted a free grant-writing workshop earlier this year and undertaken pro bono work for a local community centre.
Our Excellence in Workplace Culture nomination is a testament to the efforts we have made to accommodate our staff and achieve a healthy work life balance, despite being a smaller company. A few of our favourite initiatives are Dog Therapy Tuesdays, where staff members bring their dogs to the office, and daily Sproutings (team walks around the block). We also offer very flexible working hours to accommodate a variety of Uni schedules and personal needs/preferences, and embrace an inclusive and democratic workplace, where decisions big and small are made as a team.
And of course, the Sprout Team is thrilled to have our Managing Director, Rhys Cornock, nominated in the Outstanding Young Business Leader category. Rhys founded Sprout in 2018 and has already accrued a client base of over 100 businesses and organisations, many of whom are local to the Illawarra. In the last financial year alone, he expanded the team by over 100% and has implemented several strategic initiatives that allowed Sprout to expand its reach to more companies doing good for people and the planet.
As we look to the future, we are excited to continue our journey of growth and engagement with industry-leading accelerators across the Illawarra and beyond. We owe our success to our dedicated team, our clients who inspire us, and our supportive business partners, all of whom help us in achieving our mission of fostering sustainability, innovation, and community growth. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Illawarra Business Awards judges, staff, and volunteers for their dedication to celebrating local business excellence. We also congratulate all the other nominees for their remarkable achievements and look forward to an inspiring awards ceremony.
If you'd like to learn more about what funding opportunities may be available to you, please feel free to book a complimentary consultation with our grant writing experts.
For more information on how we can best support your business, head to our website at www.sproutscientific.com or contact us at info@sproutscientific.com.