Speaking Sensis

On Thursday 22 April, I went along to Victoria’s most prestigious environmental awards ceremony: the 2010 Premier’s Sustainability Awards, which saw printing business VEGA Press win both the Small Business and Premier’s Recognition Awards. 

Victorian Premier John Brumby and Sensis General Manager Corporate Affairs Prue Deniz congratulate Vega Press Commercial Manager Robert Nugent. Photo: James Thomas

For the second year running, Sensis sponsored the ‘Small Business’ award category, which was also won by VEGA Press.

And as a nice little behind the scenes story, Sensis contracted VEGA Press to print some promotional material for our soon-to-be launched ‘Small Business, Big Opportunity: Sustainable Growth’ book the day before the Premier’s Sustainability Awards.

We appointed environmentalist Jon Dee to write the new book for small businesses, which features practical information and tips on how to improve their bottom line while also reducing their impact on the environment.

The book also looks at how small businesses can gain a competitive advantage by embracing environmentally sustainable practices, which is exactly what happened with Sensis and VEGA Press.

We put a call out to our print brokers for a printer with sensational environmental credentials that would allow us to print this piece of collateral in a way that had a minimum impact on the environment. VEGA Press came in with the most price competitive quote and the best environmentally sustainable credentials – which won them the job.

It’s wonderful to see first hand a practical example of a small business using its commitment to environmental sustainability to win work from a large business.

Vega Press is Australia’s first business to gain international certification for greenhouse gas verification from SGS Australia. It purchases carbon offsets to ensure all of its operational greenhouse gas emissions are calculated and offset. It has installed systems to reduce water consumption by 50 per cent, energy usage by 20 per cent, and since 2006 – waste sent to landfill has reduced by more than 50 per cent.

The theme for this year’s Premier’s Sustainability Awards was ‘Rise to the challenge of change’, recognising organisations that are acting now for sustainability.

It was held at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, which is fitting since the MECC was the first convention centre in the country to be awarded a ‘6 Star Green Star’ environmental rating by the Green Building Council of Australia.

I wanted to share the story of VEGA Press winning Sensis’ business because of its commitment to sustainability, in hope of motivating other small businesses to take some steps towards greening up their operations as well.

Congratulations to everyone involved – entrants, finalists, and of course the winners. May your commitment to sustainability inspire and motivate others to embrace sustainability and ‘rise to the challenge of change’.

There’s a lot of support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) coming through from Sensis at the moment. We’ve just launched a new ‘Small Business’ section on the Sensis corporate website. Here you’ll be able to find all the free resources Sensis produces for SMEs  in one convenient location. And we can also confirm that a new book specifically for SMEs focusing on sustainable business practices is in the making.

The ‘Small Business’ page is the new home to a range of popular resources Sensis produces for Australia’s SMEs, including the Small Business, Big Opportunity advertising and marketing guide; Sensis® research reports such as the quarterly Business Index, Consumer Report and annual e-Business Report and a summary of Sensis’ small business partnerships and a useful links page.

With all the free resources produced for SMEs now in one convenient location, smallbusiness.sensis.com.au has been concluded and traffic to that site is now redirected to the new ‘Small Business’ page.

As well the new page, following the great feedback received about the advertising and marketing guide Small Business, Big Opportunity, Sensis has decided to produce a new book exploring how SMEs can grow and prosper by implementing sustainable business practices.

Jon Dee

Environmental expert Jon Dee has partnered with Sensis to research and write the book, which will deliver easy to understand practical insights.

Jon co-founded Planet Ark with Pat Cash in 1991 and today is Founder and Chairman of the Australian advocacy organisation ‘Do Something!’ He is also the Environment Editor for Channel Nine’s nationally broadcast TODAY Show.

Jon has more than 25 years working on cause-related projects. Some of the highlights include co-producing ‘The World Against AIDS’ global broadcast which launched ‘World AIDS day’ in 1988; initiating and running ‘Rock Aid Armenia’ in 1989; co-founding Australia’s ‘National Tree Day’ with Olivia Newton-John which resulted in more than 12 million native trees and shrubs being planted… and that’s just to name a few!

Jon and Sensis have worked together before when Jon initiated the Sensis sponsored RecyclingNearYou.com.au. Working alongside Sensis’ ongoing commitment to supporting SMEs, the new book will be available to download or order at no cost from the new ‘Small Business’ page towards the end of the year. Keep an eye out on about.sensis.com.au for updates.

If you have any feedback about the new ‘Small Business’ page or any questions about the upcoming book, please contact Smallbusiness@sensis.com.au.