Crafty Chef wins our inaugural National Employer Award

Emu Plains food business Crafty Chef was named the 2011 Mission Australia Employment Solutions National Employer Award Winner at a gala dinner held in Sydney last night.

The awards acknowledge businesses that have gone that extra mile to give an unemployed person a fair go and although the field was competitive, Crafty Chef’s exemplary record shone through.

Over the five years Mission Australia Employment Solutions has been working with Crafty Chef it has provided employment opportunities for hundreds of job seekers.

Our national winner demonstrated a strong commitment to providing opportunities for some of the most disadvantaged job seekers, including Aboriginal Australians, job seekers with multiple barriers including drug and alcohol addictions, as well as pre-release prisoners like Amy*.

One of the first pre-release prisoners that Mission Australia worked with from the Dillwynia Correctional Centre Windsor, 39-year-old Amy had several barriers to employment. She had been incarcerated for five years, was dependent on drugs and had never worked.

After an interview and induction at Crafty Chef, our Employment Solutions team arranged for Amy* to continue on her methadone program and provided new work clothes.

She was extremely nervous before starting at Crafty Chef, but the staff went out of their way to make her feel welcome and provide training. Amy* quickly became a star performer at Crafty Chef and was well liked and respected by all staff.

Thanks to Crafty Chef, Amy* turned her life around. She is now drug-free and has regained the custody of her daughter. She still occasionally contacts Mission Australia’s Penrith office with updates and is overwhelmingly grateful for the assistance our team and Crafty Chef gave her when she needed it most.

Last night Crafty Chef’s Jitesh Gohil (pictured with Julie Rostron, also from Crafty Chef) accepted the national award before 180 guests, including employers, corporate partners and Mission Australia staff.

General Manager Awards
Three General Manager Awards were also presented at last night’s gala dinner at Le Montage, Iron Cove Bay. 

The General Manager Award for Queensland and the NT went to JJ Richards & Sons Pty Ltd, a family business with over 75 years’ experience in waste management. In the past year the company has helped to transform the lives of 22 female job seekers through The Women Take the Wheel Program, which resulted in participants becoming fully fledged heavy vehicle drivers.

JJ Richards & Sons is looking, in partnership with Mission Australia, to duplicate this program in regional centres such as Warwick and Toowoomba and extend the program to their Mackay and Bundaberg plants. The award was accepted by David Colvin and Robert Nicholson.

The General Manager Award for the NSW and ACT went to Southern Meats, a sheep and lamb meat export business based in Goulburn, NSW. We have worked with Southern Meats for over 11 years, and in the course of the past four years they have employed 140 job seekers through Mission Australia - and 40 employed this financial year.

Last night guests heard feedback from a new employee: “With all my knowledge and experience, this was the only employer willing to give me a chance after applying for over 180 jobs in six months and attending 40 interviews.” The award was accepted by Claire Graham.

The General Manager Award for Victoria, Tasmania, SA and WA was given to Blown Plastics, a plastics manufacturer based in Elizabeth, South Australia that supplies beverage containers, car parts and medical equipment. Based on the theory that everyone deserves a second chance, Blown Plastics has shown compassion and understanding when it comes to job seekers proposed by Mission Australia. Employing a wide range of people – young, mature, people with disabilities and Aboriginal Australians – the business focuses on a job seeker’s potential.

Winners were selected from a variety of industries, including childcare, health and aged care, building and construction, retail, hospitality, food and beverage processing, manufacturing, cleaning and waste management, marketing, recruitment and real estate. Trevor Burton from Blown Plastics accepted the award.

The judging panel was chaired by Mission Australia CEO Toby Hall and consisted of the three Employment Solutions General Managers - Phil Schultz, who looks after Queensland and Northern Territory; Jodie Gilliland for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, and Kylee Bates, who manages Employment Solutions in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia.

To see photos from the night, including the winners with keynote speaker Mike Munro, visit our gallery at facebook.com/missionaust

Find out more about how we work with employers to transform lives at the Mission Australia Employment Solutions website.

* Name changed to protect identity.