Nominations for the 2012 Te Puke Business Excellence Awards are now open.

Two-time winner Barbara ('Barbz') Oldeman of Barbz Hairdressing says the benefit of being a category winner has been wonderful.

'Basically people find out you've won and want to find out why.

"It is wonderful to win because it means more business. Our business has definitely grown by winning the awards.”

Awards will be presented across six categories including a service award, a retail award, employee of the year, farming and industry as well as a supreme award.

The awards night evening will be on August 31 at Kiwi360.

The Te Puke Business Excellence Awards are dedicated to recognising and rewarding business community in the pursuit of excellence.

The judging process takes into account meeting and surpassing customer and market expectations, the best internal management processes, stakeholder outcomes and the learning and growth of businesses and the people that work in them.

The 2012 awards programme runs over 18 weeks.

After nominations are received and qualified, independent judges assess each participant in the various categories and the public may vote for a business that they believe offers an excellent product and customer service package.

If you would like to nominate a business or entrepreneur visit www.tepukebusinessawards.co.nz