Cunnamulla Bakery rises to the occasion, winning national Welcoming Cities Award
Cunnamulla business owners, Nick and Kate Land of the Cunnamulla Bakery have taken home the Individual Award in the inaugural Welcoming Cities Awards for Change for their work in ensuring their migrant employees feel welcome and are embraced by the local community.
The Awards celebrate leading practice and innovation in advancing welcoming and inclusive communities.
Paroo Shire Council CEO, Cassie White travelled to Canberra to present at the Welcoming Cities conference and accepted the award on the Lands’ behalf.
Cunnamulla and the Paroo Shire are known for being friendly and welcoming to all, for having a strong community spirit,” Cassie said.
“It’s fantastic to see Nick and Kate from the Cunnamulla Bakery be recognised for the hard work they have put into welcoming their workers into not only their business, but into the community.”
Nick and Kate have gone to much effort to attract and retain staff, by making Cunnamulla feel like home. This has included buying and furnishing accommodation, ordering in traditional and cultural foods, and facilitating social connections for their staff.
“Recruiting staff has been our biggest program, that’s why we’ve gone the way of helping people with visas and immigration,” Nick said.
“Our current baker Fida is from Malaysia and is a huge asset to our business, as well as her husband Eddie who jumps in to help.
“Different nationalities bring different ideas, different types of food. We enjoy having a multicultural team, we can sit down and talk about what products we’re going to make and what we can do to improve variety.
“What we need now is more support and incentive from a State and Federal government level for businesses wanting to recruit migrant workers, such as more flexible visa options for rural areas to encourage people to come out just that bit further.”
“There are plenty of jobs available and businesses waiting to welcome them with open arms.”
Welcoming Cities - https://welcomingcities.org.au/what/
Live Outback - http://www.liveoutback.com.au/
END
For more information:
Kelly Schmidt, kelly.schmidt@paroo.qld.gov.au, 0472 870 774