This is an opening line one could expect if they do business in Lockhart, The Rock, or Henty.

There is a connection that runs deep – generations deep in some cases – and it is something valuable that can’t be replicated by big city multinational businesses. 

If the season is tough or commodity prices fall everybody knows about it and there is a collective show of measured compassion. 

The same is evident if something good happens.

If a local footy team wins or someone in the community achieves something big.

There is, what can feel like, universal recognition.

It is a mix of old fashioned service and people simply helping each other out to get by.

And in Lockhart and beyond they are not just getting by.

There are plenty of businesses and individuals that appear to be thriving. 

Lockhart Shire is recognising some of these leaders with the inaugural business excellence awards. 

The awards have been broken into categories enabling young entrepreneurs, aged 18 to 35, to enter and there is an employee of the year award plus, business leader as well as excellence in small business. 

It is a chance for those in the shire who are doing well to shine.

And it is also an opportunity for members of the community to recognise and say thanks for what might be, in some cases, generations of service. The awards also paint a positive picture for potential employment opportunities or career paths for those who are keen to stay in a rural or regional area.

It is an ideal platform for the shire to put the best of the best on a pedestal and show those from other regions what can be achieved. 

Without such awards it is possible that these achievements and all of the hard work that people take in their stride could go unnoticed.

And the awards – backed by several categories – also allow the shire to showcase the immense diversity that is evident from agricultural businesses through to successful main-street shops.