Wagga played host to the highly-anticipated 2020 AgriFutures National Rural Woman's Award on Wednesday morning, with a WA finalist nabbing the top spot and a NSW local bringing home runner up.
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Due to COVID-19 the 2021 event was cancelled with Wednesday's ceremony the finals of the 2020 award. Because of ongoing border restrictions, each state and territory held a remote in-person event and Wagga RSL hosted the main event which was broadcast across the nation.
The awards celebrate rural businesses, industries and communities with up to $20,000 available in prize money for the winner.
The most recent winner, Riverina local Jo Palmer, said however the real prize is the incredible network of regional businesswomen the award connected her to.
"As cliché as it sounds, if you can't see it you can't be it so this award really puts a spotlight on women doing incredible things in rural areas gives other women the confidence to jump in and try things that are new," she said.
2020 NSW winner Cressida Cains was named runner up in the national competition for her business Dairy Cocoon, which provides a platform and hub for dairy farmers to launch their own brands and businesses. She agreed the support from other women was the main prize.
"Its a really fantastic platform and it's given me a huge number of opportunities being part of the AgriFutures rural women's network," Ms Cains said. "I thinks its really really important to have strong voices at the discussion table."
The national winner was the WA finalist Cara Peek, a Broome-based lawyer whose project Saltwater Country drives employment opportunities for First Nations people in remote Australia.
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