The Jeffreys Bay Business Forum has for decades been making annual awards to local business people and others, to acknowledge exceptional achievements. With the consolidation of smaller local authorities in 2000 into the Kouga local authority region and the following creation of the Kouga Business Forum as an umbrella body, the above-mentioned practices were continued and broadened to the total local authority region, including the four sub regions of Jeffreys Bay, Humansdorp, the Greater St Francis area and the Gamtoos Valley.

2. Existing practices

The Management Committee of the Kouga Business Forum takes the annual initiative to identify exceptional achievements.  Representatives from the four sub regions are invited to identify possible candidates.The awards are presented at a special Kouga Business Forum awards function in November, organized on a rotational basis by the various sub regions. The awards are in the form of floating trophies and merit certificates. The Management Committee of the Kouga Business Forum nominates a Kouga business leader for the particular year from the nominations received from the sub regions. Certificates are presented to all successful candidates. Currently there are ten floating trophies, which may be awarded as follows:

3 Guidelines

The approved guidelines for nomination (Nomination Forms can be downloaded at the bottom of the page) are as follows :

3.1 Exceptional achievements are considered and awarded independently within different categories, e.g. for micro, small, medium and large, local, national, international, private businesses, professional, community and humanitarian service.
3.2 The nominations are evaluated in terms of comparative quantitative and qualitative criteria, like total turnover and profits, number of staff, total investments, percentage growth, innovative extension initiatives, black economic empowerment, community involvement and service delivery.  
3.3 No business, institution or individual are considered for the same achievements within a cycle of three years
3.4 No serving member of the Management Committee are directly or indirectly involved with the evaluation and decision-making regarding the acknowledgement of achievement in which he of she has a vested interest.
3.5 Exceptional achievements are acknowledged by the allocation of floating trophies and merit certificates within identified categories, including the Forum’s own business leader of a particular year.

4 Process to be followed in the evaluation and acknowledgement of exceptional achievements

4.1 A sub committee from each town will manage the awards process 
4.2 The office of the Kouga Business Forum will manage the process and invite members of the Management Committee, general members of the Business Forum and the public to submit award proposals before the end of June in a particular year. 
4.3 The office will gather information in terms of the criteria identified in advance as set out in paragraph 3, about every nomination received.
4.4 At a meeting of the Kouga Forum’s Management Committee during August/September of every year, the different sub committees will submit its recommendations with full motivation, to the Management Committee
4.5 The sub committees will submit their local nomination as business leader of the year to the Kouga Forum and motivate this nomination as a possible Kouga business leader of the year.
4.6 The Forum’s Manager, in consultation with the Chairman, will take responsibility for the contents of all certificates and merit certificates to be awarded
4.7 All awards will be regarded as confidential until these awards have been officially announced at the function of the Kouga Business Forum