Positive attitude reaps reward for Cameron

Cameron Syme was named this year’s Business Person of the Year at the 15th annual Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry Awards held on Friday at Wignalls Wines.

Picture by Laurie Benson: ACCI 2012 Telstra Countrywide Business Person of the Year winner, Cameron Syme.

ACCI chief executive Graham Harvey said Mr Syme was recognised as the founder of the Australian whisky industry and designed and built WA’s only whisky distillery in 2005.

Mr Syme also established a local law firm which has grown to employ 15 staff, including eight lawyers.

Mr Syme said he was thrilled to win the award, sponsored by Telstra Country Wide.

“It’s really nice to be acknowledged in a positive way for the work that I’ve been doing,” he said.

“It really is the culmination of seven or eight years of hard work.

“It’s great to be acknowledged by people I consider my peers in the Albany business community and particularly as a lawyer, because as a lawyer so much of your work is in the background and it’s not often you get a pat on the back.”

Mr Syme said he was committed to working for a positive future in Albany.

“I’m now on the Marketing Albany committee with the City of Albany and I’m on the ACCI’s Albany Tourism committee and I think there’s a great deal of interesting things that are happening down here in the next couple of years with the centenary of Anzac and the development of the foreshore,” he said.

“Trying to influence those processes in a positive way is very clearly on my agenda.”

Mr Syme said the awards night was a great initiative of the ACCI and the feedback that businesses received was valuable.

“I think it all helps with the improvement of the Albany business community and is a great initiative of the ACCI,” he said.

marc.simojoki@albanyadvertiser.com