Small Businesses Win with Gazele in Warsaw

At Warsaw's Torwar Sports Hall, the lights were low and the floor of the arena was filled with some 600 men and women in business suits and dresses with not an athlete in sight. The scene was Poland's 11^th annual Gazele Awards gala for Warsaw, where small- and medium-sized business successes are celebrated for their financial successes.

"It's all about recognizing people and showing them that what they've done is important," says Mariusz Mazurek, who took the lead in organizing the event for Polish business daily Puls Biznesu and parent company Bonnier Business Polska.

This year some 3,500 businesses around Poland received awards. "It's about 500 less than last year but for the Gazeles to be worth something, it's important that we stick to the same criteria," says Mazurek. These include that companies must have a turnover of between PLN 3-200 million; continuous growth for three years prior to the past year; and continuous profit for three years prior to the past year. Companies who win the awards come from nominations via the web as well as from those identified from the research of business intelligence firm Coface.

The event is funded via sponsoring - partners included Mercedes Benz, KB Kredyt Bank, Play Dla Firm - and media partners who covered the event were TVS CNBC and Radio Pin. "This is an important target group for us," said Mateusz Dmowski of sponsor Mercedes Benz.

Following a panel discussion on the problems small and medium-sized companies face, speeches from Bonnier Business Polska CEO Iwona Kossmann, politicians and others, the awards were given out to the 250 winning companies who made the cut in the Warsaw region, including the top three, who were visibly moved as they took the stage.

"There are a lot of people here and this is an important event for us," said Aneta Klodas of Bluevine Consulting, who was attending with her partner, Violetta Kryszczuk. "We're excitied to see the awards. It's a better business situation in Poland today for business, which is good for us and for our clients."