Mac&Ernie Marketing wins at the 2026 Gippsland Business Awards!

I’m still pinching myself a little - Mac&Ernie has been named the winner of the Microbusiness category at the 2026 Latrobe Health Services Gippsland Business Awards.

After ten years of helping small businesses across Gippsland and regional Australia with marketing strategy, social media training, marketing mentoring and more, this recognition means an enormous amount.

The judges described me as “purpose-led and deliberately human in an increasingly automated market”. That felt particularly special because it captures exactly what I want this business to be: strategic, evidence-based and useful, but always grounded in real people and the communities where they live and work.

This 🥹

A very good night for Gippsland business

As lovely as it was to win, the best part of the Gippsland Business Awards was being surrounded by such an extraordinary group of regional businesses.

The calibre of the finalists was genuinely impressive. Across every category were businesses creating jobs, trying new things, supporting their communities and demonstrating just how much talent, innovation and ambition exists here in Gippsland.

We were lucky enough to share a table with our friends from Progressive Physiotherapy Group and had the absolute joy of watching them win the Healthcare Services category. There is something very special about celebrating alongside people you know, respect and genuinely want to see succeed.

Congratulations to every finalist and winner, especially Harman Wines, named the 2026 Gippsland Business of the Year; Scarlet & Grace, recipient of the inaugural Gippsland Edge Award; and my good friend Andy McCarthy, who was inducted into the Gippsland Business Awards Hall of Fame.

I promise there’s a trophy in my hand 😉

Regional businesses deserve to celebrate

Running a small business can involve a lot of quietly putting your head down and getting on with it. We are usually so focused on the next client, deadline or problem that it is easy to move straight past the things that are going well.

But our successes deserve to be noticed.

Events like the Gippsland Business Awards give regional businesses permission to stop, look around and recognise what we, and the businesses beside us, have built. Celebrating one another doesn’t diminish our own success. It makes the whole regional business community stronger.

A huge thank you to the GBA committee, who work their tails off to bring this awards program and an incredible awards night to Gippsland each year. The work behind an event of this scale is enormous, and it creates an opportunity for local businesses to feel seen, valued and proud. Thank you to the sponsors Latrobe Health Services and, in my category, NBN Local and to all the sponsors.

I feel very proud.

So now…if you’re looking for award-winning marketing strategy or small business marketing advice in Gippsland, I’d love to help you turn everything currently living in your head into a plan you can confidently follow, measure and hand over.

Book a free chat or send me an email, I’d love to help you find your way to a success we can all celebrate.

💛 Erika

Read more in The Warragul & Drouin Gazette.